Review of Pride FC: 13 and 14

Introduction

This 2-disc set from FightDVD is another dip into the PRIDE FC archives, this time to bring us "PRIDE FC 13: Collision Course" and "PRIDE FC 14: Clash of the Titans".

PRIDE 13 was held on 25th March 2001, from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and was headlined by a mouth-watering main event of Kazushi Sakuraba vs Wanderlei Silva.

PRIDE 14 took place on 27th May 2001, this time from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. It was headlined by the battle of the pro wrestlers, as Kazuyuki Fujita took on Yoshihiro Takayama.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. In comparison to WWE or UFC shows, the ring is quite dimly lit during matches, giving PRIDE its own unique feel. And with no noticeable flaws, this transfer gets high marks, despite its NTSC origins.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Commentary is provided excellently by Bas Rutten and Stephen Quadros, who not only work well together, but provide lots of interesting information to the viewer.

Features

Rather oddly, both discs have the same extras. Those are a photo gallery (specific to each show), a list of the rules of PRIDE, and a glossary of fight terms.

Conclusion

In a wonderfully traditional moment, PRIDE 13 began with an interesting opening ceremony, as a lone drummer gave a performance on the tsuzumi drum. Apparently, this is supposed to summon the spirits of warriors past, who will pass on their fighting spirit to the evening`s competitors.

The first contest, featuring Vitor Belfort & Bobby Southworth, was a short one, something which could also be said for the proceeding three matches which involved Guy Mezger & Egan Inoue, Heath Herring & Denis Sobolev, and Dan Henderson & Renzo Gracie. But whilst the latter two encounters were virtual non-events, at least Belfort vs Southworth and Mezger vs Inoue showcased the skill of the eventual winners.

Things failed to improve in the next contest, as Mark "The Hammer" Coleman faced Allan Goes in an encounter only notable for the fact that it took several moments for the loser of the contest to realise that he had just been knocked out. Things dropped to new depths, however, when Masaaki Satake faced Tadao Yatsuda in an absolute snore-fest in which Yatsuda - a pro wrestler who was out of his league, literally and figuratively - seemed to hold Satake in a clinch for the entire fight.

Things improved only slightly in the evening`s semi-final encounter, as Tra Telligman faced Igor Vovchanchyn in a bout that was good whilst fought standing, but awful once on the ground.

On paper, the main event between crowd-favourite Kazushi Sakuraba and Wanderlei Silva couldn`t disappoint, and thankfully it did not, although their encounter was much shorter than perhaps anyone expected. That said, it was tremendously explosive, and the tension in the arena was almost tangible. The bout may have lasted less than two minutes, but this was far and away the best match on the card.

Ironically, PRIDE 14 began almost where 13 had left off, as Wanderlei Silva took on Shungo Oyama. Let`s just say that Silva treated this contest with the contempt that the match-making deserved.

The second bout featured Antonio Schembri facing Johil de Oliveira in a bout which contained some nice technical work, but was awfully boring on the ground. Although it neither was a great contest, at least Gary Goodridge vs Valentijn Overeem featured some excellent striking.

Dajiro Matsui faced Jose Landi-Jons in the next bout, which again showcased that ground-based MMA can be very boring indeed, and even though Chuck Liddell and Guy Mezger are both known for their ability to entertain, their bout was only worth watching for an excellent finish.

Dan Henderson`s contest with Akira Shoji was a slight improvement, with good work both on the ground and standing, before Heath Herring and Vitor Belfort brought things right back down to earth in a poor bout that was way too ground-based for such accomplished strikers.

In a similar vein, I was hoping for an interesting striking exhibition in the bout between Igor Vovchanchyn and Gilbert Yvel, but although the winner showed great technique here, this bout was way too short to be considered anything but average.

For the second show in a row, the evening was saved somewhat by the main event - which satisfied the bizarre Japanese appetite to watch pro wrestlers fight for real - as Kuzuyuki Fujita faced Yoshihiro Takayama. The bout was not a classic by any means, but it had a tremendous crowd following, and both participants showed great fortitude. This was the best match on the card.

Overall, PRIDE 13 & 14 once again failed to deliver as a whole, with truthfully only the main event of each show living up to its hype. I`m certain that the PRIDE promoters were equally miffed with the contributions of several fighters; the bouts between Chuck Liddell & Guy Mezger, Heath Herring & Vitor Belfort, and Gilbert Yvel & Igor Vovchanchyn should all have been much better.

With only one genuinely edge-of-the-seat match (Sakuraba vs Silva) on two complete shows, PRIDE 13 & 14 is one for the collector only.