Film 

Bull Durham is without question one of the finest sports themed films ever made and certainly the best involving baseball. It has appeared on nearly every critical list in the sports films category, more often than not, at the top. There is a simple reason for that. It is a great film. The film is excellent at offering a glimpse into the life of a baseball player in the low minor leagues as well as the women who follow them and attempt to latch onto a little bit of greatness while they can.

The film centers around three main characters, a young pitcher with major league potential, Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), a career minor league catcher, Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) brought in the groom Nuke for a quick path to the Major Leagues or The Show as it is known among the players and the 30 something Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) who treats baseball as a religion and decides to bed one new player a year on the local team, the Durham Bulls.

The film accurately depicts life in the low minors and the toll that life in the minors can take on the players. It also accurately depicts how women throw themselves at at the new players on the team hoping to hitch a ride on a star to a path of wealth and fame. You can go to the opening game in most small minor league towns in A or AA ball and see this playing out in front of your own eyes. I know I have. While Annie latches onto to Nuke, she soon learns that there is more to Crash than meets the eye and that her life, chasing after younger men, may not be how she ultimately wants to live the rest of her life. While Bull Durham is a comedy, it is chock full of some very poignant and introspective moments.

If you have not seen Bull Durham, do yourself a favor and give this film a look. You will be glad you did. Even with the video shortcomings as described below, Bull Durham is a film that belongs in the collection of all film fans. Recommended.

Video 

To say that I was disappointed in the video quality of this release would be an understatement, which, with a few exceptions, is barely above DVD quality. The film has a rather warm color palette with slightly de-saturated colors and mediocre blacks. The film was originally released to theaters in 1988 and has the look of many films in the 1980′s, namely overly soft with a rather murky and hazy looking image. Film grain is rather heavy here and well preserved.

I have an old DVD copy of the film and it looks as though the Blu-ray was mastered from the same print used for the older DVD and looks very similar in terms of color and overall image quality, with the Blu-ray showing better detail and overall clarity, but not by as much as one would have expected or hoped for. Given the softness and lack of deep blacks, the image here is flat and very two dimensional, lacking anything in the way of real depth. It has been way too long for me to recall how this film looked in the theaters but given the look of films in that era, the Blu-ray may just be a faithful depiction of the actual filmed image. Otherwise, Bull Durham is a film that could really benefit from a major restoration effort.

Audio 

The best aspect of the sound on this release is the accompanying music track which sounds wonderful and pulls the overall score up from a 3.5 to a 4 star rating. The music here sounds great with excellent imaging and transparency and rock solid bass. The opening vocal sequence sounds amazing.The rest of the film is deserving or no more than a 3.5 star rating, sounding a bit thin and flat. While the surrounds do spring to life occasionally, usually during the live action baseball sequences, the mix itself is rather front heavy. On the plus side, the dialogue track is well recorded and is always front and center in the mix.

Special Features 

Bull Durham is presented in a 2 disc combo pack with disc one the Blu-ray version of the film and disc two, a DVD edition. Other than the original trailer for the film, the Blu-ray disc contains no extras at all. All of the extras are located on the DVD edition which, with two exceptions, were ported over from the prior DVD release of the film. The extras ported over from the prior DVD release include an audio commentary from director Ron Shelton, an audio commentary with Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins, the featurette, “Between the Lines: The Making of Bull Durham”, a Kevin Costner Profile and a Sports Wrap. Two new featuretes are included on this release, a 20 year look back at the film featuring the cast and crew entitled “The Greatest Show on Dirt” and “Diamonds in the Rough” which takes a look at minor league baseball. of all the extras, the two newest and the ones most worth your time.

Final Thoughts 

While I was disappointed with the overall video and audio presentations on this release, Bull Durham is such a great film, even 22 years after its initial release, that it belongs in the collection of ay film buff. If you haven’t already, by all means add Bull Durham to your film library.

Film 

Invictus is a very moving film directed by Clint Eastwood. While at first glance, the film appears to be about a sporting event, it is about much more, about how one of the true giants of the 20th Century, Nelson Mandela, uses sport to unite a country torn apart by racial strife and build a modern nation.

As the newly elected President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela sees the need to unite the country that has been fractured along racial and economic lines and sees sport as the unifying factor. He uses the pursuit of the Rugby World Cup being staged it so happens in South Africa as the sport and a particular club that was important to the white population of the country and despised by the black population, namely Springbox, as his rallying point. The club were decided underdogs but yet were able to make the final all the while captivating the entire nation, bringing both black and white sections of the population together in a common pursuit and in turn uniting the nation.

The film features two fine performances by Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as the captain of the Springbox team, Francois Pienaar, both of whom earned Oscar nominations for their performances. This is an excellent film featuring fine performances by the entire cast, Clint Eastwood’s usual stellar direction and a fine script. Although set in 1995 in another country, the film’s message is still as relevant today as ever. This is a film that fully deserves your attention and is highly recommended.

Video 

All in all, I was more than pleased with the video encode on this release. As I had seen the film before, I was well aware of how it should look and this encode captures the look of the film in theaters perfectly. The film features a rather de-staturated color palette. While the film is full of greens, reds and yellows, they are not as bold and bright as one would otherwise expect. The colors are intentionally muted to give the film a somewhat stylized look. Skin tomes are rather natural looking although are muted as well. Blacks are deep and solid.

Overall detail is excellent as well with facial, background and shadow detail all looking to be top notch. As a result, the on screen image has an excellent sense of depth and three dimensionality. As one would expect from a new film, the print used for the encode is in pristine condition. The encode is free of any obvious edge enhancement or digital noise reduction. This encode appears to be completely faithful to the look of the film in the theater which is really all that one can ask.

Audio 

I didn’t find the audio in the theater to be a bombastic mix and as with the video presentation, the audio here is faithful to the theatrical presentation of the film. The overall fidelity of the sound is quite good with a nice smooth and open sound with excellent imaging and transparency. With the exception of the rugby action sequences, especially the World Cup matches. the sound is fairly front heavy. It is the rugby action sequences where the audio really shines, with active and aggressive use of the surrounds, placing your right in the stadium the stadium with the crowd watching the action. Other than these action sequences, the audio presentation or should I say the audio design, is rather pedestrian.

