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Blaze' Battle:Round 1
Ventura // Unrated // June 22, 2004
List Price: $14.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
The emcee battle is the core of hip-hop. It's just two rappers, rhyming off the top of the head, the winner being the better on the mic. Immortalized in Eminem's 8 Mile, the battle is unique to not just rap music, but to the hip-hop culture (emcees, DJs, breakdancers and graffiti artists).
Blaze Battle: Round 1 is half of an HBO special aired in 2000, showing the 2000 Blaze Battle World Championship. It was the only event of its kind, but has not been contested since, possibly due to violence during the 2000 edition (at one point, one of the emcees jumped off stage and started a brawl with a heckler).
First, let's dispense with the lies on the back cover. Yes, the lies. The "behind the scenes at the face off rap battle" footage is five seconds with the losing emcee after each battle. It's already part of the feature. "Face-Off: Rap Battle World Championship" is also listed as an extra - it is the feature. Most upsetting is that a "Live Performance by KRS-1" is touted on the back cover, but his role is just to introduce the competitors by round.
The rules to the battle itself are simple: Each emcee gets 60 seconds to tear the competition apart. At the end, the audience votes by making noise. The winner advances to the next round. Here's the problem: Out of the 16 emcees on this DVD, maybe four could effectively fill 60 seconds of freestyle time. One emcee, Riece, maybe used 40 seconds of her time, taking long pauses in the middle to think … and she won her round!
So, the first round ends – mercifully – and Doug E. Fresh updates the bracket (his only "appearance" on the disc). Then, it's a quick cut to the closing credits. Blaze Battle: Round 1 lives up to its name, just giving us the first round of the competition. So, the DVD gives you 16 minutes on rhyming – less if you take off the time at the beginning of each emcees round spent vamping. The total program length is 34 minutes.
The DVD
Video:
The video presentation of Blaze Battle: Round 1 is passable. HBO aired the program originally, and the disc looks like it did on digital cable in 2000. Colors hold up surprisingly well in the dimly-lit Hammerstein Ballroom.
Sound:
The 2.0 mix is actually better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the disc. The 5.1 sounds forced, like the DVD producers were looking to find something to fill the back speakers. But the emcees are easily understood and the background beats never overwhelm those on the mic.
Extras:
Despite what the back cover may say, the only extras on the disc are previews for other Urbanworks Entertainment releases.
Final Thoughts:
At a retail price of $14.99 for 34 minutes, Blaze Battle: Round 1 may be one of the worst deals in DVD history. Add in that the competition's first round only really served to remove those that never belonged there in the first place, and this is an easy DVD to skip.
The emcee battle is the core of hip-hop. It's just two rappers, rhyming off the top of the head, the winner being the better on the mic. Immortalized in Eminem's 8 Mile, the battle is unique to not just rap music, but to the hip-hop culture (emcees, DJs, breakdancers and graffiti artists).
Blaze Battle: Round 1 is half of an HBO special aired in 2000, showing the 2000 Blaze Battle World Championship. It was the only event of its kind, but has not been contested since, possibly due to violence during the 2000 edition (at one point, one of the emcees jumped off stage and started a brawl with a heckler).
First, let's dispense with the lies on the back cover. Yes, the lies. The "behind the scenes at the face off rap battle" footage is five seconds with the losing emcee after each battle. It's already part of the feature. "Face-Off: Rap Battle World Championship" is also listed as an extra - it is the feature. Most upsetting is that a "Live Performance by KRS-1" is touted on the back cover, but his role is just to introduce the competitors by round.
The rules to the battle itself are simple: Each emcee gets 60 seconds to tear the competition apart. At the end, the audience votes by making noise. The winner advances to the next round. Here's the problem: Out of the 16 emcees on this DVD, maybe four could effectively fill 60 seconds of freestyle time. One emcee, Riece, maybe used 40 seconds of her time, taking long pauses in the middle to think … and she won her round!
So, the first round ends – mercifully – and Doug E. Fresh updates the bracket (his only "appearance" on the disc). Then, it's a quick cut to the closing credits. Blaze Battle: Round 1 lives up to its name, just giving us the first round of the competition. So, the DVD gives you 16 minutes on rhyming – less if you take off the time at the beginning of each emcees round spent vamping. The total program length is 34 minutes.
The DVD
Video:
The video presentation of Blaze Battle: Round 1 is passable. HBO aired the program originally, and the disc looks like it did on digital cable in 2000. Colors hold up surprisingly well in the dimly-lit Hammerstein Ballroom.
Sound:
The 2.0 mix is actually better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the disc. The 5.1 sounds forced, like the DVD producers were looking to find something to fill the back speakers. But the emcees are easily understood and the background beats never overwhelm those on the mic.
Extras:
Despite what the back cover may say, the only extras on the disc are previews for other Urbanworks Entertainment releases.
Final Thoughts:
At a retail price of $14.99 for 34 minutes, Blaze Battle: Round 1 may be one of the worst deals in DVD history. Add in that the competition's first round only really served to remove those that never belonged there in the first place, and this is an easy DVD to skip.
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