Stop me if you've heard this one before: an underdog team, led by a tough but dedicated coach, rises above near-impossible odds to win "The Big Game". As far as sports movies go, it's obvious from the start that James Gartner's Glory Road (2006) doesn't attempt to break any new ground---but does it even manage to cover familiar territory well? In two words: sort of.

First, the dreaded tagline: "Based on a True Story". As with countless other entries in the genre, Glory Road is indeed based on the real-life accomplishments of the 1965-66 Texas Western college basketball team, led by coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas). Haskins is fresh off a stint as coach of a high school girls' basketball team---and despite the pay cut, his ambition to lead a Division I team takes him to El Paso to coach the Miners. Haskins doesn't exactly hit the ground running but still manages to shake things up pretty fast.

Recruiting a winning team is the tough part, until Haskins decides to add seven black players---much to the chagrin of the remaining team members, not to mention other students and the players and coaches of many opposing teams. Regardless of the odds, they learn to play nice under the steady hand of Haskins, eventually turning their newfound teamwork into wins and more wins…and finally, a shot at the NCAA championship against rival Kentucky.

There. I just saved you $29.99, plus tax.

All kidding aside, Glory Road does manage to squeeze out a few wins, despite its formulaic but crowd-pleasing approach to The Great American Sports Movie. Lucas pulls off a respectable performance as Haskins, displaying the necessary amount of "tough love" needed to make his leadership and success believable. Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher, Spartan) stands out among the players, while Jon Voight is another highlight as Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. The straight-laced pacing nonetheless gives way to a few exciting moments on the court, though several of the actual games weren't as nail-bitingly close as Glory Road suggests. It takes the easy way out by altering history for dramatic license…but as one of countless sports dramas to do so, you'll probably enjoy it if you're willing to accept this fact.

Though it managed to provide a mildly entertaining story despite a few drawbacks, Glory Road still doesn't quite seem genuine enough to pass with flying colors. It's not that the story is without merit; after all, the true story of Coach Haskins and his team is one of the most well-known in college basketball history. It's simply that Glory Road loses its luster under the weight of bad timing: we've seen this story a hundred times before, so it's hard to get all that excited about it.

Despite the film's underlying flaws, Disney has put together a DVD that helps put the real-life events in greater context…even if they've added another layer of gloss. The technical presentation is fairly decent, while the bonus features are enough to support the movie modestly. All things considered, Glory Road a relatively lightweight release, but one that might appeal to sports fans who don't mind a little artistic license. Let's see how this one stacks up, shall we?

There's no doubt that Glory Road looks good on DVD, though it could've used some fine tuning. Contrast, colors and back levels remained generally solid throughout, but the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image seemed a bit soft on several occasions. Edge enhancement can be spotted during a handful of scenes, but it's nothing overly distracting. This may not be Disney's best effort, but it's still a fairly good-looking DVD that shouldn't disappoint.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix is also good but not excellent, offering a generally clean presentation that doesn't venture into the rear channels very often. Only the basketball scenes display a moderate level of atmosphere, but it's not surprising for a mostly dialogue-driven movie. Alternate Dolby 2.0 tracks are provided in French and Spanish, while subtitles in all three languages are included for the main feature only.

Also included here is a quartet of Deleted Scenes (5:53 total); as far as cut footage goes, it's pretty familiar road. "Don & Mary in the Gym" and "Frogs in Orsten's Bed" are fairly uneventful and deserved to be cut, though "Award for Rupp" and "Elevator" are interesting and worth a look for fans of the film.

A few Featurettes are up next, starting off with "Legacy of the Bear" (13:21), a piece about the real-life Haskins with a view vintage clips and interviews---including former player Pat Riley, who also gets a bit of face-time during the film---combined with a generous helping of movie footage, of course. All things considered, it's a fairly promotional look at Haskins' life, but it's worth a look. "Surviving Practice" (4:22) is a standard behind-the-scenes look at the training that the players and their coach went through. The most interesting piece is "In Their Own Words: Remembering 1966 (23:24), a series of reflective interviews with Haskins and members of the '65-'66 Miners team. It's still a bit too promotional, but hearing these stories from the actual players will be interesting for those relatively new to basketball history.

Closing things out is a relatively bland Music Video for Alicia Keys' "Sweet Music" (3:52), a traditional "studio footage mixed with movie clips" affair that will only be of interest to Keys fans. Also included is a series of Previews for six upcoming Disney releases; strangely enough, Glory Road's trailer is nowhere to be found.

Anyone who enjoyed Glory Road should be pleased with the effort that Disney's put forth with this DVD release. Unfortunately, it's really hard to recommend the film to new viewers: due to its familiar storyline (especially if you're a sports fan), it won't offer many surprises to most viewers. Without more dramatic tension, most of the magic is drained from Glory Road; ultimately, it's simply a film that arrived a bit too late to the party. The disc offers a decent technical presentation and a handful of mildly interesting extras, but it's still a bit undercooked and doesn't have high replay value. Overall, first-time viewers should consider Glory Road worth a look, but not a blind buy. Rent It.