Special Features 

Invictus is presented as a two disc combo pack, with the high def presentation on the Blu-ray disc and a second disc containing a DVD as well as a digital copy of the film. While the extras are rather standard fair, I did find them to be interesting and informative. The extras include an interview with Clint Eastwood presented via PIP during the running of the film, where he explains what attracted him to the film and his thoughts concerning the construction of the film.

Also included is a featurette “Mandela Meets Morgan” which provides a behind the scenes look at the making of the film, including meetings between Morgan Freeman, the producers of the film and Nelson Mandela where Mr. Mandela gives his blessing to the selection of Morgan Freeman for the title role. Also included is a featurette entitled “Matt Damon Plays Rugby” which features an interview with Matt Damon as well as Francois Pienaar where they both discuss Matt Damon’s preparation for his performance. Also included is a featurette “The Eastwood Factor” which is a condensed look at an upcoming feature length film chronicling Clint Eastwood’s career at Warner Brothers Studio.

Final Thoughts 

Invictus is a fine film that tells the very important and moving story of Nelson Mandela’s use of sport to united a deeply divided South Africa. The film features two memorable performances by both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and is well worth a look. This release is highly recommended.

Film 

OK, I will admit it upfront, I am a little biased here in regards to The Natural. I am a life long baseball fan and just loved this film when it was released way back in 1984. Along with Field of Dreams, it is one of my favorite sports themed films of all time.

Based on the book of the same name and in part on the real life story of former Phillies and Cubs first baseman, Eddie Waitkus, The Natural stars Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs, as gifted a baseball player one could find who is shot by a crazed women in black (Barbara Hershey) in a hotel in Chicago where he has traveled for his tryout with the Cubs in 1923. He spends the next 16 in exile until he is signed to play for the woeful New York Knights in the National League. He arrives in New York in 1939 as a late thirties rookie, with nothing but the clothes he is wearing and his bat named Wonderboy, which he made out the wood from the tree under which his fathered died after a heart attack, which was later struck by lightning.

The Knights manager, Pops Fisher (Wilford Brimley), didn’t take kindly to the thought of Roy Hobbs, thinking that he was a joke, foisted upon him by the team’s co-owner known as The Judge, who was locked in a fight for the ownership of the team with Pops and who wanted the team to fail for his own selfish reasons. However, once Pops was able to see Roy hit his truly tape measure home runs in batting practice, it wasn’t long before Roy Hobbs was the team’s right fielder and something of national star.

Roy is smashing homers left and right and is leading the team to the top of the league, only to be sidetracked with a love affair with a women (Kim Bassinger) who has a clear ulterior motive. Roy is not set back on the right tracks until he comes across his old flame (Glenn Close) in Chicago when she comes to see him at a game at Wrigley Field. Just as the Knights were about to take the pennant, Roy is struck down and unable to play due to a stomach condition that was related to his old gunshot wounds. Will he risk his life and play in the winner take all playoff game to save the team for Pops? What do you think?

The Natural is a truly excellent film which captures the look and sounds of the game from way back when, with beautiful cinematography, and features a story that is based on the tales of ancient mythology of hubris and redemption. It is beautifully written and acted and was a true joy to experience all over again on Blu-ray and is highly recommended.

Video 

Overall, this is a great looking film. The encode here retains the very film like texture of the film, without even a hint of the application of digital noise reduction or edge enhancement. Film grain is consistent throughout and the film has the same warm look that I recall ( or think I recall!) when I saw the film in the theater all those years ago. I just loved the way light is captured by the cinematographer, from the more stark looking nighttime baseball action, to the golden glow of daytime baseball and to the golden hues when Roy would play catch with his father in the wheat fields of his native midwest.

If I would have one quibble with the look if the film it would be in the inconsistent level of detail and clarity from scene to scene. The actual baseball action looks excellent for example, with great levels of detail and clarity. An example would be the fine details in the wool flannel uniforms and hats worn by the players, with the fine texture of the fabric visible during both close-ups and more distant shots.

The scenes in the rest of the film are rather soft, resulting in less facial detail, background detail and clarity than the rest of the film. Don’t get me wrong, this is how the film is supposed to look and these scenes look sumptuous in their own right, but lack the deep blacks, clarity and detail that one would expect from a film with a 5 star video rating for example. I loved the look of the film on this Blu-ray release which is completely true to the look of the film that I recall experiencing in the theater and have little doubt that fans of the film will be more than pleased with the video quality on this release.

Audio 

I must admit that I was a a bit surprised by the sound quality here which was much better than I had anticipated, especially given the age of the film. The quality of the audio is obvious from the opening scene with Roy at the train station. One can clearly hear the train as it approaches from well off the left side of the screen until it rumbles and I mean really rumbles across the front of the room with exceptional levels of sonic reality. Overall, the film has excellent levels of dynamics and deep bass, from the sound of the ball off the bat, to the ball hitting the seats, light towers and the clock at Wrigley Field along with the crackle of lightning.

The surrounds are also used rather aggressively during the entire film to create a nice sense of immersion, especially during the baseball sequences, but even during interior scenes, creating a very realistic sense of room acoustics. The overall level of fidelity is excellent as well characterized by a smooth and open sound with very nice depth. Randy Newman’s score sounds sensational throughout the film. The dialogue track is also well recorded and well placed in the mix. Overall, this is a great sounding film and is one that will thrill fans of the film. I know it did me.

Special Features 

In addition to enjoying the film, I also enjoyed the extras immensely which I found to be really informative. The extras include a making of featurette “When Lightning Strikes: Creating the Natural” which details the original novel, assembling the team that made the film and the shooting of the baseball action sequences. Also included is a featurette entitled “Clubhouse Conversations” in which Bob Costas, George Will, Don Mattingly and others discuss their love of the game of baseball in general and the film in particular.

