I AM RESPONDING to folks who're wondering about the CHINA CRISIS DVD. That this item costs P299 is already a dreadful giveaway that something would prove amissed about its quality. And once more my intuition is right. I always contend that when a western-made DVD is placed in Filipino hands for duplication, the result is qualifiably a bastardized DVD. These Filipino replication people - whether its Viva or that execrable C-Interactive con artist company - just could not do it right. The result is always miserable or merely passable video resolution, they could not aspire to replicate it as bit-perfect as should be the ideal. Mangongopya na nga lang, tinatarantado pa.
I have spent my youngster years during the late 70s and the entire 80s, hence China Crisis, though it has not achieved a wild popularity ever - is an act I remember acutely well. The group is very literate - almost towards an intellectual bent, has been continually performing for 26 years, and has a respectable recording canon of around 10 or so. This DVD then is a godsend for New Wave nostalgists like me who wants to recapture our younger years by seeing this act on an ultra-rare DVD-taped performance. But the video quality is just certifiably terrible, akin to a decade-old VHS tape thats been warped by time, moist, molds, overused or plain neglect. The colors are garish, tending towards a yellowish tint, with no good definition on the original tints and hues - its like smeared lipstick.
There's also no visual consistency in that one segment is passably sharper while the next segment (or song) lacks decent contrast and therefore appears soft, even blurry. The menu also, believe it or not, does not work. When you wanted to go to the Extra Song menu, it will not budge. In short the only operating menu is the Play and thats where you've to worked for getting to the extra songs too. Sayang ito, it could be the only China Crisis DVD folks like me could avail of in our lifetime, its not even available on North American sellers (much like the Style Council On Film DVD).
The saving grace though is the sound. The audio quality is not reference's but its very good sounding on my JVC Wood-Cone system (a mediocre system thats a cause for purchasing regret). Think how it'll sound in your proper home theater audio system. It has a good volume level, and full-bodied. In the end, at least in my case, this DVD is meant to be heard than watched. At P299, its a glorified and satisfying "CD" if only listened to - because the video, as placed in Filipino hands - were defiled. They could have marked it instead as VCD.
