Review of Any Given Sunday (Special Edition Directors Cut)

Introduction

My idea of watching sport involves being a season-ticket holder at Tannadice and suffering a nightmare every fortnight this season and watching some football and Formula One on television. American Football is not my cup of tea – apart from anything else, football is played with a round ball and the idea it to kick it in the net…Add the hilarious costumes the players wear and constant breaks for commercials etc and it’s not really a sport in the true sense of the word.

Having read my opening paragraph above, you may be surprised to find out that Any Given Sunday, a film about American football is one of the best films I’ve seen this year.

To briefly summarise, Pacino plays Tony D’Amato - the coach of the Miami Sharks, an American Football team in the middle of a losing streak when disaster strikes – their veteran quarterback (Quaid) is injured and ruled out. The backup is carried off just minute laters and it falls to Willie Beamen (Foxx) to play and rescue the team. In the true spirit of sports movies, Beamen is the answer to the problems, but he generates one himself – he doesn’t believe in the plays called out by the coach. Also in the equation are scheming by Diaz to sell the team, a sleazy doctor (another excellent performance from James Woods), a running back with an incentive laden contract that causes problems on the field and a club and media sure that D’Amato is too old to do the job properly...

Video

Video is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and like most of Warner Home Video’s recent releases is of a very high standard throughout.

The image is exceptionally crisp, has fantastic contrast and detail. The quality of image alongside Stone’s style of cinematography makes for a real spectacle.

As you would expect from what is basically a sports movie, most of the action takes place in the stadium, and Any Given Sunday really captures the atmosphere of the game – even for someone like myself who is not a fan of American Football.

Audio

The sound quality is on par with the exceptional picture.

Full use is made of the available 5.1 channels, especially during the games, with crowd noise really drawing the viewer into the action. A good subwoofer in your set-up will help you make the tackles with the stars as you can FEEL the impact when a 20 stone athlete hits another 20 stone athlete at full pelt.

There’s also plenty of thumping music throughout the film to keep both your ears and your system busy!

Features

Any Given Sunday is presented as a Special Edition Director’s cut – this means a second disc stuffed full of extra material:

First of all there’s the “Full Contact” HBO Making Of Documentary, then three music videos from Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J, a gag reel/out-takes including montages, the trailer, screen tests and auditions, extra footage including 16 deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary, still image gallery, “The Art Of Selling”, Director’s Commentary, Cast & Crew Commentary and lots of DVD-ROM features: Grid Iron Challenge trivia game, Weblinks, Complete Theatrical Website, Essays & Reviews, From Screen To Script and Virtual Edit Suite.

Warner have really excelled themselves with this release and the quantity and quality of the extra material is commended.

My only complaint about the second disc is that its hidden inside a fold-out flap in one of Warner’s usual snapper cases…come on Warner, abandon these vile things and use proper boxes like everyone else!

Conclusion

As I said at the start of this review, Any Given Sunday is one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and this is certainly one of the best DVDs yet, R1 or R2.

Where do I start to summarise this film? Perhaps with the excellent performances by all the cast members – Pacino is outstanding and his portrayal of Tony D’Amato is a joy to watch, whilst the support from Woods, Diaz and Foxx brings a solid feel to the movie. It’s not just the acting – the production is of the highest quality – this movie is beautifully filmed – Stone manages to perfectly recreate the atmosphere and tension of the game in your living room. Then there’s the excellent range of extra material…

The film isn’t without faults – there’s a slight lull in the middle that could have perhaps been tightened up, but overall the plot is strong enough to carry the film between the games.

On any given Sunday, I’d watch this again, and recommend that you do as well.