My two favorite extras “A Natural Gunned Down: The Stalking of Eddie Waikus” and “knights in Shining Armor: The Mythology of The Natural”. The former tells the true story of the staking and shooting of Phillies’ first baseman Eddie Waitkus in a Chicago hotel room in 1949, with interviews with a historian as well as Ediie Waitkus’ son. The latter points of the various elements of Greek mythology featured in the film, from the names of the characters to the timeless themes of failure and redemption featured in the film as well as the references to King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable. Very interesting and thought provoking stuff.

The extras also included some very short featurettes entitled Extra Innings which detail elements of the film such as the slow motion techniques used and the creating of the film’s uniforms among others as well as a short film entitled “Heart of The Natural”. All are well worth a look.

Final Thoughts 

In short, The Natural is a great film that sports fans as well well as non fans should find appealing. It looks and sounds great on Blu-ray and is packed with many interesting and informative extras and is well worth your time. Highly recommended.

As an aside, isn’t the concept of relegation a wonderful thing? I would love to see that in the US. One would think that with this rich history there would be a great movie in there somewhere. I am pleased to report that there is and it is the subject of today’s review, The Damned United. The great thing about this film is the you don’t need to be a fan of English football or a sports fan at all to enjoy it.

Film 

Simply put, this is a great film, even if it has been somewhat overlooked by the general public, which is a shame. The Damned United has everything that you could want in a film. It is well written and directed, full of drama and incredible performances by the entire cast, which features some great English character actors such as Jim Broadbent and Timothy Spall and another memorable performance by Michael Sheen in the lead role of Brian Clough.

At this point in time, Michael Sheen has to be recognized as one of the world’s great actors. As is the case with one of my all time favorite actors, Gary Oldman, Michael Sheen has the rather unique ability to totally become the character that he is playing, to that point that you totally forget that it is an actor playing that role. This is a gift that is shared by a precious few.

The film centers on the early years in the career of Brian Clough, universally regarded as the greatest manager in the history of English Football. Brian Clough was a man before his time in terms of the way he thought the game should be played as well as his ability to use the media, especially television. He sure had the gift of gab, to the point that he even came to the attention of one of the most gifted communicative athletes of all time, Mohammed Ali.

The film jumps back and forth between time periods, mainly 1968-69 and 1974. showing him taking over the reigns of the dominant football club of the era, Division 1 champion Leeds United and back to 1968 when he along with his trusted assistant and sounding board, Peter Taylor, took a perennial small town second division club, Derby County, to the championship of the first division and the top spot in all of English football.

While Brain Clough was a very gifted man, he let his ego get the better of him, which is where his friend and advisor, Peter Taylor was his greatest asset. Brian Clough’s desire to be the best manager in England was driven not only by his ego, by his hatred of Don Rivie, the manager of Leeds United, who is played beautifully here by Colm Meaney (talk about look a likes!). After letting his ego get in the way of his management of Reading County, he and Peter Taylor were as the English say, sacked. They were then hired by a small town club, Briton. However, days later, Brian Clough was asked to assume the reigns of the hated Leeds United after Don Revie resigned to take over the management of England’s national a team.

This was a doomed marriage from the start as Peter Taylor refused to renegue on his commitment to Briton and refused to join Clough at Leeds. Clough’s management style was rejected by the Leeds players resulting in the worst start in many years, resulting in his dismissal as manager in only 44 days.

The Damned United is a compelling story of the power of the ego, for good as well as bad, and the value of true friendship. This is a great little film and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. The film should appeal to fans and non fans of football, i.e. soccer, and is very highly recommended.

Video 

The Damned United is a highly stylized looking film and looks great its its debut on Blu-ray. The film’s color palette various continuously throughout the film. At times, the film features a fairly natural looking palette. At time, the film has a washed out look and at other times, a purplish, bluish gray look. However, this is how the film is intended to look and the encode reproduces it perfectly. Blacks are deep throughout most of the film but at times, during the more washed out portions of the film are more milky than inky. However, that is just how the film is supposed to look. What is uniform throughout the entire film is a high level of detail, clarity and depth.

Background details are excellent, with each and every skin pore and blemish clearly visible as is each and every blade of grass and divot on the pitch. In addition to the color palette changing throughout the film the same can be said for the film grain, which is heavy at times and at times barely noticeable, depending on the type of film stock used. I couldn’t detect any obvious evidence of digital noise reduction or edge enhancement being applied during the encode. Visible video noise also is kept to a minimum in the darker lit scenes. In short, this is a great looking encode and is one which is totally faithful to the look of the actual film and was a thrill to experience for the first time on Blu-ray.

Audio 

In terms of overall fidelity, the audio presentation on the Blu-ray is very good, with a smooth and rich sound. The dialogue track is well recorded and well placed in the mix. The dialogue is always intelligible which is important given that The Damned United is a dialogue driven film. Where the audio fails a bit for me is in the sound design, which is very front heavy. The surrounds are used very infrequently, and come to life mostly during the football action and crowd shots, where a bit of an immersive effect is created.

I would have preferred a more aggressive use of the surrounds in the interior scenes, especially during locker room sequences, where the reflective surfaces naturally create an active acoustic environment, but which sound rather dry here. All in all, the audio on The Damned United is fine. I just would have preferred a more immersive experience. As far as this writer is concerned, the more immersive the better.

Special Features 

If you are a fan of English football, you will no doubt appreciate the extras on this release. They include a commentary with director Tom Hooper, Michael Sheen and producer Andy Harries. Also included is a featurette “Cloughisms” with some memorable Clough dialogue, a making of featurette “Perfect Pitch” featuring interviews with Tom Hooper, Michael Sheen and the writer of the book, upon which the film is based, David Peace.

