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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.25:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    Czech, Polish, Hungarian, English - Hearing Impaired, Romanian, Commentary - English
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer - Bridget Jones, The Terminal
  • Audio commentary
  • Featurette
Wimbledon
/Universal . R4 . COLOR . 93 mins . M15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Let me start by saying that it took a tremendous force of will to resist the temptation to use a pun about “love” in a review for a romantic comedy which is set in Wimbledon and focuses pretty heavily on Tennis. This may not seem like a whole lot to you, but given that knowing what “love” means in Tennis is about the extent of my knowledge of the game it was pretty much all I had, so giving it up was a big thing.

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Young jedi tennis players.

Peter Colt (Bettany) was once a high ranking tennis professional (he made it up to 15th, no, 17th…or was it 11th in the world?) and in his early thirties and currently seeded 188th he is feeling the pressure of keeping up with the much younger and faster players. During what is to be his last Wimbledon appearance he meets Lizzie Bradbury (Dunst) and they hit it off (pun intended).

Peter didn’t expect much from his final tournament and was fully prepared for retirement but with a new romance inspiring him, his game reached new heights and he starts winning matches he should have lost. Just as Peter starts to win, Lizzie starts to lose focus, something her overprotective father (Sam Neill) won't let happen.

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Hey look, it's Spider-man.

With that out of the way Wimbledon is essentially a romantic comedy with some tennis thrown in, or is it a tennis movie with some romance thrown in? It’s hard to tell since the plot manages to weave both genres together seamlessly which means ultimately this movie offers a little of something for a tennis or a romantic comedy fan and if you’re a fan of both, it’s game, set and match (I knew I had another pun in me).

Ladies and Gentlemen, quiet please

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

Wimbledon is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is enhanced for widescreen displays. The menu system is also 16:9 enhanced and has an impressive tennis theme featuring a full screen presentation of one of the more interesting special effect shots in the movie along with the memorable theme music of the movie.

The video transfer is generally excellent and very detailed. As you would expect from a movie that spends a significant amount of time featuring green grass tennis courts the colour levels have received some attention and are rich and lush even when not focusing on greenery. Shadow detail is fine and black levels are excellent.

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Your typical view from Budget-seats-r-us.com

However, there are a few minor problems with the video transfer namely a few incidences of edge enhancement and some compression artefacts which are visible but hardly distracting. Even though I am viewing this DVD via component cables on a supposedly progressive scan capable display a major problem is aliasing which is visible and quite distracting in many scenes particularly on some of the overhead cityscapes and of course the tennis nets, I can only imagine how bad this would be on an interlaced display.

Some would consider a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack on a romantic comedy somewhat superfluous but in the case of Wimbledon the 5.1 track has been used to full effect.

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Here's my Monica Seles impersonation.

The surround channels in particular get the most duty during the movie. Panning rear sound stage effects such as thunder, crowd noise, umpire calls and tennis balls popping around the room represent the most impressive use of the capabilities of the 5.1 format. The musical score also fills the room, using all the channels to full effect.

The centre channel does an exceptional job of presenting the dialogue clearly at all times although the centre doesn’t often have to compete with any of the other soundtrack elements. The bass channel is the only underperformer but it makes a significant contribution when required, mainly for the sounds of a tennis ball popping around the court.

While not quite deserving of a ‘Special Edition’ moniker this DVD serves up (Ed: it was me) a few interesting special features including some pretty standard promotional featurettes and an entertaining commentary by Director Richard Loncraine and Paul Bettany as detailed below:

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Aaaaaaaahhh! This surface feels like carpet.

4 mini featurettes including Welcome to the Club (3:01), Ball Control (4:48), Coach a Rising Star (2:52), Wimbledon: A Look Inside (9:45) which seem mostly promotional in nature and appear to be edited from one long item into 4 separate ones (probably to make it look more impressive in the menu system). These segments focus on topics such as filming at Wimbledon and the CG effects used in the movie along with coaching the actors on how to play tennis like a professional and some of the minor parts played by actual professional tennis players.

Trailers - Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason & The Terminal
It’s ok to include cross promotional trailers for other movies that the studio is trying to push but I find it odd to not include the trailer for the movie we have just purchased, perhaps the studios think it a waste of space since they already have our money for this one? Not a rant, just an observation on an ever increasing trend.

Commentary with Richard Loncraine and Paul Bettany
This is an above average and quite entertaining commentary featuring the all-too-rare combination of Director and Actor. Bettany and Loncraine seem to have a rapport which is reflected clearly in their fluid and dynamic commentary. Loncraine concentrates on the usual directorial topics of score, locations, acting and story while Bettany remarkably avoids commenting on hair styles. Well worth a listen.

While Wimbledon isn’t really either a sports movie or a romantic comedy it sits neatly somewhere in the middle with a clever mix of both genres. The viewer could see it as a tennis movie with a romantic sub-plot or the other way it would be a romantic comedy with some tennis thrown in. Whichever way you look at it , it is as entertaining as you could expect either genre to be and the total package is greater than the sum of the parts.


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  •   And I quote...
    "While Wimbledon isn’t really either a sports movie or a romantic comedy, it sits neatly somewhere in the middle with a clever mix of both genres."
    - Chris Hore
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-676A
    • Projector:
          BenQ PB6100
    • Receiver:
          Yamaha RX-V995
    • Speakers:
          Wharfedale Diamond
    • Centre Speaker:
          Wharfedale Modus
    • Surrounds:
          Wharfedale Diamond
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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