Review of Phenomenon: The Lost Archives Volume 6

Introduction

Readers of our forums will have noticed a proliferation of conspiracy theory threads in recent weeks, ranging from discussions about whether NASA actually put men on the moon, to opinions on America`s attitude to global warming.

The Phenomenon Archives are American TV programs, supposedly based on "recently unearthed" government archives. The episodes deal with various topics, including alleged government conspiracies and the supernatural.

This is the sixth disc and features the episodes Monopoly Men and An Unknown Encounter.

Video

The video is presented in full-frame and is of variable quality depending on the source material used. The programs are introduced by Dean Stockwell and these segments are of good quality with no dirt or grain. In addition, any interviews filmed for the series are of similar good quality.

Other footage varies in quality wildly, sometimes due to age and sometimes due to it being "camcorder" material.

However, the overall image quality is no better or no worse than other programs of this nature and it is perfectly watchable.

Audio

The soundtrack comes in Dolby Digital Stereo, and performs adequately, with the dialogue being clear and understandable at all times.

There is some generic music, which isn`t especially exciting.

Features

There are no extras, with just scene selection available from the menus.

Conclusion

Monopoly Men looks at the creation of the American Federal Reserve Bank, calling it the biggest crime in history and the program makers provide various theories blaming the bank for just about every problem in the world including wars. They also claim that the bank is responsible for picking Presidential candidates and setting laws. This program is sensationalist drivel in my opinion and barely watchable at times.

An Unknown Encounter is even worse than the previous episode and features the "haunting" of an American woman. This program is nothing more than "filler" and contains nothing of interest whatsoever, with interviews and poor quality footage – I really did struggle with the program.

Overall, this volume has two weak episodes and really isn`t recommended unless you`re very sure that it`s your sort of thing. I suggest keeping an eye on satellite/cable TV instead for this sort of material. Video and sound are both adequate and the retail price is in the budget bracket at £12.99.