Also included is a featurette “Creating Clough: Michael Sheen takes on ‘Old Big ‘Ead’, where Michael Sheen discusses how he went about creating his character and features archival footage of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. The real gem of the extras, at least for me, is the featurette “The Changing Game: Football in the Seventies” where actual players from Leeds United and other clubs during the time period of the film, discuss what football in the 1970′s was like and how it differs from today, as well as their recollections of Brian Clough and Don Rivie.

What I found particularly interesting about this featurette is how English football had a very violent edge to it, just like ice hockey in the US and Canada during that same time period. It is interesting to note how similar two very different sports were to each other at the same time, despite the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean and the lack of television coverage that we have today.

I also found interesting how the old players lament how they miss the good old days, where the players would ride the same bus with the fans to the game, drink in the same pubs after the game and have a more intimate connection with the fans than exists today. The same is true today in the US, where fans mention how before so much TV money was pumped into sports in the 1980′s, how the players used to live in the same community as the team, hold off season jobs in the community and interact with the fans on a more one to one basis, something that has been lost ever since. The Damned United is also BD-Live enabled.

Final Thoughts 

The Damned United is an overlooked gem of a film that deserves a more wider audience than it has received to date. It may be hard to find but is well worth a look and is highly recommended.

Film

‘Dogtown and Z Boys‘ follows a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders who revolutionized skateboarding through the seventies. The film opens up with a brief history of where Dogtown is and takes through the history of the Zephyr shop started by Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom and Craig Stecyk.

Starting as a innovative surf shop it soon became the home of the Z-Boys, a group of young rebels who used their surfing techniques to completely revolutionize skateboarding, At the time skateboarding was on the same wavelength with the yo-yo and the Frisbee, a simple childish toy, but with the help of the Z-Boys skate team from Santa Monica.

The film does a great job showing how the Zephyr shop not only had an important role in what would become modern skateboarding, but also how it’s style and art became a culture (mostly due to Jeff Ho’s artwork).

The pace of the film and editing makes the watch enjoyable, there are a few slower parts but overall I was enthralled in the documentary. I was impressed at how interested I was, knowing nothing about skateboarding and it’s culture.

There are some annoying qualities of the film, mostly technical related so I’ll save those for the other categories, but there’s some screw-ups left in the narration by Sean Penn that were left in (one flubbed line in particular where he coughs). Although it’s not a big deal, but it made me feel like they were trying to create this grungy and low-budgeted and it really felt fake to me.

Overall the documentary was well made and it did its job in both being entertaining and being insightful.

Video

Ah the glorious wonder of watching a film on Blu-ray that consists mostly of super-8mm footage shot in the seventies. The grainy and scratched up film used in the transfer is painful to watch… It’s as if someone used one of those ‘Old film’ filters onto the video.

However it’s great to actually have some footage to see history in the making, rather than just hearing people talk about it or having to sit through renactments.

The interviews themselves are grainy as well and were probably shot using older mini-dv cameras, however they’re not as hard to watch.

Although it’s presented in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4, I feel that the codec is wasted on such low quality video, in 4:3 aspect ratio.

Audio

The audio is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround Sound but besides the soundtrack (which is a pretty full catalogue of great hard rock from the classic rock era) there’s nothing really utilized besides the center channel for dialogue.

Overall the dialogue is clean and the music selection is a great companion to the subject matter, so for a documentary that’s pretty much all you need

Special Features

Most of the special features consist of more old footage of skating, with a few exceptions such as The State of Pool Skating (which is new skate footage). Overall the selection of special features is nice considering some of the bare bones discs I’ve come across recently.

The commentary is great, mostly because I thought Stacy Peralta’s interviews throughout the film were the most engaging, so it was nice to hear some more about the documentary through his P.O.V..

There are a couple duds, such as the multi-angle sequences which are, as advertised, simply another camera’s P.O.V. of the skating. Also there’s the “That was a stupid question” which is the interviewees talking back to the interviewer (Peralta) saying they don’t like certain questions. Also the Jeff Ho 200 video is an audio-less clip of Peralta and Jeff Jo in Hawaii.

One of the better special features is Tony Alva Art Show, which is a glimpse into one of Alva’s art shows that showcases similar art to that which made the Zephyr shop a cultural staple. Also the “Lords of Dogtown webisodes” behind the scenes mini-featurettes about the film are a great addition.

Final Thoughts

I was surprised with how much I enjoyed Dogtown and Z-Boys and I felt that although it may not be a Blu-ray I would be attracted to, it’s a great example of not judging a book by its cover. I think that if you even have a small interest in skateboarding, than this film will mean a lot more than it did for a non-skater, but even for those who might just be looking for a compelling watch, then this might be one to look into.

Film

As one can guess from my lack of interest in golf, I had never heard of the real life story upon which this film is based. The film is based on the book of the same name by Mark Frost, who also wrote the screenplay.

The story centers principally on two men from similar backgrounds during the early 20th Century. The first is one of the greatest British golfers of all time, Harry Vardon, who revolutionized the game of golf, inventing the hand grip that is used by most golfers today as well as golf’s fashion code which earned him the nickname “The Stylist”. He also happened to have won a still record 6 British Opens during his career.

Harry Vardon was a man of humble beginnings who strived to be accepted in polite society as a result of his many accomplishments. However, as he was not born into the right strata of society, he was never accepted as a gentleman. Oh, the rich and nobility wanted him at their country club as a golf pro, but nothing more. Back at the turn of the 20th Century, being a professional golfer was looked down upon. It was the amateur who was held in the highest esteem. I guess if you are born into money, earning your way up wasn’t relevant.

The same is true of the other main lead, Francis Quimet, 20 years Vardon’s junior, who grew up in a poor working class family that lived right next to the Brookline Country Club outside Boston and all the wealth that it represented Francis was a caddy at the club and was not allowed to play on the grounds, until one of the members recognized his talent and allowed him to play so he could enter an amateur match. When the U.S. Open was scheduled for The Brookline Club, Francis was invited to play as was Mr. Vardon. They played four rounds in 2 days often times in very inclement weather after which Francis and Vardon along with another famous British golfer of his time, Ted Ray, were tied which lead to a 5th playoff round and a third day of play and down to the very last hole. At the time, this match was described as the greatest game of golf ever played and played a key role in popularizing the game of golf in the United States, taking the game out of the exclusive sphere of the country club set and bringing it to the masses.  Despite his success as a golfer, Francis Quimet remained an amateur his entire career.

