Even if you never followed the NBA closely, Magic Johnson is a name that says "amazing." Earvin "Magic" Johnson was a wizard on the basketball court from day one, with his love of the game helping him make every day "showtime" for the Los Angeles Lakers. That dazzling style is what gives the title to Always Showtime, this documentary on Johnson.

The hour-long documentary feature, narrated by Danny Glover, begins at the beginning, with Johnson's childhood. We get to hear from members of his family as well as others who knew him when he was still just a rising star on the high-school basketball court. The program swiftly moves to follow Johnson through college and then to his professional career, touching on all the major successes along the way. In addition to Glover's narrative overview, we also get interview segments with Johnson himself, reflecting on his experiences.

One of the highlights of the documentary is that in addition to the interview footage, Always Showtime makes use of ample footage from Johnson's basketball games: not just the NBA ones, but even his high-school and college games. Here we get to see the evolution of "Magic" from early talent to professional superstar. When the program discusses the games that were the high points of Johnson's career, we're treated to great footage of Johnson's ball-handling skills: the amazing shots and no-look passes, which even a casual basketball viewer like myself can appreciate.

In fact, Always Showtime works quite well for both basketball fans and casual viewers. It's not a really in-depth piece, but it has enough detail and interesting material to satisfy viewers who followed the NBA in the 1980s, while at the same time it's briskly paced enough that more casual viewers (like the spouses of dedicated fans...) won't find it slow.

The one odd thing about Always Showtime is the pacing of the final portion of the program. The pacing is excellent all through the documentary's coverage of Johnson's basketball career, but toward the end, it speeds up, feeling as if it's just skimming the surface rather than giving us a good insight into this part of Johnson's career... and then program then ends quite suddenly. The jumpy pace is due to the fact that the DVD version of Always Showtime is actually a slightly extended version of an earlier (1991) version of the program. The re-release of Always Showtime in 1996 added in about ten minutes of material covering Johnson's career from 1991-1996: his retirement due to being HIV-positive, his All-Star and Olympics play, and his brief return to the NBA. All of this feels like it could have (and should have) been developed much more, but on the positive side, at least it was a good idea to update the program a little bit.

The DVD

Magic Johnson: Always Showtime is a two-DVD set. Keep in mind that each DVD is a flipper, with content on both sides, even though the discs do not look like flippers (they are not labeled A and B).

Video

Always Showtime appears in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Considering that the footage is mostly pulled from television broadcasts of basketball games in the 1970s and 1980s, it looks pretty good. The image is clean and clear, and overall it's perfectly watchable.

Audio

The stereo soundtrack provides a clean, clear, and satisfactory listening experience.

Extras

Here's where the "Special Edition" label shows that it actually means something. Basketball fans will be very pleased with the bonus material here, which can be described briefly but will take a lot more time to watch.

Three complete basketball games are included, each one nicely presented with a chapter for each quarter of the game. We get Johnson's first NBA game on Oct. 12, 1979, with the novice Magic playing alongside veteran Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Next, there's Game 6 of the 1980 NBA finals, with Johnson stepping in to play the center position when Kareem is injured. Finally, there's the 1992 NBA All-Star Game; there's not as much excitement here as with the real NBA games, but it certainly shows off a lot of stars.

The other special feature included here is "Magic's Number Retirement Ceremony," which at over 20 minutes is a bit too long for casual viewers to be really interested in, but which will probably warm the hearts of dedicated Magic fans.

Final thoughts

If you're a fan of the NBA and Magic Johnson, the 2-Disc Special Edition of Always Showtime is something you'll want to pick up. The main documentary feature is interesting, even if it's a bit light-weight, and the hefty serving of extra material in the form of three complete Magic-filled basketball games is a big plus. Recommended.