Quite possibly the best sports film ever made...
Added 1/6/2010
The idea of the inspirational sports drama is not a new one. It has been ravaging havoc in the cinemas since the dawn of time, and while they are truly a dime a dozen, there is rarely a film that actually captures the very meaning and essence of the sport it is championing. All too often the films are littered with so much saccharine `goodness' that the whole point of the story is bogged down by clichéd Hollywood atmosphere. They all wind up blurring together in a long line of disposable, familiar, sports movies.
There is no oomph!
That is why I absolutely love this movie. `Friday Night Lights' is not your typical sports drama. Stripped down and basically bare to the bone, this film is as rough and tough as they come. With the grit needed to really pack a punch to the gut, and the emotional core to elevate this from the ashes that are every other sports film, `Friday Night Lights' is a shining beacon on the game that has become the lives of so many.
This is one of the only sports films to actually make the sport the leading character.
The film is based on the true story of a high school football team in West Texas. The team consists of your `typical' members, from the star player (who happens to be black) to the quarterback struggling to leave his home-life off the field, to the careless rebel suffering at the hands of an abusive father. INSTEAD of playing to each cliché like it was the saving grace of the film, and exploiting each storyline for each tear it can muster, this film allows the players lives to further embellish the power of the game itself, breathing life onto the field, where it belongs. Instead of focusing our attention on how these young men are going to patch up their lives off the field, we are brought to the sobering realization that if they don't patch their lives up ON the field, their lives are basically worthless.
This game is EVERYTHING to them, and you feel that in your soul.
With an onslaught of powerful performances from Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund and Derek Luke, as well as an amazingly moving turn by country superstar Tim McGraw, `Friday Night Lights' has not a single wrong note. As the film draws to its dramatic and heartbreaking climax there is a moment where everything seems lost and broken only to have it all come together in the most meaningful and appropriate of ways. It isn't forced, it isn't out of place and it isn't sappy; it is just right.
Yes, I cried.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Friday Night Lights
Added 10/9/2009
Loved it! My grandson was a lineman in this picture!
REALLY!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Good movie. Missed some key points from the book like the academic scandal which only adds to the drama in the title game. Overall good movie though
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Awsome Football Flick!!!
Added 6/2/2009
It certainly started out as just another football film (though over-directed with a hyper-active camera)...the parties, the sexual shenanigans, the over-the-top characters. I was ready to pan the film.
But then it heated up. Once the season started, and the football action became the centerpiece, this film shined. The characters were compelling and you really felt for them and their individual situations.
I am not a Billy Bob Thorton fan, but I was pleasantly surprised by his controlled performance. Too often the coaches in football movies are completely over the top. Thorton had the strength to get on people - but he never over did it. It was a football coach. And the movie ended on a strong note. The half-time speech Thorton gives during the final game is something that gives a former football player goose bumps. It really encapsulates what its truly like to be a part of a football TEAM...and how powerful that experience can be.
I have seen movies like "All the Right Moves", "The Program", "Varsity Blues" and the laughable "Any Given Sunday". NONE of them can hold a candle to this movie. Any football player or fan needs to watch this film...the best football movie I have ever watched.
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Friday Night Lights - Blu-ray Info
Added 4/9/2009
Version: U.S.A / Universal / Region Free
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / AACS / High Profile 4.1
Running time: 1:57:39
Movie size: 38,83 GB
Disc size: 45,15 GB
Total bit rate: 44.01 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 35.86 Mbps
DTS-HD Master Audio English 3986 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3986 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Number of chapters: 32
#Audio Commentary
#Deleted Scenes (SD - 22 minutes)
#Featurettes
--Peter Berg Discusses a Scene in the Movie (SD - 1 minute)
--Player Cam (SD - 4 minutes)
--Tim McGraw: Off the Stage (SD - 6 minutes)
--The Story of the 1988 Permian Panthers (SD - 23 minutes)
--Behind the Lights (SD - 26 minutes)
--Gridiron Grads (SD - 14 minutes)
#BD-Live enabled
2 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Quite possibly the best sports film ever made...
Added 1/6/2010
The idea of the inspirational sports drama is not a new one. It has been ravaging havoc in the cinemas since the dawn of time, and while they are truly a dime a dozen, there is rarely a film that actually captures the very meaning and essence of the sport it is championing. All too often the films are littered with so much saccharine `goodness' that the whole point of the story is bogged down by clichéd Hollywood atmosphere. They all wind up blurring together in a long line of disposable, familiar, sports movies.
There is no oomph!
That is why I absolutely love this movie. `Friday Night Lights' is not your typical sports drama. Stripped down and basically bare to the bone, this film is as rough and tough as they come. With the grit needed to really pack a punch to the gut, and the emotional core to elevate this from the ashes that are every other sports film, `Friday Night Lights' is a shining beacon on the game that has become the lives of so many.
This is one of the only sports films to actually make the sport the leading character.
The film is based on the true story of a high school football team in West Texas. The team consists of your `typical' members, from the star player (who happens to be black) to the quarterback struggling to leave his home-life off the field, to the careless rebel suffering at the hands of an abusive father. INSTEAD of playing to each cliché like it was the saving grace of the film, and exploiting each storyline for each tear it can muster, this film allows the players lives to further embellish the power of the game itself, breathing life onto the field, where it belongs. Instead of focusing our attention on how these young men are going to patch up their lives off the field, we are brought to the sobering realization that if they don't patch their lives up ON the field, their lives are basically worthless.
This game is EVERYTHING to them, and you feel that in your soul.
With an onslaught of powerful performances from Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund and Derek Luke, as well as an amazingly moving turn by country superstar Tim McGraw, `Friday Night Lights' has not a single wrong note. As the film draws to its dramatic and heartbreaking climax there is a moment where everything seems lost and broken only to have it all come together in the most meaningful and appropriate of ways. It isn't forced, it isn't out of place and it isn't sappy; it is just right.
Yes, I cried.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Friday Night Lights
Added 10/9/2009
Loved it! My grandson was a lineman in this picture!
REALLY!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Good movie. Missed some key points from the book like the academic scandal which only adds to the drama in the title game. Overall good movie though
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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