The Greatest Game Ever Played shares many things in common with two of the films I recently reviewed, namely Seabiscuit and Miracle. They are all moving and uplifting stories, about overcoming the odds, your birth status and the role that hard work, determination and faith in yourself plays in how successful you will be in life. You do not have to be a fan of the game of golf to enjoy this film. All you need to do is enjoy a fine screenplay, directing and a great story. Highly recommended.

Video

The Greatest Game Ever Played is another excellent encode from the folks at Disney. The film features a fairly neutral color palette with bright, bold and well saturated colors that are very pleading to the eye. I say fairly neutral as there are sections of the film where the color is skewed to the color cyan while others, especially interior nighttime shots, are a bit on the warm side, especially skin tones. Black level is deep and stable presenting an image of excellent depth and three dimensionality. Detail is excellent as well, with each skin pore, facial hair and blemish clearly visible. With the exception of a few interior shots which were a tad soft, clarity is excellent throughout the film. I was very impressed with the video quality on this release as I am sure you will be as well.

Audio

While not quite as impressive overall as the video, the audio on The Greatest Game Ever Played sure has its moments. As was the case with the film Miracle, the overall fidelity of this release is excellent. The film boasts a very full and lush sound that is very smooth and open with excellent transparency and imaging. The score for the film sounds exquisite with excellent dynamics and bass response. The score simply seems to hang in the air in the front of the sound field, with excellent soundstaging and depth, totally filling the front of the room.

The dialogue track is well recorded as well and beautifully placed in the mix. With the exception noted below, this is a 4.5 star effort. However, while the rest of the sound is excellent, I would have preferred a more aggressive use of the surrounds during the entire film. When employed aggressively, the surrounds really add to the film’s impact. The surrounds are employed beautifully during the match sequences where the surrounding crowd noise and impact of the golf shots place you on the course with the golfers. Had the surrounds been so employed during the entire film creating a sense of total immersion throughout the entire film, this would have been a solid 4.5 star rating. As it is, it is a fine audio presentation and one that will no doubt please fans of the film.

Special Features

The extras included with this release are not as numerous as I would have expected. First off, the release is not BD-Live encoded and does not come with a digital copy. None of the extras are in high definition. The extras include an audio commentary by director Bill Paxton as well as a commentary with author, screenwriter and producer, Mark Frost.

Also included is a featurette entitled A View From The Gallery: On the Set With The Greatest Story Ever Told with interviews with the cast and crew. Also included is a rather short historical look at the film’s main characters as well as a history of the 1913 U.S. Open. By far the most interesting of the extras is a piece aired in 1963 by public station WGBH in Boston commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the match. The 25 minute piece is notable for the extended interview with Francis Quimet about his life and the classic 1913 U.S. Open. if you only take the time to watch one of the extras, this is it, as it really contains some interesting information from the man at the center of the film.

Final Thoughts

The Greatest Game Ever Played is a fine film that features excellent audio and video presentations and is yet another film that the whole family can enjoy. Highly recommended.

Film

Most sports films have a tendency to be overly dramatic and veer away from the actual facts for the sake of a more dramatic and emotionally involving film, often times adding various subplots for the purpose of trying to make the film appeal to a broader audience. The best example I can think of of a sports themed film that makes such a mistake is Invincible, which adds a romantic subplot which was not only historically inaccurate, but really derailed the telling of the compelling story that is the Vince Papale story. Such is not the case with Miracle, probably because the story itself is so good that such embellishments were probably not thought to be necessary.

I am sure that most of you are already aware of the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team and their improbable road to Olympic Gold. However, Miracle is more than a story about the team, it is a story about their coach, Herb Brooks, who had a vision about how to defeat the most powerful hockey team in the world, about what types of players and personalities it would take to do so and how best to mold them into a true team, functioning as one for the singular goal of defeating the Soviets.

The film stars Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, who was tragically killed in 2003 before the completion of the film is a car accident. Above all else, this film is a tribute to him as a coach and molder of men. The film also features some fine performances by a group of rather, at the time, unknown actors, who were picked, first and foremost, for their hockey playing ability. Miracle is without question a very inspirational and uplifting film that is one that the whole family can enjoy. It was a thrill to relive that period as well as get a behind the scenes look at the making of “The Miracle on Ice”. Highly recommended.

Video

Quite frankly, this is a great looking encode from the folks at Disney. There is really very little to quibble with about the look of the film on Blu-ray. The film features a slightly under-saturated but very natural looking color palette with excellent flesh tones. Black level was fairly deep and stable but falls just a smidge short of the type of inky blacks that are the hallmarks for the very best looking films on Blu-ray.

The rest of the video here is top notch, with excellent detail, shadow detail and overall image clarity, with an excellent sense of depth and three dimensionality. The rendering of fine detail is excellent, from skin textures, pores and blemishes, to clothing fabrics to individual stands of hair. While filmed in 2003, the film does have the look of a film made in the late 1970′s but with the black level, detail and clarity of a more modern film. In short, this is a fine looking film and one that will no doubt please fans of the film. I know it did me.

Audio

To say that I was thrilled with the sound of this release would be an understatement. I wish all sports based films sounded this good. With the one exception noted below, this is an almost a perfect sound mix. The quality of this sound mix and design is apparent from the outset of the film. What strikes you first is the aggressive use of the surround speakers, which totally immerse you is a sea of sound. While the hockey action sequences are simply spectacular sounding, the rest of the film has an immersive sound mix as well, even the scenes that take place in a home or more intimate setting.

