The Basics of Paintball

A game called "Save the President" is played thusly: one team attempts to shepherd a team member (ostensibly, the President) through the brush to a destination while the other team tries to assassinate him or her enroute. The fact that the team members are using harmless paintballs fired from specialized guns should make this "game" a little more palatable, I suppose, but I still found the idea rather disturbing. The sport of paintball--for those who want to shoot people but not actually hurt them--is covered in this "how-to" guiding viewers in equipment selection (guns, ammo, face masks, camouflage outfits--your basic soldier of fortune accessories), rules of the game (with particular emphasis on safety considerations), and strategies for both individual and team play. Hosted by Fred Schultz, this well-made program does indeed offer a lot of information for potential paintball enthusiasts, but the advertising pitches are rather annoying. Bill Gardner, creator of SmartParts rifle add-ons, manages to pop in a few plugs for his company, and they come in the editorial section rather than separated from the program content. Larger sports collections--and those with nearby paintball fields--will probably want to consider adding; for others, this is an optional purchase. (R. Pitman)