Glory Road (Widescreen Edition)
by James Gartner
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Austin Nichols, Derek Luke, Evan Jones, Jon Voight, Josh LucasDirector: James Gartner
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Producer: Andy Given
Producer: Chad Oman
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Producer: Mike Stenson
Producer: Pat Sandston
Writer: Bettina Gilois
Writer: Chris Cleveland
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Unknown; Spanish (Dubbed), Unknown
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-06
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 04096800
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Very Black
Movie Reviews of Glory Road (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: It doesn't have everything, but it sure is entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm amazed by everything that people expect out of movies, including this one: one reviewer wants it to be a college "Hoosiers," another wants more character development, another thinks it deviates from the true story too much, and on and on it goes in spite of the fact that this movie is great entertainment.
First of all, if someone wants to watch "Hoosiers," then by all means watch it. It's probably the greatest sports movie of all time, and it's a must-see in our home at least once a year (especially since my wife grew up on a farm in Indiana). Yes, "Hoosiers" has a great story. It's about far more than an underdog team that wins a championship; it's about small-town life, redemption, and Indiana's state obsession with basketball. "Glory Road" isn't trying to be an NCAA-level "Hoosiers."
Secondly, characters are developed. The primary character is Coach Don Haskins, and we see his progression from a high school girl's basketball coach to coach of small-time college team that only wants him as a babysitter for the athletic dorm to a coach determined to make that small-time program a winner in spite of itself, and who gets whomever he can to play for him, to a coach who finally realizes the implications of what he has done by recruiting and playing so many black players. Haskins was no civil-rights crusader, as the accompanying documentaries on the DVD make clear (Haskins himself says that he was simply starting his best players), but he did come to realize the impact that his decision to start so many black players was having not only on basketball but on a lot of people's opinions of blacks (maybe only in the athletic arena, but it was a start). It's true that we don't get to know all of the players quite so well, but we certainly see the progression of point guard Bobby Joe Hill and the toughening of Neville Shed as well as the development of some of the others. Had all of the characters been developed in greater detail, I'm sure many people would be criticizing the movie for being too character-driven and not having enough basketball action. It's impossible to please everyone.
Lastly, as to the movie not being entirely faithful to the real story, let's remember once more that movies are entertainment. "Based on a true story" means just that, and it's the case with all fact-based movies. If the filmmakers had wanted to make a documentary, then they would have done so, but they wanted to make an entertaining film. They did a fantastic job of recreating 1960's American society, and they never deviated from the truth in such a way that they distorted or tainted the story. Even though the film itself is not a documentary, the great thing is that there are some bonus documentaries from which you can get the real-life facts if that is what you are more interested in; this is the case with most DVD's that are based on true stories, so the viewer gets the best of both worlds.
If every movie had everything that every viewer wanted, then we'd always be sitting in the theater or in front of our TV's for 6-hour marathons. If you want just the facts, then watch A&E, the History Channel, and PBS; they all run great documentaries. "Glory Road" is simply a highly entertaining film about a disparate and unlikely group of players who came together under the tutelage of an underrated coach to accomplish a wonderful feat during a time of great upheaval in our country's history. If that's not entertainment, then what is? Don't nitpick. Watch it and enjoy!
Summary of Glory Road (Widescreen Edition)
GLORY ROAD - DVD MovieOne of the greatest basketball games in NCAA history is immortalized in Glory Road, an engaging sports movie that dramatizes a pivotal milestone in the racial integration of college athletics. While it may not be as rousing as similar movies like Hoosiers or Friday Night Lights, this fact-based drama gains depth and substance from the groundbreaking achievement of Don Haskins (well-played by Josh Lucas), who coached the 1965-66 team from Texas Western University to the NCAA championship, using the first-ever all-black lineup in the championship game and forever changing the rules of college basketball. Texas Western's underdog season is followed from anxious start to glorious finish, as Haskins recruits many of his black star players from the North, including Bobby Joe Hill (Derek Luke) and Willie Cager (Damaine Radcliff), and this typically wholesome Disney film doesn't flinch from the harsh realities of racial tension (including player beatings and vandalized motel rooms) that Texas Western's black players had to struggle against as their victories began to draw national attention. Jon Voight (under heavy makeup) makes a memorable cameo appearance as legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, whose favored all-white team was no match for Texas Western, and Haskins' unforgettable achievement is celebrated in an end-credits sequence that demonstrates the positive ripple-effect of his color-blind coaching. Glory Road relies a bit too heavily on sports-movie clichés, but its shortcomings are easily overlooked in favor of its greater historical significance. --Jeff Shannon
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