Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Another sports flick about a new coach, a team down on its luck, and a player struggling to succeed. But the variations on that theme are seemingly endless. In the Hollywood vernacular, this one was "inspired by the true story" of a 30-year old substitute teacher/bartender who never played college football but won a shot at a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles roster thanks to an open tryout held by the NFL team's new coach. The tryout was little more than a publicity stunt, but for the player, die-hard Eagles fan Vince Papale, it was a chance to prove himself.

Does this sound as clich-ridden as Hoosiers? Yes, but it's every bit as compelling, perhaps even more so. One reason is the stunning high definition transfer on this Blu-ray disc. While the first thing you'll notice is the film's pronounced sepia-orange tint, it won't be more than a few seconds before you also notice the spot-on, high definition image. It is a little soft in spots, so I've downgraded it a bit from the ratings earned by the very best discs. But not by much.

The sound is also first rate, though apart from the roar of the crowd and the occasional hard tackle, there's not a lot of complexity in the mix. But the audio does exactly what it needs to do, and does it well. Auditioned here in Dolby Digital, the Blu-ray disc also features a 48 kHz, 16-bit, uncompressed soundtrack.

Picture: 8.5 (out of 10)…Sound: 8.5…Film: 9.0

(Reviewed on a Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player, JVC DLA-HD1 projector, 78" wide Stewart Studiotek 130 screen, and NAD Masters Series M15 pre-pro and M25 power amp. Speakers: Energy Veritas v2.8 L/R, Mirage OMD-C2 center, Mirage OMD-R surrounds, and Revel B15 subwoofer.)