The other quality that is readily apparent from the outset is the incredible dynamics. This is a full and robust sound presentation, which is perhaps even a bit over the top which only adds the the sense of drama. Particularly impressive are the hockey practices and games, which place you right on the rink with the team, from the sound of the skates flying by, the puck smacking against the boards and goal posts and the sounds of body checks, both at center ice and into the boards. Anyone who has been at ice level at an NHL game will be amazed at how realistic the sound of the body checking is on this release.

The fidelity of the sound here is excellent as well, sounding smooth, open and full bodied, with excellent transparency and imaging with rock solid placement of the sound effects into the sound mix and deep and tight bass. Dialogue is well recorded as well and well placed in the mix. However, the mix is not perfect. The only significant issue I had with the sound mix was the placement of Al Michaels game play by play in the sound mix, as it was often times drowned out by the sound of the game action in addition to the rest of the dialogue track . Other than this one small hiccup, this is a tremendous sound design and fully worthy of a gold medal on its own.

Special Features

Miracle comes equipped with several extras. Unfortunately none are in HD. The release does not include a digital copy and is not BD-Live enabled. The extras include an audio commentary by director Gavin O’Connor, Director of Photography Dan Stoloff and Editor John Gilroy. Outtakes are included as well.

There are several featurettes included including the usual making of featurette here entitled (surprise!) The Making of Miracle and a feature on the selection and training of the actors who play the members of the team entitled From Hockey to Hollywood: The Actors’ Journeys. Also included is a featurette on the sound design of the film entitled The Sound of Miracle. I find it highly appropriate to include such a featurette given how important the film’s sound design is the the success of the film. Also included is an ESPN Roundtable hosted by Linda Cohn and featuring Kurt Russell and three members of the team, goalie Jim Craig and John Eruzione and Buzz Schneider.

Also included is a featurette First Impressions: Herb Brooks with Kurt Russell And The Filmmakers. This featurette is rather poignant given Herb Brooks tragic death. It features him describing his coaching philosophy and what was involved in making the team the success it was. Of all the extras, this is by far my favorite. However, there is one glaring omission from the extras and that is footage of the actual games. There are some brief actual ABC broadcast footage of the games themselves included in the making of featurette. It would have been great to have included the entire broadcasts of some of the games, at least the Soviet contest, given that the games were broadcast by ABC which is owned by Disney. Perhaps they were not able to secure the rights to do so from the International Olympic Federation? Regardless, it would have been great to have included the actual games as part of the extras.

Final Thoughts

Miracle is a truly inspirational and moving film that is a treat for the whole family. It features excellent audio and video reproduction and is a fine addition to any film library, sports fan or not. Highly recommended.

Film

I will admit from the outset that Field of Dreams is one of my all time favorite films, one that I find to be moving each and every time I see it. I will admit that I was moved to tears at the theater way back in 1989. Having lost my own father a couple of years ago and having two sons myself, I now find this film to be even more poignant and moving than when I first saw the film.

The film tells the story of Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), a corn farmer in Iowa with his wife (Amy Madigan) and young daughter who while in his corn field hears a mysterious an unknown voice whisper, “If you build it, he will come.” He is later shown a vision of a baseball field, equipped with lights, in the cornfield near his home.

To the amazement of the rest of the town who think him to be crazy, as well as to his own financial detriment, he plows over a section of his acreage and builds a baseball field, looking to see if “he” will come and who that “he” is. Over a year passes by before a old time baseball player shows up on the field and identifies himself as the great Shoeless Joe Jackson, who was banned from baseball as part of the Black Sox scandal where 8 members of the Chicago White Sox admitted to taking money from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series.

It so happens that Shoeless Joe was the favorite player of Ray’s father, John, who died while they were estranged, never having met Ray’s wife or daughter, a fact that Ray had come to regret deeply. As it turns out, only Ray and his wife and daughter can see Shoeless Joe. Shoeless Joe later returns with the other players banned from baseball as well as other long dead players who wanted to play and sets up regular games which seem to last all day and night.

He then hears the words “ease his pain” and determines that he needs to seek out a 1960′s era author and civil rights and anti-war activist, Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), who has grown embittered and angry over the years, preferring to lead a solitary life. Ray connects with Terrence Mann at a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, where they are provided with another clue which leads them to travel to Chisholm, MN to locate a Moonlight Graham, who played one inning in the big leagues but never had a plate appearance. When they arrive, they discover that Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, has since passed away and was the town’s physician and made incredible contributions to the community.

While out for a walk, Ray is transported back to the year 1972 and meets Moonlight, played beautifully by Burt Lancaster, in his last movie role before his death. While Ray tries, he is unable to convince Moonlight to return with them to Iowa. While on the phone with his wife, Ray learns that their farm is about to be foreclosed on and he must return to decide whether to abandon the field and the baseball games that it hosts to long dead “ghost players”. On the drive back to Iowa, Ray and Terence Mann pick up a young teenager, who turns out to be to young Moonlight Graham, who when he arrives at the field, is able to live out his dream of finally having a big league at bat. It is once all the characters arrive at the field that Ray learns who the “he” is that he was asked to build the field for in a very moving ending to the film.

Field of Dreams is a story about second chances, about having the ability to able to correct past mistakes, about telling loved ones how much you really love them one more time before they die or have that one last game of catch with your dad. Field of Dreams is a great film. If you have never seen it, please do so. You will be glad you did. Highly recommended.

Video

While I love the film, the video quality leaves a lot to be desired and doesn’t represent any improvement over the less than stellar looking HD DVD release. The biggest complaint I have with the look of the film is the softness of the image. While close-ups look OK and I mean just OK, the rest of the film, in addition to looking soft, looks rather fuzzy as well, lacking the clarity that we have come to expect and appreciate with high definition. The color palette is on the warm side with skin tones having a bit of an orange tint. While it did not appear that the film was a victim of excessive DNR due to the presence of visible film grain, fine detail is not what one would expect on a Blu-ray release.

