Customer Rating:  
Summary: Disapointing at best
Comment: The opening ceremony was the most impressive ever, very doubtful it will ever be matched.
I was hoping to get a good summary of the opening and closing ceremonies, and as the name implies, highlights of the XXIX Olympiad.
It's mostly about USA's medal winners, receiving their medals and interviews of the winners.
USA is not the only country in this world!
In the world of HDTV, the video quality is not great.
(BUT If you are a relative of Phelps, you will love this dvd.)
Bought a new one that focusses on the ceremonies.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What a Joke
Comment: If your idea of a "highlight" is to see runners crossing the finish line with their arms in the air, swimmers hugging after their race or athletes standing on the podium waiting to receive their medals then this DVD is for you. If you are looking for something a little more substantial....like actually seeing the race (or event) you will be very disappointed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Ceremony and Significant USA Olympic Triumphs in 2008 at Beijing
Comment: This piece is divided into two parts that are vastly based on selected live NBC television broadcasts during the games. The first part presents overall but general commentary and presentation of the finals in the events as they came along (but the bias toward showing United states triumphs is singular). The second part is more specific, and starts with a chapter on the colorful Olympic ceremony..this is spectacular. The other chapters are on finals in events that the United States (and let us say Jamaican sprinters notably Usain Bolt) excelled. Hence, the DVD is biased toward finals and medal wins in the track sprints and hurdles, swimming (Phelps is there, of course), women's beach volleyball Walsh and Treanor...the finals with China is shown in its entirety), gymnastics, and women's soccer. The obvious demerit is the bias toward the United States, the significant events in which the nation participated and achievd medals. Consequently, items like the middle and long-distance running track, men's soccer, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing, and less traditional sports are left out. You also get the impression that the DVD was hastily put together, and commercially targeted. Nevertheless, the editing is excellent, and the DVD was put out comparatively quickly. It is a fact, for example, that a definitive DVD on the Games in Athens 2004 has never emerged, to this day. I still give this Beijing Coverage 5 points, but would wish that a DVD that covers the events more broadly and internationally would be created. After all, is not that what Olympic Games are about? We do want to see the performances of the Ethiopians, Iranians, Greeks, Sri Lankans, etc...the peoples of the world! The DVD "The Olympic Series," offers more broad perspectives on the Olympic events from 1920 to 2002, and it is one I would recommend to sports enthusiasts. And I would wish that this Beijing 2006 DVD were fashioned in that manner, or that a piece that is in the making would give us a more comprehensive presentation of the Games. Nevertheless, this Beijing DVD is excellent, though it will continue to generate negative notes, mostly depending on which events one prefers and what part of the world the reviewer is from. I rest my case!
Customer Rating:
Summary: bad idea
Comment: Trying to compress many hundred hours of Olympic events into a 2 hour DVD is a foolish project. The main program on the DVD is a long music video, showing a few seconds each from many different events. That is barely worth watching, but the special features are a little more interesting. The special features do show a couple of dozen short events in their entirety, including all the Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt world record events.
The fantastic Olympic opening ceremonies are not included on this DVD, but there is a separate 3 hour DVD set for the ceremonies. That set is much more interesting than this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Highlights of American Medalists ONLY
Comment: I just recieved this in the mail and had missed much of the actual broadcast. I was hoping to get a good representation of the games here. Well make no mistake there is some good footage here. But sadly this whole DVD seems to be about American participation and medal winners. There are a few clips of the Jamaican runners.
But you'd be forgiven if you never knew that any other team but America mattered or won medals. I'm told that people in other countries get to watch much more balanced coverage than we do. On the basis of this DVD I'd guess that there was no boxing, no weightlifting, no boating events, no rhythmic gymnastics, no marathons, etc.
The actual highlights program is about 110 minutes. Not nearly enough to give anyone, except folks who need to chant U-S-A, an idea of the proceedings. Fortunately there are a couple of hours worth of actual NBC feed, mostly US medalists winning their events. There was also no critcal perspective whatsoever.
What would be nice would be something that gives us an idea what the athletes of the world were doing in Beijing in 2008. I miss the days when you could cheer the Kenyan runners or feel the political tension of the Ukrainian gymnasts. Instead we get the most isolationist vision of the world I've ever witnessed.
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