Ferrari – Victory by Design (DTS)
Picture: B- Sound: B Extras: C+ Film: B+
Ferrari is among
the first batch of the Victory By Design
series, but its DVD debut (like the other initial five in the series) offers
extended footage running about 84-minutes versus the broadcast version, which
was closer to 45-minutes total time. Not
only that, but for DVD they have gone the extra mile and re-formatted the
program for an anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 aspect ratio and a newly mix
Dolby 5.1 and DTS mix. Victory by Design
has also issued Jaguar, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Aston Martin, but
once you see these you will want them to go further and possible do more
including Lotus or Lamborghini. Check our
reviews on this site for all the DVDs issued so far in the series.
Alain de
Cadenet is the host in each segment and being a long-time Ferrari enthusiast
and aficionado he handles these cars like they are his own. He knows them to and front with every little
detail in between and delivers some of the most interesting and outstanding
information about them in between drive sequences with the cars. It becomes pretty evident as he
chronologically ventures from model to model how the Ferrari quickly became a
reputable Marque vehicle and is still cherished today. There is also footage from the Le Mans with
winners displaying some of the priceless models including the TR60, 250GTO and
312PB just to name a few. Here is a list
of all the vehicles driven and/or featured:
- 166MM
- Monza Series
- 375 Plus
- 121LM
- 250MM
- 250 Testa Rossa
- TR60
- Dino 246S
- Dino 246F1
- Dino 246GTS
- 250 SWB
- 250GTO
- 250GTO
- 250LM
- 250P
- 275GTB
- 330/P3
- CanAm
- 312P Coupe
- 512 Series
- 312PB
- 365 Daytona
- 333SP
- F40
- F50
- 356 Daytona Spyder
- 550 Maranello Barchetta
- Enzo
Seeing these vehicles
being driven all over is enough to make your mouth water and it is with the
release of these DVD’s that really boost the quality of the show and present
the material with better picture, sound, and a longer run time that
make them valuable! This is exactly the type
of material to show off your home theater with because the subject matter is interesting and the quality of its
content shows just how fun a home theater can be with the right DVD.
Since this is also another
early episode it has some of the typical PAL looking problems that the Porsche
DVD had, since later parts of the series appear to be shot in High Definition
instead. These still look fine, but not
as good as the later in the series.
Detail and depth are not nearly as sharp or refined, but this is an
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image, so you do get more performance from the
video source than you would otherwise.
The inclusion of multi-channel and more especially going with the
preferred audio format like DTS these DVD’s are real winners. Sitting in your room with a nice home theater
you truly feel engulfed in the material as sound effects race around you as the
cars terrorize the countryside with engines barreling full force. De Cadenet
handles these machines with such ease going all over the place and pulls the
viewer in. Luckily the sound design
manages to add that extra dimension making the experience all the more
fun!
Just like these vehicles
you almost have to experience this DVD yourself to realize just how magnificent
it is and I highly recommend that you do so, not just for this part of the
series, but the rest of them as well. In
this case, the only car we would have liked to see added was the street version
of the 512, known as the Berlinetta Boxer.
The DVDs can only be ordered exclusively through the manufacturer, so
visit their website at www.VictorybyDesign.com
or call 1-877-466-6660 for more details on this and other titles in the series.
- Nate Goss
