Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32416 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-11-27
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Hindi, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Synopsis
Features exciting action from the FIFA 2006 World Cup tournament, which was held in Germany and saw 32 countries battle it out to become football champions of the world. Features interviews with Jens Lehmann, Didier Drogba, and Michael Ballack, among others.

Customer Reviews

Like Italy - starts poorly but gets better towards the end!
If you're after a comprehensive overview of the 2006 world cup this isn't it, but rather it follows in the footsteps of those very 80s world cup films that became popular since Spain 82.

The bad points first. It starts logically with the opening match, but then featues only a handful of 1st round and 2nd round matches - in a completely random order. Also the content isn't always great, eg. when they show the Argentina v Serbia group match they only show the 24-pass goal - great though it was, they don't show anything else from that match.
And they show every booking and sending-off from that crazy 2nd round match between Portugal and Holland, but we don't get to see Maniche's goal. A bit frustrating...

Where this DVD does excel is in the matches it shows in detail (England-Portugal and Germany-Argentina quarter finals, both semis and the final). The movie-like quality of the matches involved, the close action shots, the heightened sound-effects...it's like you're actually there. It even makes the France-Portugal semi-final, which was utterly boring, seem genuinely thrilling. And of course it does justice to THAT other semi-final between Italy and Germany - all the drama and tension of one of the greatest World Cup matches is recreated. You even get a different view of Grosso's wonder goal and celebration...

The narration is good as well, Pierce Brosnan of all people does a competent job of talking us through the action. The only special featues are interviews with the stars of the World Cup but these are quite revealing, especially the talk with the final referee Horacio Elizondo.

Overall this is a solid DVD. I would have preferred to see more 1st and 2nd round matches (especially the Argentina-Mexico 2nd round match with THAT Maxi Rodriguez goal), and the strange order of the early matches is annoying, but the last 5 matches are devoted more time and so you get the drama. Some have criticised the 2006 World Cup for not being very exciting, but watching this DVD may change your mind.

NEITHER SHAKEN NOR STIRRED.
I thought the 2006 World Cup was brilliant, mind you, I am an Italy fan, but this film, although it has it`s good points, such as different camera angles, doesn`t do it for me. Someone else has said that while some games are ignored,( for instance the epic France v Brazil Quarter-Final is merely mentioned in passing,) other poorer games get shown. Where is the dramatic last grasp Totti penalty against Australia? In fact Italy only feature three times in the whole thing! I actually thought the interviews were good and the footage of the preparation for the Final was awesome. Brosnan`s commentary sounded as if he had taken one sleeping tablet too many. A wasted opportunity.

Total Disappointment
Considering how great the 2006 World Cup was you'd think it would be pretty hard to produce a useless video of it. All those hours and hours of great football, the wonderful atmosphere in Germany and, England's poor performance apart, a real treat for football fans all over the world. Well, FIFA have pulled off the impossible here and produced a video that captures none of the excitement, none of the passion and not even that much of the football. Only a fraction of the games are actually covered; some for too long, others for not long enough. So most of the great goals and the best action are missing. And even the matches that are covered are not filmed from the normal angle (i.e. looking down onto the pitch) but instead from the players' view which means you see next to nothing of the overall action. And with the commentary patchy at best there's hardly anything to get excited about - the atmosphere is more funereal rather than a carnival of football. Overall it feels like it was made and edited by people with no idea about nor feeling for the Beautiful Game - even the interviews included are dull. I mean, is the best question to ask Jens Lehman about the world cup really how important concentration is for a goalkeeper? It's pathetic. And all this nonsense doesn't even come cheap. A poor souvenir of a great world cup. My advice would be to save your money and your happy memories of the World Cup and look elsewhere.