The Racing Game

Starring:Mike Gwilvm
Studio: Lance (Koch)
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Just go for it! Stories are a lot of fun
Worth seeing but poor video and sound
Completely true to the feel of Dick Francis.
Lacks a lot, technically

Dick Francis - The Racing Game
Starring: Mike Gwilym , Mick Ford , James Maxwell , Susan Wooldridge , and Rachel Davies
Director: Peter Duffell , Lawrence Gordon Clark , and Colin Bucksey
Manufacturer: Lance Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery & Suspense | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Dick Francis Mysteries (In The Frame/ Blood Sport/ Twice Shy)

ASIN: B00006LPF1
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Amazon.com

An unusual yet unexpectedly entertaining television mystery series, The Racing Game DVD collection includes all six episodes from a 1980 British production inspired by Dick Francis's novel Odds Against. Francis himself wrote an adapted scenario based on the story of Sid Halley (Mike Gwilym), a champion jockey whose hand--and career--are destroyed during a racing accident. Lost in a deep funk, Halley is eventually drawn out by a string of suspicious accidents at the track. Soon he's investigating criminal connections to a sadistic, wealthy couple and inventing himself anew as a private gumshoe.

The remaining five episodes are original tales, sketched out by Francis and set in the surprisingly cutthroat world of racing. "Trackdown" finds Sid and his comic-relief sidekick, Chico Barnes (Mick Ford), looking into evidence of race fixing, blackmail, and murder. In "Gambling Lady," the crime-fighting partners seek a link between a champion horse's road accident and a beautiful woman's sizable bets on a mediocre mare.

The Racing Game has a slippery, hurried look and feel, and its nominal star (Gwilym) is rather lifeless on screen. Yet these shows quickly develop an unmistakable, infectious swagger and humor. Certain motifs, such as Halley's wrecked hand and vise-like prosthetic, have a slightly surreal touch. Supporting actor Ford adds crucial energy, and the many exterior shots of the racing milieu can be fun to watch. This series may not be an unqualified winner, but it certainly does place in the mystery stakes. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Just go for it! Stories are a lot of fun.......2007-05-30

I have the VHS versions; The Racing Game is one of my favorite series. Despite the technical imperfections, the story lines are excellent. Odds Against describes how Sid Halley lost his hand while going up against the villains. My favorites are Trackdown and Gambling Lady (stories 2 and 3 on tape 1). You really get a feel for the horsey set -- from breeder and owners to gamblers and even the stable lads. The accents are right (from posh to Cockney), clothing immediately lets you know who the characters are and their social standing (well cut for Halley while Chico doesn't quite get it, the vet wears tattersall shirts and corderoy jackets; the gamblers have their field glasses and tags, the toughs are shaggy maned and wear pinstriped shirts and big ties!) And you learn a bit about equine medicine. It's well worth hunting out the VHS tapes! (And read the books!)

Worth seeing but poor video and sound.......2005-04-14

I had vague memories of enjoying this series on TV when it was originally released on TV. Having ordered this item from another supplier (only to be told it was unavailable) I ordered from Amazon. I waited for nearly two months it to arrive in the UK - why can't we buy UK produced drama on region 2 DVDs in the UK ??? I will never understand why most British stuff is released in the US and not in the UK. (End of whinge)

The story lines are quite good - but a little too short to have the complexity of Dick Francis's books.

Sid Halley seems to be a dominant figure in Francis's writing but in fact there were only a couple of books based on the character and his side kick Chico. The rest of the series is based on story ideas from Dick Francis and he acted as consultant to the series.

Halley is quite understated in the books and this is, if anything, over done in the series where he seems so detached from the world around him that he can be difficult to engage with as a character.

Chico is quite well portrayed but don't expect any stunning judo based fight scenes as the limited violence in the series is pretty poorly done (it reminded me slightly of fight scenes in school plays where teachers are very keen not to get prosecuted for injuries caused).

All that said the stories are still worth watching.

The big problem with the series however is the picture and sound quality. The picture is generally below par - grainy, washed out in places and showing its age. Imagine a worn out VHS tape and you won't be too far off.

The picture, however, is superb compared to the sound quality. One of the episodes is completely unwatchable unless you can lip read! The sound quality really is that bad on that one episode - sounding like the whole thing is tranmitted through a bucket of muddy water. The other episodes are merely poor (but at least you can hear what the characters are saying).

I can understand that the studio wanted to release this series but they could have done something about the sound (there must be a better quality copy somewhere in the world to transfer from) or at acknowledge the problem and provide subtitles on the really bad episode.

It deserves more than 2 stars but the sound alone couldn't warrant any more.

