Review of Pride: Grand Prix 2004

Introduction

Silvervision`s latest PRIDE FC offering is most certainly a heavyweight contender, tipping the scales at 13hrs 45mins, and with six discs in its arsenal. This is PRIDE`s 2004 Grand Prix, a three-event tournament to declare 2004`s best fighter, incorporating the events individually known as Total Elimination, Critical Countdown, and Final Conflict.

Total Elimination, held at the Saitama Super Arena on 25th April 2004, set the ball rolling with all eight matches being a part of the opening round of the sixteen-man tournament. The matches were drawn as follows:

- Yoshiki Takahashi vs. Heath Herring
- Sergei Kharitonov vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua
- Paulo Cesar "Giant" Silva vs. Henry "Sentoryu" Miller
- Gan "the Giant" McGee vs. Semmy "Hightower" Schilt
- Stefan "Blitz" Leko vs. Naoya Ogawa
- Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic vs. Kevin "the Monster" Randleman
- Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira vs. Hirotaka Yokoi
- Mark "the Hammer" Coleman vs. Fedor Emelianenko

To avoid spoilers, I am not printing the tournament bouts at either Critical Countdown (20th June, Saitama Super Arena) or Final Conflict (15th August, Saitama Super Arena). However, on these shows there are other bouts featuring crowd favourites such as Kazushi Sakuraba and Vanderlei Silva.

Video

For all three events, video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is excellent. With these recent PRIDE and UFC events being so well captured, I can`t help but repeat myself; 4:3 really doesn`t get any better than this, and this transfer is practically spotless.

In addition, the visuals - particularly during Critical Countdown - are startling, with more light beams on offer than at a Pink Floyd concert. Furthermore, during the entrance of Kazushi Sakuraba, the video screen on the roof of the arena stunningly portrays night changing to day. I`ve never seen anything like it!

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Clearly, it is taken from the television master, but with source material of this quality, who cares? There are some nice stereo effects during the opening ceremonies, and throughout the event everything comes through clearly, from the commentary (provided excellently by Mauro Ranallo and Bas Rutten) to the in-ring action.

Features

Even though this is a six-disc set, with three of those discs being extras-only, we still get basic extras on the remaining three as well. These include fighter stats, the rules of PRIDE, and a glossary of fight terms. The commercials for the American pay-per-view offerings are included, as is the program artwork and the events` poster.

On the supplementary discs, we are treated to uncut fighter interviews, a small video look at PRIDE`s ring girls, and a better-than-it-sounds package on the fighters` ring entrances. Also here is the pre-event teaser show that was available in the USA, to try and tempt viewers into a purchase of the pay-per-view. They do a good job and there are some excellent highlights of past shows.

The final extra is called "Ringside Pass". Basically, this is a replay of the events` main bouts, but without the commentary, which is designed to allow the viewer to hear every nuance that goes on, in and around the ring. This isn`t all that interesting, but is certainly worth taking a look at, especially to hear the smack of body-to-canvas - one of the reasons why I don`t go in for MMA myself!

Overall, this is a good set of extras which add to the viewer`s experience of the event. There may not be much repeat-viewing value here, but each extra is certainly worth your initial attention.

Conclusion

To avoid spoilers, I`ll comment on individual bouts from Total Elimination only.

The event got underway with American Heath Herring taking on Yoshiki Takahashi. Herring was keen to avenge several recent losses in PRIDE and impressed with some excellent high kicks and devastating strikes.

Murilo "Ninja" Rua took on the somewhat unknown Sergei Kharitonov in the second bout, which although short was entertaining due to its attacking verve.

Former pro wrestler (and boy was he horrible then, too) Giant Silva then faced Henry Miller in a disappointing bout, before K-1 expert Semmy Schilt fought the equally huge Gan McGee in a poor contest. Dutchman Schilt may be one of the greatest strikers in the world, but his mat-work requires major improvement.

Things took a major upswing as renowned kickboxer Stefan Leko came to blows with Naoya Ogawa, who was easily the most popular fighter on the card, due to his Judo silver medal at the 1992 Olympics and his standing in Japanese pro wrestling. Ogawa`s skill was equally as impressive as his ovation from the crowd.

Mirko CroCop`s bout with Kevin Randleman was short but explosive, and produced one of the most spectacular moments in PRIDE history, before Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira faced Hirotaka Yokoi. Both displayed great technique, including a lovely hip-throw from Yokoi.

And in the main event of the evening, Mark Coleman - the winner of previous year`s tournament - met the Russian sambo fighter Fedor Emelianenko. With both men equal in size and strength, this match was won impressively on the ground.

The first section of the heavyweight tournament it may have been, but I am delighted to say that the action in PRIDE`s World Grand Prix 2004 got even better at Critical Countdown and Final Conflict. As such, this is an excellent series for the MMA fan`s collection, and a very good introduction to PRIDE FC for those uninitiated.

Highly recommended.