I found black levels to be just mediocre, which together with the lack of detail and clarity, robs the film of much in the way of depth and three dimensionality. As it has been nearly 20 year since I saw this film in the theater, I can’t say if this transfer is representative of how the film looked in its initial theatrical release. Nevertheless, I can’t help but think that this film is in the need of a restoration and new encode so that it can look its very best.

Audio

Frankly, Field of Dreams sounds pretty much like I expected it too and as such, I can’t say that I am disappointed with the quality of the audio here. The lossless DTS HD Master Audio track sounds just fine, with good fidelity and a smooth and open sound, without even a hint of edginess or harshness. Where I found the audio to be lacking was in the original sound design, which is very front heavy, with little use of the surrounds. For the most part, when watching the film, you don’t even notice the surrounds kicking in except for a couple of occasions.

I guess that is to be expected given that Field of Dreams is a dialogue driven film without even the hint of a gunshot or explosion. However, there are several instances in the film, such as the scenes at Fenway Park and the school board meeting where better implementation of the surrounds would have added significantly to the the presentation of the film. The dialogue track is well recorded and always intelligible. Overall, the sound of the film is quite pleasant enough but falls a good bit short of the better sound designs of more modern films.

Special Features

Field of Dreams comes equipped with several extras that are well worth a look. However, nonce of the extras are presented in high definition. There are several deleted scenes presented with an audio commentary with the director, Phil Alden Robinson, explaining why the scenes were not included in the film. Also included is a feature commentary with the director Phil Alden Robinson as well as director of photography John Lindley.

The most interesting of the extras is the featurette From Father to Son: Passing Along the Pastime which showcases the making of the film. Also included is a Roundtable with Kevin Costner and Major Leaguers Johnny Bench, George Brett and Bret Saberhagen. The roundtable takes place at Kevin Costner’s home 15 year after the film’s release and after they sat down to watch the film again. They all discuss their feelings about the film as well as their major league careers.

The featurette Diamond in the Husks details the continued presence of the filed used in the film in Iowa and how it has become something of a tourist attraction and how the film still moves those who have scene it. The extras also include the featurette Galena, IL, Pinch Hits for Chisholm, which details how the sections of the film that take place in Chisholm, MN were actually filmed in Galena, IL. Also included is the Bravo TV special From Page to Screen as well as a photo scrapbook.

Final Thoughts

Field of Dreams is a wonderful film with a less than stellar video presentation on its Blu-ray debut. However, it is a such a wonderful and moving film that I can recommend that you add it to your film collection. Highly recommended.

Film

The Wrestler is a rather low budget picture written by Darren Aronofsky and stars Mickey Rourke in his comeback and Oscar nominated role as Randy “The Ram” Robinson. Ram is a former wrestling superstar (kind of a cross between Randy “The Macho Man” Savage and Superstar Billy Graham for those wrestling fans out there), who played to packed houses in New York and around the country in the 1980′s who is now reduced to wrestling in independent wrestling circuits.  Once entertaining thousands during his days of super-stardom, now only drawing crowds numbering in the hundreds for a couple hundred bucks.

He keeps his broken down and scarred body going using a variety of drugs, pushing himself forward to the hoped next great payday, despite to incredible toll it is taking on his health. However, he seems incapable of retiring, even after a heart attack nearly takes his life after a match.

I am sure that you are all well aware of the acclaim that Mickey Rourke received for his portrayal of The Ram. The acclaim is well deserved as it is an amazing performance, one of the best, if not the best in his career. However, equally as compelling is the performance of Marisa Tomei as Pam, an aging stripper with the the stage name Cassidy, whose career is taking a parallel track as that of Ram.

Like Ram, she is an aging performer who no longer attracts the crowds she one did at the strip clubs, finding it more and more difficult to entice men for the private lap dances which is where the strippers really make their money. Like Ram, she realizes that her best days are behind her but like Ram as well, she is not able to call it a career. However, it is worth pointing out that while she plays the role of an aging stripper in the film, Marisa Tomei non the less looks spectacular in the film and appears naked often, leaving herself vulnerable, both physically and emotionally, in a truly riveting performance, well deserving of the Academy Award nomination for Best Actress she received for her work in this film.

The film takes you behind the scenes on the wrestling circuit, in the looker room and the visits to the strip clubs after the matches where the wrestlers go to wind down. You get a real understanding of the toll that this profession takes on the wrestler’s bodies as well as their health and family life. This is a very well written and made film with some incredible acting performances. The fact that is was filmed in only thirty days in North Jersey is simply amazing. You do not have to know anything about professional wrestling to enjoy this film as it will appeal to all film fans. it is a must see film and highly recommended.

Video

For a low budget film, I was quite pleased with the look of the film on this Blu-ray release. The film has a very gritty look about it with plenty of film grain. I can only assume that the film was given this gritty look to match the subject matter. Colors are fairly natural although I found the skin tones at time to be a tad on the reddish side. Overall detail is very good as well with facial detail being excellent. You can see every scratch, cut, blemish and pore on the face of Mickey Rourke as well as on the face of Marisa Tomei.

I thought that overall clarity of image was very good although a step down from the best looking films on Blu-ray. The biggest issue I had with the look of the film was the black level. While blacks were deep, I found too much in the way of black crush, which obscured shadow detail. Rather than being able to see into the shadows, one was often met with a wall of solid black, completely obscuring much in the way of shadow detail. Given that large segments of the film were either shot at night or in dimly lit environs, I am not surprised by the overall darkness of the film. However, I would have preferred to see much better shadow detail.

Audio

All in all, the audio on The Wrestler is solid but unspectacular. For a film that is very dependent on dialogue, I was a bit disappointed with the fidelity of the audio track, which lacked the presence and transparency of the best audio presentations. While the overall sound design did not provide a reference immersive track, the surrounds were put to good use throughout the film, especially in the wrestling sequences, capturing the sound of the wrestling venue very well, as well as the sounds of the wrestlers falling the mat, the sound of crashing tables and chairs and all kinds of impacts, slaps and punches.