Completely true to the feel of Dick Francis........2003-03-14

This series is, like a lot of '70s British television, short on technical glamor, and long on getting an adaptation absolutely true in spirit to the original, with an added fillip of its own. In this case, the performance of Mike Gwilym, who did such a good job that Francis was inspired to write a second Halley novel [Whip Hand] and dedicated it to Gwilym and the producer of this series. His tough-but-brilliant Sid is the best you'll ever see. If you're a Francis fan, you need this DVD.

The DVDs do the best they can with unrestored source material. You will see film grain, scratches, hairs, etc. But the digital translation has remained as faithful as possible, with the datarate peaking into the 9s frequently (there are three episodes per disc). The colors are bright, and artifacts are not present. The extras aren't. But each episode has 10 chapter stops in all the logical places, and, glory allelu, each episode intelligently inhabits a title (i.e., episode 1 is Title 1, episode 2 is Title 2, etc.) No frills, but no compromises, either.

Lacks a lot, technically.......2003-03-09

The quality of the sound is so bad that it often is difficult to follow the dialogue. Color often is quite faded in parts. The six mysteries are not bad. Of interest to Dick Francis fans, but still a disappointment.

Average customer rating:

The best kart racer that (next to) no one will ever play...
The BEST kart-racing game on ANY game console!
Merlin Racing - Magical NUON Karting
Impressive! Better than I'd expected.
Great kids game.

Merlin Racing: Game
Starring: Merlin Racing
Manufacturer: DVD International
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
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Freefall 3050 A.D.: Game
Tempest 3000: Game

ASIN: B00004ZETU
Release Date: 2000-12-05

Customer Reviews:

The best kart racer that (next to) no one will ever play..........2002-12-01

Overview: At long last, NUON titles are available, debuting with Merlin Racing by Miracle Design. The backstory is a bit light, but it basically has to do with Merlin being captured by the evil witch Prava, a fate that must be decided by a kart racing tournament. Not exactly high drama, but it gets the job done. The kart racing genre has been overdone of late, but Merlin Racing fortunately has an option or two that set it apart, and allow for some replayability, something lacking in most single player modes in the genre. As the first NUON game available at retail, quite a bit rests on this title, and for the most part, it does exactly what it's supposed to do, and that's provide entertainment and a balanced gameplay experience.

Graphics: 6.5 Graphically speaking, Merlin Racing gets the job done, but if you come in expecting 'next-gen' graphics, you will be disappointed. 3D models are decidedly low-poly, and overall, the game looks like an N64 game, right down to some excessive blur on larger textures. While that's not saying it looks bad, you do come in expecting more. Every now and then, you do catch a glimpse of an effect that points to something more running under the hood, but overall, what's onscreen just doesn't begin to approach the newer consoles. I will say that the graphics are among the most colorful I've seen in some time, and each of the game's 25 tracks are unique and lavishly detailed, with the more exotic localles, such as Jupiter XZ005, Atlantis City & Neptune Folley being particularly easy on the eyes. It's obvious that extra attention was given to most of the tracks in the game, although there is a dud or two (Summer Swamp & Merlin Moat come to mind, for different reasons). Overall, the visual package isn't bad, just underwhelming by today's standards, and the one or two places where things really look rough only magnify the few legitimate flaws.

Sound: 6.0 The sound in Merlin Racing, is frankly, sad. It's not so much bad as it is disappointing. Effects are standard fare, engines (weakly) revving, tires squealing, missles, exploding, you've heard it all before. As for the music, well, fact is, I've heard better music on cartridge-based systems quite a bit. In fact, I'd say that the soundtrack in Miracle Design's own Atari Karts on the Jaguar is better than the tracks found in Merlin Racing. Sure, the music fits the track settings quite well, with 'festive'-sounding music in the snow levels and tropical drums in the jungle stages, but there really isn't one single tune I can really state as being a 'stand-out.' It does its job, but not all that well. This is a DVD folks. Do better next time...

Gameplay: 8.0 Luckily for you guys, Merlin Racing's strong point is in the gameplay, where it counts. As far as options go, there are plenty, arcade, adventure, time trail, 2-player split screen & tournament (similar to the standard mode in Atari Karts). The real meat is in the adventure mode, where you have to navigate your way through the castle, collecting keys by winning races, which let you open up more races. The real fun is when you collect the magic keys, which allow you to race against boss characters such as Dr. Freo, an evil, snowman type creature who runs rather than use a kart. Here's where things get a bit hairy, for you see, while Merlin Racing may indeed look like a kiddie kart racing game, the bosses are insanely difficult (they cheat!). Or at least they appear to be... They are beatable, but only after you realize how the races are set up. The other gameplay modes are fun, but limited. Since there is no memory card available for NUON yet (hopefully NYKO & HPI will be getting these out soon), Miracle Design went ahead with the tried & true password method, which while adequate, only saves your progress. Obviously it doesn't save times, so in effect, it renders the time trail mode useless. All in all, Merlin Racing is worth the [price]tag, and is as accessible a title as there is. Hopefully Miracle will decide to clean up the game engine a bit and use it for another NUON game, possibly a 3D platformer.

