DVD Review: EliteXC - Destiny
| DVD Release Date: May 13, 2008 Aspect Ratio: Widescreen, 1.78:1 Audio: Dolby Stereo Number of discs: 2 Run Time: 108 minutes |
“Destiny” was EliteXC’s first event and it did not disappoint. Main event had Frank Shamrock facing Renzo Gracie and the first televised women’s match between Gina Carano and Julie Kedzie. The DVD comes in a two-disc set. First disk consists of the event that aired on Showtime, while the second disk has the bonus features and prelim matches.
Content:
The first disc was entertaining. Fights were competitive with some knockouts along the way. Too bad the main event ended in controversy. The fights in the second disc were pretty boring but at least EliteXC still decided to include it. Disc two’s fights are unorganized: sometimes they showed interviews with the fighters and sometimes they showed behind the scenes footage that had nothing to do with the fights. Plus the announcers are different from the main event.
Below is a little recap for each fight with ratings(main event has spoiler button so I can discuss the fights further. Click on “show”).
First disc:
Charles Bennett vs. KJ Noons - Rating: 4/5
Good way to start the event. Win or lose, Bennett is always entertaing to watch
[spoiler 'show spoiler‘ ‘hide spoiler‘] KJ Noons looked scared in this fight. Based on the press conference, he was talking a lot of shit. I’m glad Krazy Horse knocked him out. Fight could have been longer. [/spoiler]
Antonio Silva vs Welsey Correira “Cabbage” - Rating: 3.5/5
An exciting match between two heavyweights.
[spoiler 'show spoiler‘ ‘hide spoiler‘] Cabbage only got two weeks noticed for this fight and it showed. At least he still came out to fight even though he was outclassed by Antonio Silva. Silva can move for a big guy. Love the flying knee! [/spoiler]
Gina Carano vs. Julie Kedzie - Rating: 4/5
Probably the best fight of the night. The girls can take hits. Action packed.
[spoiler 'show spoiler‘ ‘hide spoiler‘]Damn these girls can fight. I wouldn’t be ashamed getting my butt kicked by either of them. I’m sure they can beat up most guys. Carano looked really strong but gassed a little bit towards the end. [/spoiler]
Joey Villasenor vs. David Loiseau - Rating: 3.5/5
Great techniques shown by one of the fighters. Very technical fight but not boring.
[spoiler 'show spoiler‘ ‘hide spoiler‘]Joey Villasenor had some great takedowns. What’s up with Loiseau? He used to be more explosive but ever since he fought Jim Car…Rich Franklin, he’s timid. What a waste of talent. [/spoiler]
Frank Shamrock vs. Renzo Gracie - Rating: 3.5/5
More evenly matched than I thought. Ended in controversy.
[spoiler 'show spoiler‘ ‘hide spoiler‘]Renzo looked impressive in the fight. He took down Shamrock a couple of times and controlled the fight. I didn’t like Shamrock’s antics after he was dq’d. Acted like a jackass. [/spoiler]
Disc 2:
Preliminary matches
Seth Kleinbeck vs. Riki Fukuda - Rating: 2/5
I didn’t care for this match. Pretty dull.
Bo Cantrell vs. Tim Persey - Rating: 3.5/5
These guys came to fight, unlike most of the prelim fighters.
Adriano Periera vs. Javier “Showtime” Vazquez - Rating: 2/5
Another boring fight.
Mike Pyle vs. Ross Ebanez - Rating: 2.5/5
Not a bad fight but not great either.
Edson Berto vs. John Shackelford - Rating: 2/5
Another boring match.
Content Score: 3.5/5 (not an average)
Video Score: 4/5
EliteXC - Destiny is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. The first disc is pretty clear. There were no jaggies(which is the main problem with MMA dvd’s) and the color was spot on. It’s not as clear as UFC’s recent DVD’s but still above average.
Note: Just a heads up, the second disc is another story. Video has jaggies and looked soft. It seemed like the compression was really bad. I won’t consider the second disc into the video rating since it’s part of the extras
Audio Score: 3.5/5
Presented in dolby stereo, the audio isn’t as good as the video. Still good for an MMA event but I wished it was more natural. Audio sounded on the “tinny” side but overall, still acceptable.
Note: Disc two’s audio is horrible. The volume is inconsistent so most of the time you’ll be turning up/down the volume every couple of minutes or so. Plus the sound breaks apart when the volume is raised. Just like the video presentation, the second disc’s audio will not go into consideration with the final audio score.
Special Features Score: 4/5
Fighter Bios - Text based fighter biographies. I’m not a big fan of text extras on DVD’s. If I want to read, I’ll read a book. But to their credit, the bios are pretty extensive
Images - Pictures from the events. Some are pretty good.
Rules - Text description of the rules. A good idea to add this, so new MMA fans can understand the sport.
Behind the Scenes Footage - Camera follows KJ Noons, Charles Bennett, Renzo Gracie and Frank Shamrock in this 30 minute segment. There’s also an interview with Gina Carano, where she talks about getting into street fights with guys. I was surprised how informative these feature was. The fighters discuss their philosophies in life. Charles Bennett’s stories were pretty interesting: he talks about knocking out a woman with a knife and the rumored incident that he knocked out Wanderlei Silva. Renzo’s lifestyle seems pretty kickback for a fighter and he just jokes around throughout the whole video. He also discusses the difference between boxing and MMA’s safety. Frank Shamrock and KJ Noons footage aren’t as interesting but still good to see the fighters train. Video and audio for this feature is a wildcard. Sometimes it looks mediocre and sometimes it’s really bad.
Conclusion:
A very good DVD for EliteXC’s first event. The aired matches were entertaining and the DVD presentation was above quality. What surprised me the most was the behind the scenes footage. Being an avid MMA fan, it was a refreshing take to see what fighters did with their daily lives.
DVD Score: 4/5 (not an average)
| Score Recap Content: 3.5/5 Video: 4/5 Audio: 3.5/5 Extras: 4/5 Overall: 4/5 |
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