Friday, December 4, 2009

   

MLB Vintage World Series Films - Minnesota Twins 1987 & 1991
From A&E Home Video

The 1987 World Series was the first to be played indoors and the raucous Minnesota Twins fans did everything they could to blow the roof right off the Metrodome. Record-books will note this Fall Classic for Kent Hrbek's Game 6 grand slam, while Twins fans will never forget the thunderous, homer-hanky waving crowds that propelled the Twins to a record-setting four home victories. 1991 was even more remarkable. Considered to be one of, if not the greatest World Series, the Twins battled through seven extraordinary games. Kirby Puckett's stellar Game 6 including his game-winning, 12th-inning home run was matched the next night by a game for the ages. The Twins captured their second championship with a Game 7, 1-0, 10-inning victory from Jack Morris. Officially Licensed by MLB

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #7569 in DVD
  • Brand: Team Marketing
  • Released on: 2006-07-25
  • Rating: NR (Not Rated)
  • Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
  • Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
  • Original language: English
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
  • Running time: 135 minutes


Vintage World Series Films: Minnesota Twins collects the two hour-long films summarizing the highlights of the 1987 and 1991 World Series. But both would be good candidates for a Complete Collector's Edition, especially the 1991 series that is still considered by many as the greatest ever played. The core of both teams was the same: manager Tom Kelly; hitters Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek; and pitchers Frank Viola and Jack Morris, supplemented by the likes of Gary Gaetti, Jeff Reardon, Scott Erickson, and Chuck Knoblauch--and of course the Homer Hanky-wielding fans turning the Metrodome into a house of horrors for opposing teams. After beating the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987, the Twins faced the Atlanta Braves in 1991. They came from behind to win, propelled by Puckett's huge bat and glove in game 6, followed by Morris's 10-inning complete-game shutout in game 7. Both individual performances were among the greatest in World Series history, and whenever a case is made for Morris's entering the Hall of Fame, his 1991 game 7 is always considered Exhibit A. --David Horiuchi

From the back cover
The 1987 World Series was the first to be played indoors and the raucous Minnesota Twins fans did everything they could to blow the roof right off the Metrodome. Record books note this Fall Classic for Kent Hrbek's Game 6 grand slam, while Twins fans will never forget the thunderous, homer-hanky waving crowds that propelled the Twins to a record-setting four home victories. 1991 was even more remarkable. Considered to be one of, if not the greatest, World Series, the Twins battled through seven extraordinary games. Kirby Puckett played a stellar Game 6, highlighted by the game-winning, 12th-inning home run, and then went out and matched the performance the next night. The Twins captured their second championship with a Game 7, 1-0, 10-inning victory from Jack Morris.


Incredible World Series, weak DVD4
This DVD contains two separate documentaries showcasing highlights from culled from both the 1987 and 1991 World Series. The 1987 series (Twins vs. Cardinals) is narrated by Al Michaels who was also the play-by-play voice and is joined by analysts Tim McCarver and Jim Palmer on the calls. Ernie Harwell narrates the 1991 series (Twins vs. Braves) with Jack Buck and McCarver as the broadcast team in the highlights. In addition to the highlights, there are also brief interview clips that were obviously conducted shortly after the games were played.

While this volume will obviously be of interest to Twins fans, the truth is that any baseball fan would do well to check it out. The 1991 series was truly incredible and is arguably the greatest of all time. I'm not a fan of either team and I bought this solely because I remembered how suspenseful and dramatic it was. The highlights could have been a bit longer for the 1991 series but for the most part they did a decent job of capturing the sense of what happened. The 1987 series was certainly entertaining and contained interesting story lines but it's definitely the lesser light here.

The worse aspect of the DVD is the basic quality of the audio/video. The sound comes out a bit harsh and the music soundtrack sounds like it was composed and recorded entirely on a PC. To call it low budget really doesn't cover it. The picture quality is equally bad and a real disappointment. In addition to looking like a poor quality videotape, the focus is extremely soft and at times there is even a mild ghosting effect that really detracts from the viewing experience. If this DVD were sold for half its current price, this might be more forgivable but as it is, this is really inexcusable.

In the final analysis, I recommend this product but definitely with reservations. I hope that MLB will someday see fit to release a highlight DVD of the 1991 World Series that truly does it justice. But, at the moment, this is the only option available to baseball fans. So despite the relatively high price and weak production values I would recommend any true fan to pick up a copy and enjoy one of the great match-ups of all time.

I thought it was fine5
After reading the other review of this item, I feel compelled to mention that I have this DVD and noticed no problems with the production quality. It's not high definition by any means, but it looks and sounds like the original broadcast to me. I suppose if you're going to play it on a 60' HD TV, some of the inherent flaws with the original broadcast will be noticeable, but the footage is 20 and 17 years old (has it been that long?), so it's not going to look like a 2008 broadcast. Besides that, it's only eleven bucks. If you want to relive the highlights from two thrilling 7 games World Series match-ups, don't hesitate.

FYI - I also have the complete broadcast of the 1987 World Series, and that DOES have a couple of audio flaws in it. The first 2.5 innings from game 6 are pretty bad and worth complaining about, but this DVD is fine.

Love the Twins. Hate the DVDs.2
Okay, so I thought I was getting a helluva deal when I purchased this item. It had vintage World Series footage from both 1987 and 1991...as a huge Twins fan that seemed like a great deal.

Unfortunately, it's basically just the exact footage--undoctored, unrestored, etc--from back in the day. The same corny announcers. The same crappy quality. Although they did add a bunch of really, really, REALLY lame music to "spice things up" a bit.

I thought I was getting a far more modern, sleek updated video package chronicling the Twins two improbable World Series runs, instead I received a compilation video I could have made myself.

Boooooooooooooooo!!

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