Theme: 7.0 It's a kart racing game, and while they have been terribly overdone of late on just about every platform, there is a good reason for that. The 'Merlin' aspect doesn't quite work (I was hoping to see Arthur and Lancelot in the game...), but the cuddly animals will draw younger players to the game which the difficulty will challenge even experienced gamers. The fact that the characters are a bit nondescript (these aren't Mickey Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Mario or even a Chocobo) and fairly similar means that there isn't that 'charm' found in other similar games, but when all is said and done, Merlin Racing is good enough to stand on its own, without the need to be propped-up on licenses.

Overall: 7.5 Merlin Racing is a quality title, and most likely, it will be the only one of its kind on NUON for at least a while. While its graphical shortcomings are immediately noticeable, it makes up for them with quality gameplay, multiple modes and sometimes over-the-top difficulty (since it's not cheap difficulty, this is a good thing). Basically this is just one of those titles that could look and sound better, but plays well enough that you ultimately forget to notice those aspects the more you play. At any rate, it's good to have something other than Ballistic to play, and as kart racers go, you could do worse, especially at the price, which is as little as [an amount smaller than you'd think]

The BEST kart-racing game on ANY game console!.......2001-09-19

By far, this is the best of the current batch of Nuon games! In my opinion, this is the BEST kart-racing game on ANY system, including the recent releases on the GBA. Why do I think this game is so good? One word: Playability! The control is dead on and the whole game is enhanced even further when you use a Logitech NUON pad (don't bother using analog, use the crisp and responsive digital pad only!). The soundtrack fits the mood of the game perfectly-my favorite track is the one used for the snow levels. The graphics are great! Colorful with good filtering effects and minimal polygonal pop-up. There's some clipping evident where you can see through walls and such when you get too close to them, but for a first generation Nuon game, the graphics and polygonal effects are well done.

Some NUON gamers say that the game is too difficult and sometimes on the frustrating side. Make no mistake, the game is difficult (you'll often find yourself comfortably in 1st place only to blasted from behind by an opponent's well-placed homing missile...you'll come in second place ALOT), but I've played the game enough to come away with an impression that the difficulty is just right. Yes, there are some unfair moments, but you must truly master the layout of the track and learn to conserve your weapons for the precise moment in order to beat a level. You'll truly feel like you've accomplished something when you finally beat a track you've played through several times! Besides, you can use the Time Trial option (just you and no opponents) to allow yourself the opportunity to learn the specifics of each track.
The option I feel makes this the best kart racing game ever is the Adventure Mode. Tons of levels and secrets to uncover and its a clever way to boost the replayability of an already awesome game! I'd have to say this is the best [money] I've spent on a video game in quite some time! Don't let the cartoony look of the game keep you from playing this! This is not a kid's game! Until we see Iron Soldier 3 re-released, this is the best Nuon game you can buy!

Merlin Racing - Magical NUON Karting.......2000-12-24

Merlin Racing by Miracle Design is a kart-racing game pure and simple, and while that means it's derivitive, it's also fun. There are enough gameplay modes, the best being adventure, which has tough, boss-characters to race against, and three different kinds of racing, kart, boat and a space hovercraft, the latter being the coolest of the bunch. Graphically, it's a mixed bag. It's basically N64 quality, with brief glimpses that hint at something more. Polygon count is generally low, and texturing isn't what it should be, but there are some cool effects and animated textures. It's a fun game though, and good for the price (something you'll be able to say about every NUON game).

Impressive! Better than I'd expected........2000-12-11

I just got this game a few days ago and it's REALLY fun. While it's obviously geared toward a younger crowd, don't let the cute graphics fool you - this game can get *hard*. A huge number of tracks and vehicles that vary greatly (from spaceships to hoverboats to karts), you'll be at this one for a while. A good tide-me over till Tempest 3000 arrives!

Great kids game........2000-10-27

My wife and I love the sample of this game provided with the DVDN2000. It's very similar to a game at the arcade and just as much fun but better graphics if you have a high quality video display and far better sound with the dolby 5.1.

Charlie Rose with Helio Castroneves; Michael Deaver; Ben Crenshaw (May 29, 2001)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Helio Castroneves; Michael Deaver; Ben Crenshaw (May 29, 2001)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Auto Sports | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

First, the winner of the Indy 500, Brazilian Helio Castroneves discusses his victory. He is the second rookie to win the race in two years. Then, former adviser to Ronald Reagan Michael Deaver talks about his friendship with the President and his new book, A Different Drummer. Finally, Professional golfer Ben Crenshaw on his new book, A Feel For the Game. He talks about his career in golf, upcoming tournaments and the impact that Tiger Woods has had on the game.