Manchester United: End of Season Review 2008-2009

Introduction

Though Manchester United's 2008-2009 campaign finished with a disappointing defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final in Rome, there's no doubt that it was another incredibly successful season, with Sir Alex Ferguson's men winning the Premier League, the League Cup, the World Club Cup, and reaching the semi-finals of the F.A Cup.
 
All of that action is available here in the traditional Season Review DVD, with all of the goals and some extra highlights included, as well as exclusive interviews with the playing and management staff who combined to make it such a big season.
 

Video

Video is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen (PAL), and is very good for a DVD of this genre. With the total video time coming in at around 2¾ hours, you might expect the video quality would suffer, but this is tremendous considering that fact, and considering the material is from a live-to-tape source.
 

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is also good. Taken directly from TV commentaries from Sky Sports, Setanta etc. this is exactly as you heard it then. The short introductory voiceovers are also very clear, as is the music that separates each month of the season's calendar.
 
 

Extras

The only extra on the disc is the Premier League winning celebration and trophy presentation, which, given the amount of material on the main feature, is more than enough.
 

Main feature

On the assumption that any reader of this review saw at least one Premier League football match this season, everyone should have an idea of exactly how the footage on this DVD looks. The quick highlights - which are mostly just the goals from the games, although occasionally a few extra moments as well - look exactly as you will have seen them on television.
 
Therefore, the big question is 'how is the DVD put together?'  Thankfully, with an excellent scrolling menu system which makes it easy to find a match via its date, it's put together very well indeed. Each match, sometimes with a short introduction, flows into the other easily, making this a great reminder of the season just past.
 
Throughout the feature, there are several interview snippets with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, and Edwin van der Sar, providing a little insight into what the players thought about certain matches and situations. There may be nothing ground-breaking in these interviews, but they are worth listening to nonetheless.

Conclusion

Overall, if you are a Manchester United fan, this is an essential DVD to add to your collection. If you're a neutral, but can stomach buying a piece of MUFC merchandise, you may be interested in this keepsake, too.