New DVD Reviews

[Andrew]

Got home from work today to find that NBA Dunks and NBA Ankle Breakers Volume 2 had both arrived. After spending a little time on the forum earlier, I decided to sit back and watch one of them. Needless to say, I chose NBA Dunks Vol 2.

The Special Features

I know, I know. Usually you check out the special features on a DVD after viewing the main program. But the extras on NBA DVDs are generally quick and to the point. This time around, the extra footage is as follows:

- 2000 Dunk Contest
- Top 10 Dunks of 2004
- DJ Clue's Top 5 Dunks of All-Time
- Dunks from the 2004 Rookie Challenge

I didn't watch the 2000 contest as I've got it on tape and I've seen it a couple of times before. Nice addition though, I'm sure people who haven't seen it before will appreciate it a little more. Still, it's nice to have it on DVD. The top ten dunks from last season keeps everything nice and current - I've got a feeling this series might become an annual release. Same deal with the dunks from last year's rookie game.

DJ Clue's top five was a little strange. Four of the five dunks were from this year and last year, and number one was the famous MJ on Patrick Ewing dunk. So for whatever it's worth, we now know DJ Clue's five favourite dunks.

On to the main program...

Main Program

Even though it had little in the way of historical content (as Volume 1 did), I really enjoyed Dunks! Volume 2 - possibly more than the first. Perhaps it was because the first one tried to cover the history of the dunk but really pushed it aside. Volume 2 was truly a highlight reel of some awesome dunks from the last couple of seasons, with a few mini "profiles" of today's prolific dunkers.

My only gripe with such a format is that the player specific segments take up too much of the program. I feel there should have been more segments that simply showed a whole lot of dunks by a whole lot of players. Like they did in the dunk videos back in the 90s, but with today's stars. I guess they're trying to promote personalities so that we identify with the stars the same way we did with Jordan and co, but it kind of comes at the expense of showing a wide variety of highlights.

I do have one more gripe, and that's the choice of DJ Clue (again). Call me old fashioned, but I prefer the kind of segues that guys like Marv Albert and Ahmad Rashad used to provide. I know the NBA is continuing with the whole "Street Series" theme, but gets kind of annoying after a while. At least he doesn't feature as much as he did on Volume 1.

Also, rewinding the play back and forth is funny the first couple of times, but it gets irritating. Showing the play a few times in rapid succession from different angles remains a great technique - they can certainly keep doing that.

Still, the footage is amazingly up to date. The copyright notice reads 2005, and it's evident that the NBA waited until practically the last minute to squeeze in as much 2004/2005 highlights as they could. This is an area where Volume 1 really didn't deliver, even through LeBron was featured on the case. This time, the NBA made sure to show plenty of LeBron. Kobe, who was also left out of Volume 1 (possibly due to the rape allegations) is also featured in his own segment, with a couple of his dunks from earlier this season thrown in with some of his finest dating right back to 1996.



All in all, it's a strong second edition in the series. If the Dunks! series is indeed going to be an annual release, I'd like to see them done like this, but perhaps with fewer player segments and more uninterrupted highlight reel packages.

**** 1/2 out of *****

Volume 2 vs Volume 1

In some ways, Volume 2 is the superior release. It's more of an update to the dunk videos that the NBA released in the 90s - the names and faces have changed, but it's the same concept: an exciting highlight reel program that shows off the game's best dunkers.

Volume 1 did the same thing, but included more history. That's fine, and I was actually hoping to see a little more historical content in Volume 2. But the history wasn't done as well as it could be in Volume 1, and there were a lot of omissions. It should have run a little longer and a lot more highlights from the 80s and 90s should have been included, especially since Volume 1 was supposed to be another history of the dunk plus up to date highlight reels. As far as delivering what it sets out to, Volume 2 is probably the better title.

Still, it suffers a little from the same format. As I mentioned before, both DVDs are bit player segment heavy, which cuts down on the time available for random players who just happened to have made some amazing dunks. That was one of the great things about NBA highlight videos in the 90s - plenty of players you've never heard of or have since forgotten having their moment in the sun. This is where both titles lose marks, though some of the historical stuff on Volume 1 makes up for it. But again, it's not as extensive as it could have been.

Having said that, I'm not exactly disappointed in either title, nor do I regret buying either. Prior to these two releases, the NBA hadn't released a dunks video since 1995, and most of the video releases since then have been biographical. The greedy part of my NBA fanaticism might not be completely satisfied, but these two DVDs are still great programs for NBA fans who appreciate the more flashy side of the game; which I'm sure is most of us.

Note for my fellow Australians: If you've got a multi-zone DVD player, you shouldn't have any problems playing this DVD. For the meantime, you'll have to order from amazon.com or nba.com, as the Region 4 release is probably another 12 months away.

[Drex]

Call me old fashioned

Andrew, you're old fashioned

[air gordon]

thanx for the review.. i just may go out and order this dvd.. or get it for free from somewhere

[Fresh8]

great! I will get it somehow... and watch Kobe's highlight reels!

[Andrew]

Watched Ankle Breakers Volume 2 today.

Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problem as Dunks! Volume 2: there's just too many individual player segments and not enough fast paced, free for all highlight reel segments. It's also a little tedious as three of the guys profiled on Dunks! - LeBron, Melo and Wade - are profiled here as well. The highlights are different and focus more on their ballhandling abilities, but it just seemed too familiar.

Whereas Dunks! Volume 1 and 2 are about equal, I'd place Ankle Breakers 2 just slightly below the original. Maybe it was the way that it was put together, but it just didn't seem action packed enough. Common was decent as a host, probably slightly better than DJ Clue, but I'd rather a personality from NBA TV (seriously, whatever happened to Jim Fagan?) or even a player - current or retired - host the main program.

The special features are nice and kind of mirror the Dunks! Vol 2 DVD:
- Great Fourth Quarter Duels
- 2004 989 Sports Skills Challenge
- Inside Stuff Skillz Features with Stephon Marbury and Jason Kidd
- Common's Top 5 Ankle Breaking Moves of All Time

The DVD is a nice offering, but it's just not as exciting as the Dunks! series. Ankle Breakers in particular suffers greatly from the player segment format. And once again, rewinding the play back and forth isn't an entertaining technique. After a while, it just gets silly. I'd rather the NBA turn this series into "plays" and get rid of the "Street Series" theme. That element of the DVDs is pretty thin anyway, so they might as well go back to the traditional style.

I'll give this one *** 1/2 stars out of *****