Past incarnations of Season reviews have been somewhat disappointing and have felt rushed, with low production values. Thankfully, to accompany the best season in Wigan's history, comes the best Season review DVD for a very long time.
Search out your old DVDs of seasons gone by, and re-watch them. Compared to this latest offering, they are poor by comparison. From the many interviews that accompany most of the games, right down to the DVD's box, it oozes quality that has sadly been lacking from past Season review DVDs.
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And if you are like me, good presentation is a must. The case, for example, does not feel cheap like the Promotion winning DVD. Along with impressive cover art, there is an entire fixtures and results list inside the case, a nice little touch.
As soon as you pop the DVD into your player, and the introductory video begins, you know what you have bought is money well spent. The whole product feels more like a Review of the season, rather than highlights, something older Season Review DVDs have been guilty of. The first game of the season against Chelsea, for example, is given more air time than just the heartbreaking Crespo goal. Accompanying the extended highlights of the game is match day build up, including numerous interviews and DVD commentary that feels right, not too long winded, but not too short.
And if you think the extent of the interviews with people such as Dave Whelan, Paul Jewell and the players stops there, think again. After most of the games, there is an interview with either the manager or a player who influenced said game, in which they give their thoughts on what that game was like and/or how the result effected the squad and coaching staff. One interview with Paul Scharner about his brawl with Duncan Ferguson, in particular, is quite funny. Even though most interviews are like quick 20 second comments, they help hold a brilliantly structured DVD together.
A special mention must go to the DVD Commentary. It is well scripted, going beyond simply giving a summary after each month's fixtures have been completed. The commentary goes a bit further, commenting on numerous incidents that occurred throughout the season. An example being the away game against West Brom, where the Nathan Ellington situation was commented on, with an interview with Jason Roberts before the games highlights. It's neat touches like this that elevates the excitement of watching each game, as you begin to remember things that happened during the season, of which you forgot about. Remember Jimmy Bullard leap-frogging over a melee of players? His confrontation with Duncan Ferguson? It's shown here.
But what about the games? Of course, the heart and soul of any Season Review is the game highlights. The opening Chelsea game is a little deceiving, as it leads you to believe that each game will include more than just goals, but near misses and brilliant goal clearances also. The truth being, this is not the case. In some games, namely heavy defeats against Manchester United, Liverpool and Blackburn in December, only one goal from each game is shown. Although the reasoning behind this is honest and just, why would we want to watch highlights of losing 4-0 twice to United?, it does compromise the fact that this is a review, and with a review should come the bad bits, as well as the good.
However, the DVD more than makes up for this with its many interviews and extended highlights of certain games. Another improvement on last years is the inclusion of all the Cup games, and more importantly, our fantastic Carling Cup run. Each and every round that Wigan featured in the FA and Carling Cups is shown, including extended build up to the Carling Cup, although again this is slightly let down by showing very little match highlights. Again, this is made up somewhat, by the highlights of both Semi-finals, including when the lights went out.
Other than a few missing goals, the DVD has very few faults There are a couple of nuisances , but nothing major. After the content heavy first part of the season, in particular our fantastic run, which culminated in second place, the DVD does seem to speed up somewhat during the final few months of the season, coincidentally ,when we started to fall away from the top six. The more discerning of you will notice a few hiccups in the otherwise excellent commentary. The 1-0 win at home to Fulham being described as another win on the road being one minor imperfection in an otherwise brilliant product.
After the Carling Cup defeat, Paul Jewell made a remark claiming he never wanted to watch that game again. Yet if he ever wanted to watch a season beyond our wildest dreams, he can do no better than buying the Season Review DVD 2005/2006.
Extras
Yes, this DVD contains extras! Something sadly lacking from previous Reviews. However before you do a merry dance in excitement, the extras don't go any further than an exclusive interview with Chairman Dave Whelan, and a countdown of the ten best Wigan goals of the season. The ten goals in question however, will cause a bit of an argument as some goals have been criminally overlooked in favour of others that I would describe as distinctly average. Yet, this is a marked improvement on last years zero Extra Content.
If you haven't already bought your copy of the Season Review DVD, you can buy it at Play.com for £11.99 RRP £15.99, for more click here
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