Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37827 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-11-24
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 160 minutes

Synopsis
All the action and highlights of the FIA Formula One World Championships 2003.

Customer Reviews

A good record of F1 2003, but nothing special to watch.
It seems the format has strayed away from the 'make it really long and show every detail' method that can be seen in the 2002 and 2001 reviews. Those had their faults, such as completely pointless features about the country to which each Grand Prix moves. For example I remember in the 2002 video some Brazilian girl fills up 2 minutes of the tape by showing us around Sao Paulo! Instead, the 2003 review plays 10 seconds of music with a few shots of the area round the circuit, then cuts straight to the grid.

The box lid and Duke web site say, "It features the best of the official coverage from every round, including practice and qualifying sessions". This is a lie. What this review lacks big time is coverage from Friday and Saturday. Yes, they show Button's crash in Monaco and Firman's in Hungary, but that's about it. They showed the several drivers who made mistakes in the Austrian GP qaulifying, but all the crucial qualifying action is missed - e.g. Raikkonen's spins in Spain and Canada (very important for the championship). In older videos (best done in 1994) they play some music and cut together the battle for pole postion. This works well, as it builds the tension and sets the scene for the race. In this review, coverage of each Grand Prix starts on Sunday's grid!

The whole thing just feels very brief, with no time spent on anything. They show incidents, but there is no reaction on them. Some of the racing is highlighted, but again they totally ignore some key battles, for example M. Schumacher amazingly managing to beat the McLarens in France. They simply say "Michael Schumacher finished third", during the round-up.

On the plus side, it's great to see some of the year's incidents from onboard cameras. For example we see Alonso hitting Verstappen at the back of the Monza grid onboard with the Renault. That is great. Likewise with Raikkonen's crash at the start in Spain (seen from Kimi's car) and the pile-up in Germany from Barrichello's camera. However, sadly, that's about it. Without digital TV, most of the incidents are just from the same angle as we've all seen on the TV.

In conclusion, this video is great for documenting the year's events in a simple and efficient way. It's main problem is that it's just a bit dull. There is a nice intro to the vid, with some moody images of the track at dusk, team managers turning round in slow-motion etc and echoes of driver quotes, but from then on (other than the onboard angles) there is nothing really "cool" about it. They didn't even make one of those awesome round ups at the end of the review. Instead, there are just a few shots of Michael Schumacher with some music for 20 seconds.

DVD EXTRAS:
The only thing that makes the DVD fantastic is the coverage of each pole position lap. They don't appear on continuous play mode, but they are in the additional features menu. They are not from the onboard cameras, they are simply the world F1 feed cut together by the live director. It's exactly as we watched it at the time; the difference is that there is no commentator, we get to simply enjoy the engine sounds. On DVD, with NICAM and a good sound system in your home this are awe-inspiring to watch (and listen to!).

For collectors of these reviews, of course you must buy it to maintain the collection. But for the casual fan, don't expect anything special.

Very Disappointing
With the 2002 season universally acknowledged as "The Boring" season in F1, the official review lasted near on 4 hours and was only available on VHS.
So, with 2003 being the most exciting season in F1 for a long while and with this season being available on DVD, I was greatly anticipating this release.
What a huge disappointment. Here are the minus points:1)Running time is just over 2 hours, therefore coverage of every round feels very rushed. For example: coverage of qualifying in Australia consists of the viewer seeing Justin Wilson aborting his lap into the pit lane and Barrichello crossing the line and Schuey looking at the monitors in the pit garage. That is it.
2)There is no pit/car radio commentary as featured on previous VHS F1 reviews. 3)The DVD cover states that this review includes Friday and Saturday practice action. It does not. Unless they are refering to Button's crash in Monaco and Firman's in Hungary, which is hardly substantial footage.
4)With the demise of Bernie Ecclestones Digital TV feed, this review relies on the terrestrial coverage, so there is nothing really new to see there either, apart from a few more on board shots.
On the positive side, they have kept Ben Edwards as the commentator, who is the best in the business (ITV please take note). There is also the pole lap from each race to watch without the commentary, but just with the raw engine sound. Which I would imagine sounds excellent with a good home cinema system.

Overall, this foray into DVD does not work well. With all the possibilities available with a DVD this programme feels rushed with no where near enough special features or suitable coverage of a very exciting Formula 1 season.

Not too bad, but not too generous.
It seems that the producers of the 2003 review have reverted back to the pre-2001 ethos of keeping things succinct. Now this is not a bad thing, considering the amount of unnecessary "tourist info" that linked each grand prix in the previous two years. However, I would have thought that with the DVD format and a very eventful championship battle at their disposal they could have presented the best review to date. But they haven't: it's only average. Commentary by Ben Edwards is faultless, there is no irritating background music, picture quality is superb and the extra footage showing the fastest qualifying lap from each grand prix is commendable. Unfortunately 140 minutes is insufficient to properly tell the story of one of the closest championship fights in years. It lacks information on teams, car launches and drivers at the start, qualifying is not really featured and each race is covered so swiftly that it is difficult to follow what's going on. Also, where are all the extras and bonus footage?

Entertaining to a point, but could have been so much better.