Blu-ray Movie Reviews

At the 50-year line of this gridiron cosmos is Al Pacino as Tony D'Amato, the embattled Sharks coach facing a full-on blitz of team strife plus a new, marketing-savvy sharks owner who's sure Tony is way too old school. An injured quarterback, a flashy, bull-headed backup quarterback, a slithery team doctor and a running back with an incentive-laden contract also provide some of the stories that zigzag like diagrams in a playbook.

I’m always a big fan of Oliver Stone’s films and this is no exception. The film has plenty of style and gives a rather unpopular view of professional football and probably calls it pretty close. This was also one of the first big performances by Jamie Foxx and showed he was more than just a standup comic. If you’re a Stone fan, this is one not to miss.

The HD presentation is pretty good here but a bit dated. Stock footage has obvious wear and the back and forth in the footage gives an uneven level of detail. Close ups look really good with nice fine detail and dimension but medium to long shots suffer from obvious focus issues. Colors are a bit on the vivid side and the level of saturation varies a bit from scene to scene. Flesh tones can be a bit orange at times, but it is rarely an issue. Overall this is a nice improvement from the DVD, but a bit short of the reference Blu-ray titles out there.

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and delivers a solid presentation. Dynamics are really good with nice low bass extension and a solid spatial design. Surrounds are enveloping without being too dominant and you really get a sense of being there during the game footage. Dialogue can sound slightly thin from time to time but it is hardly distracting.

Plenty of extras on this one. Warner includes two feature commentaries along with some deleted scenes and a full documentary on the making of the film complete with on-set footage and interviews. Some music videos and a gag reel are also included. You also get an art gallery with production stills and marketing images, the trailer and pre-selected cuts to some of the more intense scenes in the film.

Oliver Stone rarely makes a bad film and this is one of the better football dramas out there. The presentation is good and only slightly below reference caliber. Fans should give this one a look.