Customer Reviews

Figure Skating: The Competition - Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games

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This DVD contains 90 minutes of figure skating competition highlights, taken directly from NBC's broadcasts during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. NBC Sports commentator Beth Ruyak provides very good narration.

True to big-media form, this production gives virtually all its time to "quest for the gold" stories, which means that, in both video and commentary, the viewer experiences very little other than the circumstances involved with achieving medals. The only complete skating routines shown are of contestants vying for a gold medal, and in the case of the singles skating performances, you only get to see the long programs. With the exception of the women's singles skating competition, no more than two or three individuals/pairs are featured. I would have enjoyed seeing more complete routines, especially those of the short program for singles; also, the continued sorrow over Michelle Kwan not winning a gold medal was tiring. She's awesome . . . period.

The good news is that a major television network can employ top-notch cameramen to go along with the latest technology, so the result is a brilliant picture virtually all the way through. The sound is very good as well. If one could call missing things a plus, I'm thankful that there was very little commentator speculation about the skating order, emotional state of the competitors, judges' scoring, etc. Another positive is that the breaks between skating routines are short and informative. I was also pleased that the time in the "kiss and cry" area (where skaters can wave to the camera and/or pass sign language messages to their friends back home) was kept to a minimum.

Unfortunately, there are no DVD "extras" at all. The opening screen has but one option: "PLAY," and with only four chapters encompassing the events, quick forwarding to your favorite routines isn't possible.

Overall, this is a decent DVD, suitable for your sports/skating library.

I bought this DVD because I wanted to see Sarah Hughes' out-of-this-world long program. It was great. Overall, watching this DVD was not as good as watching the skating live on TV. The comentary wasn't bad, but it was a little too dramatic considering most viewers already know the outcomes. There wasn't quite enough skating. I want to see Sarah's short program too. And Sasha Cohen's. Also some of the footage from behind the scenes was cut out that I really enjoyed when I was watching it on TV. I would have liked to see it again.

This DVD is not bad, but not fabulous. If you have no record of the skating, and want to see the medal winners' long programs, this will suffice. I am glad I got it because at least I have something to remember the Salt Lake figure skating by.

I was very disappointed with this dvd. It was sloppily compiled with no information as to where each skater ranked or what skate they were performing before showing each piece. They told who the winners were upfront, there was absolutely no suspence and they left out many of the top performances. They should take a lesson from Bud Greenspan's videos where some background information is given and there is a build up to the final outcome. I think someone wanted to make some money and just half heartily slapped some performances together. Too bad...they didn't do justice to the many surprising and outstanding skating performances of this Olympics.