IVC 2: Birth of an Axe Murderer - Wanderlei Silva [DVD]

LONG BEFORE THE UFC, OR EVERYONE JUMPED ON THE BANDWAGON OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS THE IVC WAS AROUND. IN THE IVC ALMOST ANYTHING GOES, NO GLOVES, HEADBUTTS, YOU NAME IT. THIS DVD FEATURES A GRANDPRIX TOURNAMENT, THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY WANDERLEI SILVA FAN, AND FEATURES 3 OF HIS FIGHTS, ALL IN THE SAME NIGHT! THE ONLY DOWNSIDE FOR SOME PEOPLE IS THAT ASIDE FROM THE SILVA FIGHTS IT'S PRETTY WEAK BUT ON THE OTHER END OF THAT EQUATION THE SILVA FIGHTS ARE SOME OF THE BEST OF HIS CAREER! THE COMENTATING IS IN PORTUGUESE EXEPT FOR THE MAIN EVENT, THE PICTURE QUALITY IS GOOD CONSIDERING WHEN AND WHERE THIS WAS MADE AND I WOULD NO DOUBT GIVE THIS DVD A 5 STAR RATING!PS. IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE WATCHED THIS DVD BUT THERE ARE SOME EXTRAS TOO.

A great DVD featuring the legendary Wanderlei Silva. The action is hard hitting throughout, with no rules, so there are Headbutts, and other strikes newer fans of MMA may not be accustomed to seeing. You get the full tournament from the opening round to the finals.

Finally, the infamous I.V.C. shows are available on DVD.Back in the day, we would read about these shows in publications such as Full Contact Fighter and salivate for the day we could see them. They became available on VHS, but at nearly $40.00 a pop!The only one I had bought was the fifth show, "The Warriors", and this was the one of the most intense shows I had ever seen since UFC 1-3. As liberal as Pride is with their rules, they still seemed watered down compared to the IVC.Now available on DVD I've gotten to see the first 4 shows (finally) and they live up to the hype. Video quality is good. Not big budget like today's "Big Two", but for the time, and being shot in the poorer Brazil, it's just fine. These were aired on PPV in Brazil, so it's not camcorder quality either.In closing, if you're a hardcore fan, or a recent convert wanting to see the brutal beginnings of MMA, the I.V.C. series is a must buy.Now of only Battlecade 3 and 4 would get released.....

This disk had two major problems. When the menu comes up, you cannot choose any of the items. Frankly I don't know what I did that made the dvd start, and when I tried to do it again, failed. The second problem is that even though there is only 1 and 1/2 hours of material on the disk, they used extreme compression, making the fast movements virtually unwatchable. Compression should never be used in sports or other fast moving subjects, as it obliterates any details. The "birth of an axe murderer" fight with Vanderlei Silva was very good to watch though, earning the disk a star.

Everything is in Portuguese, including menus. Just like all other IVC shows, minimal rules and poor quality. Wanderlei's fight is not exceptionally good, but is perhaps one of the most bloody thanks to one of the most gruesome cuts I've seen (they didn't have rules for stopping the fight due to cuts).

Thanks again