A ‘Hole-Hart-ed’ DVD

Even if you don’t know anything about wrestling, you know who Bret “The Hitman” Hart is. You know, the cool dude with the pink Geordi La Forge lookin’ visor that won basically every championship in WCW and the WWF in the ’80s and ’90s. The same thing goes for his family, which together, forged a legacy that no family in the sport will ever be able to compete against.

Chronicled in “Hart & Soul,” this three-disc, nine-hour DVD compilation by WWE home entertainment is packed with tons of matches and a brand new documentary that sheds more light on the Hart dynasty than ever before. In spite of that however, this collection fails to live up to the same standard as the family it’s based on.

The documentary portion of this set is an interesting one, but ends up taking a nose dive when it becomes more about the family and less about the family’s involvement in wrestling. Sure, the little side stories are heart-warming and show how close they all were and still are to this day, but the majority of wrestling fans want to hear something else. As well, the introductions to every member of the family, many of whom never stepped in the squared-circle, hurt the overall fan appeal of the set. That doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable to watch as a whole, it’s just not as engaging as it could have been.

While a weaker documentary isn’t a horrible thing, the matches featured on this set have their problems as well.

Aside from the Owen Hart matches, that have never seen the light on DVD, many of the matches included in this collection have been seen before and are featured on other boxed sets. Take the infamous 10-man tag match or the Bret Hart/British Bulldog battle for the Intercontinental title. Hardcore fans of the sport and this family’s work over the years most likely own the other box sets these matches are featured on, so why the WWE chose to have some of the same matches on this set is puzzling. Also, considering the fact that the family made a name for itself in the STAMPEDE promotion before hitting the WWE, it’s also mind-boggling that more of those matches weren’t included.

As well, there wasn’t one Stu Hart singles match on the entire collection. With all of the footage the WWE owns, they couldn’t find one of his matches to include on this set? Instead, the set feels more like a tribute to Owen, as nine of the 12 matches include the youngest member of the Hart Clan.

Because of this, if you’re a huge fan of “The Rocket,” “Hart & Soul,” is a must buy. Those looking for a more complete history of the family however, appear to be out of luck.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13820 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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