"This Giulietta Sprint has updated DCOE carburetors, a 5-speed gearbox, and a changed rear axle ratio," says host Keith Martin in the Alfa Romeo Spotter's Guide, Vol. 1--and it takes a special kind of person to fully appreciate the wisdom of those words. Shot on location at the 1993 Alfa Romeo Convention, the first half of the program features Martin commenting on the good and bad features of some 20 different Alfa's and asking questions of their owners ("did your heart jump a little and your spine tingle when you saw the first 164?"). The second half, however, is a blatant series of washed-out looking made-for-video commercials, often with Martin "interviewing" product or store managers about the greatness of their wares. Although the Alfa Romeo is a highly regarded automobile (the 1988 Alfa Romeo Milano ranked 21 on last year's list of "top stolen cars" according to my State Farm insurance newsletter), this low-budget video is too commercialized to recommend.Moving from 4-wheelers to 3-wheelers, The Russians Are Coming! aims to tell the story of the Russian URAL sidecar motorcycle. Backed by minimal narration, the opening half features lengthy shots of the URAL in action, accompanied by more lengthy shots of Russian workers assembling the bikes. Introduced in 1942 (in a model that included a mounted machine-gun for serious road hogs...just kidding; the gun was for soldier cyclists), the URAL came to America 50 years later and has been doing some business in Seattle where a dealer and a few happy owners are interviewed. The problem here is that this whole film could have been a 5-minute news item; as a 40-minute documentary, however, it needed much tighter editing, and a lot more story.Neither title is recommended. (R. Pitman)
Alfa Romeo Spotter's Guide, Vol. 1; The Russians Are Coming!
(1993) 60 min. $29.95. VideoTone Productions. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 9, Issue 4
Alfa Romeo Spotter's Guide, Vol. 1; The Russians Are Coming!
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