Review of Pride FC: 19 and 20

Introduction

FightDVD has once again presented us with a lovely 2-disc set, this time featuring PRIDE FC events 19 & 20. Subtitled "Bad Blood" and "Armed and Ready" respectively, the events were set up - in name at least - for some hard-hitting mixed martial arts warfare.

PRIDE 19 was held on 24th February 2002, from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event was headlined by a grudge match of major proportions, as Ken Shamrock faced Don Frye in the battle of the professional wrestlers.

PRIDE 20 was held on 28th April 2002, from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. The main event looked like a spectacular contest on paper, as Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva faced K-1 kickboxer Mirko CroCop in an inter-promotional battle. Also on the card, 6ft 5", 25 stone American football player Bob Sapp tested his fighting skills in his first ever MMA match, facing Yoshihisa Yamamoto.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is very disappointing considering previous FightDVD releases. This transfer is not the issue, but the source material, which in relative terms, is at the top end of VHS standard - very poor indeed for DVD.

Bizarrely, you have to go back as far as the PRIDE 4 & 5 release to see an image as bad as this, and those events were held in 1998 and 1999 respectively. Considering that PRIDE 19 & 20 were both held in 2002, there is absolutely no excuse for using source material of this standard.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is of average quality for a DVD of this genre. At the beginning of the first show, commentator Stephen Quadros makes mention of the fact that this is the first time that he has commentated live on PRIDE, from Japan. Whilst that sounds great in theory, there are certain times - when the Japanese crowd is uncharacteristically vociferous - when both he and Bas Rutten are a little low in the mix, making it difficult to hear them.

Otherwise, the audio quality is reasonable (another legacy of the poor source material), and the commentary is of its usual high standard.

Features

There are a small number of features on this set, which is excusable considering the length of each main feature.

On PRIDE 19, we have interesting fighter biographies, a glossary of fight terms, the rules of PRIDE FC, a ring girl photo gallery, and a short video on "What is PRIDE FC?" This featurette is recommended viewing for anyone new to PRIDE.

On PRIDE 20, the extras are very similar (but of course event-specific), except that the "What is PRIDE FC?" feature has been dropped in favour of an audio commentary by Quinton Jackson on his match with Masaaki Satake. Although Jackson`s ghetto-style parlance is often hard to understand, his comments were at times hilarious, as well as insightful to his strategy.

Conclusion

PRIDE 19 began in inauspicious circumstances, as Tom Erikson battled Tim Catalfo in a match that went straight to the ground. It was far from a bad match, but it was quick and without a great deal of action.

Alex Steibling and Wallid Ismail then contested another very ground-based bout, although when the two did fight standing, some of the striking was very good indeed.

The third match, between Canadian Carlos Newton and Brazilian Jose Landi-Jons, is still notable today for possibly the most devastating-looking knee strike that I have ever seen. Still, it wasn`t enough for the thrower to claim victory, in what was one of the best bouts of the evening.

Equally good was the next match, featuring Heath Herring and Igor Vovchanchyn. This was the battle of the big-hitters, although unfortunately much more time was spent on the ground than I had first anticipated. Even at that, though, both men managed to score with effective striking.

The PRIDE Heavyweight Title was on the line in the next match, as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira faced Enson Inoue, where the former showed that he is one of the most consistently brilliant performers in PRIDE history. A similar line is true of Wanderlei Silva, who faced pro wrestler Kiyoshi Tamura in the next bout, contested over Silva`s Middleweight championship. Silva`s striking was brutal here, but much credit must go to Tamura, who acquitted himself very well.

The main event turned out not to be as great a fight as the pre-match hype suggested, as Ken Shamrock faced Don Frye. There was some good striking on show, but there was way too much time spent in the clinch, which didn`t make for much of a fight.

If the main event of PRIDE 19 didn`t pack that much of a punch, the same can certainly not be said for the opener of PRIDE 19, as the huge Bob Sapp faced Yoshihisa Yamamoto in a short but brutal bout. The match was fought totally as a stand-up contest, since the idea of Yamamoto wrestling the 360lb Sapp to the ground is beyond ridiculous.

Quinton Jackson and Masaaki Satake were up next, in a superb match which featured some awesome wrestling and striking work from Jackson, before Antonio Rogerio Nogueira - not to be confused with his twin brother! - was equally impressive in his debut bout against Yusuke Inamura.

In what was billed as a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (BJJ) vs wrestling contest, Ricardo Arona faced Dan Henderson in the next bout. A long fight, the striking was good when the two stood against each other, but there wasn`t enough striking when (for most of the fight) they took this one to the ground.

Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs Mario Sperry was a slight improvement on that match, and featured some explosive stand-up exchanges. It was a little laboured on the ground, but was a good match nonetheless.

Sanae Kikuta and Alexander Otsuka then fought in a one-sided bout, before the roof was almost blown off the Yokohama Arena by the inter-promotional bout between PRIDE Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva, and Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic from K-1.

The intensity of the crowd was incredible here, in a match which was fought under special rules, dictating that there were five rounds of three minutes, that there were no judges, and that if the fighters came too close to the ropes, that the fight would be restarted from a standing position.

All of this helped even out the advantage that Silva would have held over (kickboxer) CroCop under regular PRIDE rules, and as such this was quite a good match, although it was certainly more fascinating than it was brilliant. It did, however, have a big match feel, which added to overall spectacle.

To conclude, PRIDE FC 19 & 20 is a good 2-disc set, although the latter show is head and shoulders above the former in terms of in-ring quality. The two best matches both belong to PRIDE 20, in CroCop vs Silva and Jackson vs Satake, although "Ninja" Rua vs Mario Sperry did have its moments.

The DVD presentation is let down by what is poor source material, but if you can get past that, this is certainly a DVD set to consider purchasing.