Dynamics were pretty solid as well although far from reference. While the film had a smooth sound, it lacked the transparency and imaging of the better sounding encodes, sounding a bit flat through most of the non action sequences in the film, lacking the front to back and side to side depth of the best sounding films. Given the rather low budget nature of the film, this is not surprising. I am sure that most fans of the film will be more than pleased with the sound of The Wrester on this Blu-ray release.

Special Features

Surprisingly, The Wrestler comes equipped with little in the way of extras. The release does contain a digital copy of the film which is compatible with Macs and PCs. The film features a behinds the scenes featurette with the filmmakers which details how the film was made, taking you on location in New Jersey to many of the sites included in the film. I found it interesting to see than there were quite a few non professional actors used in the film. In particular, the scenes at the deli counter at the Acme market. It appeared that many of the customers featured in the film were actual customers who happened to be in the store that day.  The same appeared to be true of some of the employees as well.

However, while this featurette was informative, I found the most interesting of the extras to be with the interviews with wrestlers to get their take on the film. Featured here were Rowdy Roddy Piper, Dallas Diamond Paige, Lex Luger, Brutus The Barber Beefcake and Greg The Hammer Valentine, who each described the toll that wrestling had taken on them physically as well as emotionally, and how the well the film captured their experiences in wrestling. If you are a wrestling fan, this is the extra that you will want to check out first. Also included is the music video for the song The Wrestler, written and produced by Bruce Springsteen.

Final Thoughts

The Wrestler is a beautifully made film that features incredibly compelling performances by Mickey Rourke as well as Marisa Tomei. Very highly recommended.

The transformation that Mr. DeNiro undergoes in this film is amazing, from an incredibly conditioned boxer to a fat and slovenly has been, all without the use of makeup and padding. Yes, he underwent a boxing regimen to get in shape with a finely chiseled body and then ate his way into a fat and listless shell of a man. Raging Bull is without a doubt one of the finest, if not the finest, sports based film ever made and one I was anxious to experience on Blu-ray.

Film

Raging Bull is one of the finest, if not the finest sports themed films ever made. It was released in 1980 after having been kicked around between Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro in various stages of pre-production for several years. The film was nominated for several Oscars including for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Sound and Film Editing, winning two, namely Robert DeNiro for Best Actor and for film editing.

Robert DeNiro’s performance as Jake LaMotta is a masterstroke and is as amazing today as it was 29 years ago. He simply becomes Jake LaMotta, a former middleweight boxing champion. His story is compelling, from his incredible perseverance and determination in the ring, to his fractured, dysfunctional and violent family life.

Overall, this is a great film and features incredible performances, not only by Mr. DeNiro, but by complete new comers to films, Joe Pesci in his breakout performance as Joe LaMotta and Cathy Moriarity as Vicky LaMotta. This film took many risks. First as a boxing film on the heels of Rocky, the fact that it was filmed in black and white and the castings of complete unknowns in major roles rather than more experienced well known actors. While risky, all of these choices turned out to be the correct ones.

If you want to watch a compelling and gritty film that is beautifully photographed, written and performed, Raging Bull is a must see film. Highly recommended.

Video

Raging Bull is encoded with AVC and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1. Most of the film is in black and white with the exception of some home movies which are presented in color. The home movies are made to look authentic looking soft with a muted pastel color palette and appearing to be in poor condition, exactly how one would expect home movies from the 1950′s to look.

While the film is presented in black and white, it is beautifully photographed and features excellent shadow detail. Film grain also looks well preserved and I didn’t see any evidence of any significant digital noise reduction. While I am sure that some will find the level of grain to be an issue, I don’t as the grain appears to be completely natural and part of the original negative. My only quibble with the look of the film is that it appears to look a tad soft at times lacking the level of detail that is characteristic of the best looking films on Blu-ray. Overall, if you want to see how beautiful a film can look in black and white, Raging Bull is the film for you.

Audio

The audio on Raging Bull is encoded with DTS HD Master Audio and frankly, sounded much better than I thought it would given the age of the film. This is a fine sound design and features excellent overall fidelity. Overall, the sound here is smooth and open with good bass response and good dynamics.

Dialogue is very well recorded and well placed in the mix. While the overall sound is very good, it is the boxing sequences that really shine. While the surrounds are engaged throughout the film, they really come alive during the actual fight sequences, placing you in the ring with the fighters and the arena with the crowd. The punches that land sound realistic with appropriate weight and heft, unlike some newer films where the sound of punches is exaggerated for effect.

The scene near the end of the film where Jake LaMotta is placed in a solitary confinement cell upon his arrest features excellent fidelity as well, with the natural acoustical environment of that cell captured beautifully. I can see why this film received an Oscar nomination for sound as the overall sound design holds up quite well, even after the passage of 29 years.

Special Features

At the outset, it should be noted that none of the extras on this release are in HD. The extras feature the usual audio commentaries with director Martin Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Commentaries featuring the cast and crew as well as the screenwriters are included as well.

I found the 4 part documentary to be the most interesting of all the extras, as it delves into the making of the film, from the original pre-production stage, to casting the film, putting together the fight sequences as well as the cinematography and sound design. All were very informative and well worth your time. The most interesting facts of all are how close this film came to not being made as well as the casting of Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarity in their respective roles showing how simple luck is involved in the launching of a successful Hollywood career.

Also included are three featurettes, including The Bronx Bull, a 30 minute look at the real Jake LaMotta and DeNiro vs. LaMotta which contains shot by shot comparisons between the film’s fight footage and the actual newsreel footage of Jake LaMotta’s fights, showing how authentic the film’s fight sequences actually look. The final featurette features more extensive newsreel footage of some of Jake LaMotta’s fights. Overall, this is a solid lineup of extras that are well worth your time. By all means, check them out.

Final Thoughts

Raging Bull is an excellent film and probably the finest sports themed film ever made. It features beautiful black and white photography and fine performances by the entire cast. This a film that belongs in the collection of all film fans. Highly recommended.