Review of New Zealand From Coast to Coast

Introduction

I`ve always wanted to go to New Zealand and so I was intruiged to see what New Zealand had to say about itself.

The DVD `New Zealand from Coast to Coast` is essentially the DVD version of the best-selling (over 100,000 copies sold!) VHS of the same name. This DVD started life as a student piece for the class 2000 graduates of the South Seas film and television school. DVD Power Ltd was then engaged to reauthor the PAL version and correct the time-coding for release as NTSC for
worldwide release.

Video

Video quality is exactly what you`d expect from a DVD manufactured from 13 year old video footage from a video tour i.e. fairly terrible.

The disc has (except for the newer menu footage) the look of a VHS tape although the three fearurettes are somewhat better. Video quality does vary throughout the disc as footage from all sorts of places and of all ages has been used.

Some of the shots are amazing though with awesome scenery showing the huge variety of land that New Zealand possesses - stirring stuff that makes you want to pop over there and see it for real!

The DVD menu is nice and clear and presents a good front to the whole disc.

Audio

Fairly typical of it`s genre really, with the general air of a slightly long in the tooth National Geographic production. Weird, but somehow valid, backing tracks are laid under a slightly muddy monologue by a narrator who is obviously enthused by everything he sees.

Audio is available in 8 global languages but there are no subtitles.

Features

No exciting makings of or theatrical trailers here, just things you might actually find useful and informative!

The disc is broken down into two main headings, the North ahd South islands, which are further broken down into geographical areas, allowing you to jump straight to the parts of the disc that interest you. This is a good thing!

They have also provided three featurettes on various aspects of New Zealand comprising never before seen footage with music (and no dialogue whatsoever) which look rather like the things the BBC used to put on when their programmes broke years ago......

There`s also an intersting section `about this DVD` which explains the reason for the dvd and a bit about the various production companies involved in the DVD.

Conclusion

I wasn`t expecting ground breaking audio and video quality as that`s not really what this disc is about. The disc is informative and entertaining in a slightly twee way and has distinct advantages over the VHS version (All languages and chapters) and has to be recommended on that front for people interested in going to New Zealand (or homesick Kiwis ;)

Not a bad advert for New Zealand, even if it is from 1987!