Could someone turn up the audio? by Gord Lacey (All reviews)
9/02/2002
As a huge fan of 3D animated series, I was excited when I received the first two "Heavy Gear" discs to review. I didn't know much about the series, except that it was based on a role playing game (which spawned some video games) and was animated by Mainframe Entertainment (creators of ReBoot and many other 3D shows).
The Heavy Gear Championship Tournament (HGCT) was created by "Boom Boom" Von Maddox, a fight promoter nearly ruined by the Interpolar War. After the war ended he asked his creditors to erase all his debt and he would create the new dueling league. He already had most of the Gears and all the equipment he needed and with their help he could make the HGCT one of the biggest media events ever seen.
The show takes place in 6132 and pits Marcus Rover and the Shadow Dragons from the South against Major Drake Alexander Wallis III and the Vanguard of Justice from the North.
This DVD contains the first 5 episodes of the series, edited into one "movie". Fans of "Roughnecks: The Starship Trooper Chronicles" may recognize a familiar face; Dirx, who looks just like "Brutto" from Roughnecks. Both those characters are voiced by David DeLuise, son of Dom DeLuise. The show features many other actors that worked on Roughnecks, but David stands out since his characters look identical in both shows.
Video
Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, you may be seeing more on this DVD than you saw if you watched the show on TV. When the show initially aired on Fox it was presented in 1.33:1, but has since aired on UPN in the letterboxed format. Colors and nice and bright and blacks are nice and black. A 3D show provides better material for DVD release since there won't be film grain, video noise or dust specs. The only problem this release suffers from is moire patterns in the textures (usually background ground, or rocks).
Audio
Yes, you read that 5 correctly. I'm 98% sure that someone messed up the audio on this release. While watching this release I noticed that there wasn't anything coming out of the rear speakers, so once I had finished with the disc I popped the second disc in (Battle for the Badlands) and watched the opening to compare the two. It was night and day, but just to be sure I decided to unplug all my speakers except for the two rears, and watched the openings a few more times. The rear audio on this disc is almost non-existent (there is a bit there, but not much). The opening on the "Battle for the Badlands" disc has a full range of sounds, complete with panning sound effects. I mentioned this problem to my contact at Columbia TriStar and he promised to look into it, but he has since left the company and I didn't get a response. This reminds me of the audio problem that existed with the first release of "Leon: The Professional", also from Columbia TriStar. Also included on this release is a Spanish Surround track along with English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Filmmaker's Commentary
Audu Paden has to be one of the best commentary hosts ever. He takes full control of the commentary and makes sure it stays on track. He knows what questions to ask whom, and prods them for more information if they don't provide enough. Audu's commentary tracks are so smooth I'd swear they are rehearsed.
Technical Commentary
Listen to the Mainframe people talk about their work on the show. Audu shines again.
Conceptual Art Galleries
Drawings in the following categories:
Northern Characters - 21
Weapons - 13
Northern Gears - 7
Beasts - 9
Vehicles - 5
Exteriors - 11
Cockpit - 11
Interiors - 10
Trailers
Columbia TriStar has provided 3 trailers for other releases on this disc. Cowboy Bebop (0:40), Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (1:39) and Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles (1:36).
Summary
As you can tell, I was very annoyed by the audio problem on this disc. It's very unlikely that Columbia TriStar will fix the problem since I can't even get them to verify that it exists. Audio problem aside, this is another excellent release with outstanding commentary tracks. With over 4.5 hours of material on the disc the cost is well worth it. If you have this disc and you haven't listened to the tracks then please take it off your shelf and pop it in your player. Next up: Vol 2 - Battle of the Badlands.
