Review of Pride FC Fighting Championships 1 & 2

Introduction

There is something very different, something almost tangible, about mixed martial arts (MMA) events that are held in Japan. Much of this is down to the respectful nature of the Japanese audience; the whooping & hollering expected at America`s UFC events is noticeably absent here. Furthermore, you will note that this organisation`s name is PRIDE, where the integrity of the sport & the safety of the combatants takes precedence over the usual win-at-all-costs mentality.

This double disc set includes the inaugural two PRIDE events, PRIDE 1 held on 11th October 1997 & PRIDE 2 held on 15th March 1998.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 non-anamorphic PAL & is disappointing, at times comparable to what one would expect from a well-presented VHS. This is somewhat understandable considering each event is around three hours in duration and that the menu system is quite expansive. However, this is not a patch on the glorious transfer of later PRIDE DVDs, such as Championship Chaos II.

Audio

Audio is in the form of a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, the clarity of which is aided tremendously by the respectful silence of the Japanese fans during the competition. This often allows the listener to hear instructions from each fighter`s corner. Excellent technical analysis is provided by Stephen Quadros & Bas Rutten, however both men struggle when bouts are slow & all technical notes have been exhausted.

Features

Features on these discs are the standard features found on all PRIDE DVDs produced by FightDVD, so we have the bizarre situation of having exactly the same set of extras on both discs. However, considering the length of each event, the features (which include the PRIDE rules & a short documentary "What is PRIDE FC?") are adequate, giving a newcomer to PRIDE a good background on what to expect.

Conclusion

Mixed martial arts fighting has evolved very quickly since the mid-1990s, the reason being that if every event was like PRIDE 1 or 2, the concept would have died. This double disc set lasts over 300 minutes & spans 15 matches, yet only 5 of these bouts are worth anything even to the MMA fan. And I have no qualms about declaring the bout between Dan Severn & Kimo - a match I was greatly looking forward to - as the worst MMA contest I have ever seen.

So whilst I cannot fault the setting or the presentation of the actual event, I can only be grateful that PRIDE sought to make their bouts more interesting in latter times by inviting more attack-minded fighters such as Fedor Emelianenko & Mirko Filipovic, and by encouraging the improving Kazushi Sakuraba. Main event match-ups such as deeply unsatisfying Branco Cikatic vs Mark Kerr simply will not do.