Review of Great Celtic Action from the 60s

Introduction

Ok, let`s begin with a brief confession. I`m not a Celtic fan, as I`m English and my club loyalties lie elsewhere. But I am a football fan, and enjoy watching the football played by many teams. And Celtic are one of those teams who have played some great football, most notably the `Lisbon Lions`, who were the first British team to win the European Cup (Champions League for younger viewers).

Celtic are currently undergoing a massive resurgence, under the guidance of former Leicester manager Martin O`Neill. So it`s no surprise to see plenty of DVD output relating to them as they emerge from the shadow of Rangers and dominate Scottish football once more. They`re still not up to the Europe-conquering days of the teams featured here, but I`m sure all fans will hope that it`s only a matter of time.

Video

A full-frame (1.33:1) transfer as would be expected for black and white material from the 1960s. The quality is incredibly variable though, with some clips being perfectly watchable, and others being barely distinguishable through a haze of interference. The worst clips do warrant an excuse from the voiceover man, but although the footage in question is rare, the quality is very poor.

As those nice chaps at the self-titled Doctor Who Restoration Team have shown, you can produce some very nice results when you clean up old material - a shame that no-one bothered here, as it doesn`t give you much over a VHS equivalent.

Audio

Just the original mono track replayed over a DD2.0 stereo transfer. The sound is pretty much as you would expect from some 1960s football coverage - not very impressive, but functional.

There`s some cheesy Casio keyboard style music used during the programme, and also a plummy voiceover man who gets a bit preachy on "the state of the modern game".

Features

Nothing I`m afraid.

Conclusion

"A lasting tribute to Jock Stein" and "a must for Celtic supporters of all ages" says the blurb. I disagree. A very lacklustre DVD which smacks of cheap cash-in would be my interpretation. It seems that no effort has been made to restore the footage presented, and the total lack of extras (even team sheets with player information wouldn`t have been too much trouble surely?) put this down as one to be avoided.

If you want to see edited highlights of some old matches from the 1960s then a VHS would be sufficient. The BBC have shown how to present old footage with their excellent Match of the Seventies et al. Shame they`re not available on DVD.

I`m afraid I can`t recommend this to anyone, even die-hard Celtic supporters. If you really must see it, just look out for it on VHS as the DVD really offers little added value.