Plot: What’s it about?
With the success of ‘Survivor’, we all knew that there would be a Part II. Jusat as with any hit movie, the television arena is no different. Not only was Survivor a cultural phenomenon, but it has the ratings, power and advertising to get it into a second season. Beating out shows like “60 Minutes”, “Friends” and “ER” for ratings points, we all knew it was just a matter of time before the new season began. Now I must admit, the second season is a bit personal to me. Like so many others, I was all caught up in the first season’s wake and when it came time that they were looking for new contestants for Season 2, I entered my name in the hat (along with 50,000 other people). And while some people may believe my story and some may not, I did make a video for the second season (I was shirtless in an Australian hat, shirtless, talking in my best Aussie accent with a stack of empty Foster’s beer cans in the frame). Needless to say I was excited when I got a call from some man claiming to be from CBS who told me that I had made the first cut and told me he would be in touch in a few days with the details for me to meet in Dallas. Well, that second call never came and I received another call from CBS saying that a rouge employee who had been fired went around calling people saying they had made the cut and so on…Needless to say, I was a bit soured on the whole Second Season (and the third as well), but I have to admit that I did watch a few episodes. But this isn’t about me, it’s about them and without further ado, here we go…
We all knew names like Richard, Rudy and Gervase from the first season, and now it was time to get acquainted with the members of the second season. After the Super Bowl, one name popped out and one person who we all knew who would get the axe first. Debb. Yes, as I saw the alliances forming and the faces were prettier than before, I called the whole thing off, but Survivor was still the show to beat. Even as critics praised it, the nation was once again engrossed in the game that was Survivor. Amidst all of it’s other spin-offs (by now there was “The Mole”, “Big Brother” and “Temptation Island”), we sort of blamed Survivor’s success on all of the crap that was now appearing on TV. Anyhow, the second season, no matter how you classify it, was a hit and it’s highlights are here for you (more than two hours of them) on this exciting new DVD.
Video: How does it look?
Survivor was a television show and hence is full-frame, though there are shows that are filmed in widescreen now. The colors are rich and bright and adequately reflect the atmosphere of the Australian Outback. I saw no real compression artifacts, the black levels were dead on and the detail was incredible. But there were some minor errors, such as the edge enhancement, that detracted from this being a very good quality disc. While we all watched this on TV, the DVD will look much better, cleaner and more crisp. Still, in the DVD world, it’s not as good as some and hence the score.
Audio: How does it sound?
Only presented in a Dolby Digital Surround mix, this is nothing that we didn’t hear while watching it on TV. Though it has a bit more depth, as the sound is done in the digital domain (as opposed to TV’s analog), there isn’t a whole lot to the mix here. Dialogue is crisp and you can hear every word of Jeff Probst as if he were right in your living room. Surrounds are used very sparingly as well. This mix is best classified as a good surround mix…which it is.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The only feature here is a retrospective interview with the survivors, but we learn enough about them in the two hours that we watch the disc that it’s just enough already. Though if you’re a fan of any one of them, then you’ll like this feature. There is also a DVD-ROM weblink to the official Australian Outback website.
