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Remember The Titans
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has reportedly been somewhat looking to expand outwards from what he has been known for - Summer pictures such as "Armageddon" and "The Rock". This new set of offerings from his new production company (called Technical Black) has, so far, been rather lightweight fun ("Coyote Ugly") and this well done, heavier dramatic picture. Set in 1971, this true story tells the tale of a high school football team at a school that has just been integrated. Coach Herman Boone(Denzel Washington) has just been brought up to be the head coach of the team - putting the current head coach Bill Yoast(Will Patton) in the secondary position - making the current players angry and wondering if they will have a position for them instead of trying to work together with their new teammates and play as one.
Before I go on, I must say that a great deal of "Remember The Titans" works as well as it does because of Denzel Washington, whose performance as Boone is wonderfully powerful. An actor who can make the simplest line seem like the most important thing in the universe at that moment, Washington's performance here is dramatic, bold and engaging - intensity mixed with a bit of humor. The stakes are high as well, as Boone finds out that the school board is watching his performance intensely and will replace him at the first sign of trouble if he can't get the team to work together.
"Titans" also is helped along by a cast of largely unknown young actors who play the team and strong supporting performances from the always reliable Will Patton as well as newcomer Hayden Panettiere, as Yoast's football-loving daughter. The film attempts to work in both elements of the sports film and racial drama, and although they really don't bring anything terribly new to the proceedings, director Boaz Yakin("A Price Above Rubies") does manage to make the elements that we are familiar with work, and often work well.
I also quite liked the screenplay by first-time writer Gregory Allen Howard. The film nicely transitions between comedy and drama and although it's a true story, the film handles several events wonderfully, making for quite a few moving and emotional situations. I also enjoyed the way that the film presents the drama - although the film is somewhat predictable at times, I never felt it was too overly dramatic or manipulative. Technically, I liked the film as well. Phillipe Russelot's cinematography is often wonderful, and Michael Tronick's editing moves along the 114 minute picture nicely, with only a couple of minor areas that slightly begin to feel slow before picking up again.
But again, I keep going back to Denzel Washington's tense, exciting performance as Boone. After a fantastic performance recently with "The Hurricane", Denzel Washington remains an actor who is getting better and better with each and every additional role he takes on.
The DVD
VIDEO: Aside from some small flaws, "Remember The Titans" is shown is the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and the anamorphic transfer is often stunning. Sharpness and detail are wonderful, and the picture sometimes attains a rather "film-like" level of depth to the image. There's hardly a second where the slightest bit of softness creeps in, and the picture looks consistently well-defined.
The presentation isn't without a couple of minor flaws, but there's one thing that we don't see here - there are no print flaws. This is a completely clean presentation free of even the slightest speckle or mark. There's a slight bit of shimmer and some trace amounts of pixelation, but these are hardly noticable problems.
Phillipe Russelot (whose work you can also see in the upcoming "Planet Of The Apes")'s excellent cinematography is definitely done justice here, as the beautiful scenery of the fields and towns is captured well within the 2.35:1 frame. Colors are rich, vibrant and well-saturated with no problems. This is a very, very nice presentation from Buena Vista, who has really made a fine turn-around on their DVD presentations in 2001. This is THX-Approved.
SOUND: "Remember The Titans" is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 audio versions. The film, unlike almost all of Jerry Bruckheimer's productions both big ("Armageddon") and small("Coyote Ugly"),is more subtle in its audio approach. The audio is active, but certainly restrained in comparison to the producer's other pictures.
Trevor Rabin (who has worked with Bruckheimer on several other films)'s score is enjoyable, keeping the emotions high without going over-the-top into being melodramatic. There are also several classic tunes throughout the soundtrack that are well presented and, like the score, have a fine presence in the listening space, enveloping the viewer clearly and warmly.
Surrounds are certainly not silent throughout the film, but their use is not terribly intense, generally offering either the score or some subtle effects. Dialogue remains clear and easily understood throughout. The score and tunes are really the highlight of the audio. The presentation has room to be slightly more active at times, but what is offered works well enough.
MENUS:: The main menu is slightly animated with the score behind it. Although not animated, the sub-menus make nice use of images from the film. Nothing too agressive, simply some subtle backgrounds. The irritating thing is that, although Disney seems to have done away with the previews that pop up before the main menu (or moved them to their own section and don't have them play as you put the disc in), for "Remember The Titans" there are several minutes worth of these before the main menu. You can press the "menu" button and go directly to the menu, but I thought putting this many before the main menu was a bit much.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, writer Gregory Allen Howard and director Boaz Yakin. I often look forward to listening to Jerry Bruckheimer's contribution to a commentary track. Although I've not been a fan of all of his films, he's an intelligent speaker who is open about the experiences he has while producing these pictures and has a lot of solid information to share. Here, he doesn't contribute as much as the other two, but he does offer some interesting stories about the production and as always, has some good insights.
Writer Gregory Allen Howard had to do the most research of the three, as, of course, he was the one that had to tell this story through the screenplay. As such, he is the one with the most information about what happened in real life and how that was translated to the big screen. Yakin delivers some good general information about the making of the picture, discussing what it was like to work with the actors.
Although the commentary is slightly slow at times, there are hardly any pauses throughout the track and often, some good tidbits and stories are shared. Worth a listen for fans of the movie.
Commentary: This is a commentary from the real-life coaches in the picture, Herman Boone and Bill Yoast. Disney has been putting together some very good commentaries lately and I really appreciate that they were able to get the real-life coaches behind the story to shed some light about what really happened. Hilariously, both coaches start off the commentary talking about their experiences meeting writer Gregory Allen Howard and, at first, not believing that he was interested in making a feature film based upon their experiences. I liked hearing their experiences about the film's production and their opinions on the film and production details such as the very tough training camp that the actors had to go through).
Both men are excellent storytellers, energetically sharing their real-life tales of coaching that we see in the movie as well as talking about the real-life players. The two men are recorded together and really have a great deal of insight and information to offer. Although I still certainly liked the first track with the three filmmakers, the two men provide a more engaging and entertaining discussion as they share their history. They also do a great job with the commentary, filling the great majority of the track with hardly any pauses. Definitely a recommended listen.
A Journey Behind The Scenes: This is a slightly less than 21 minute promotional documentary hosted by Lynn Swann. The documentary does give us some insights about the story and the performances from the actors and filmmakers, but the majority is promotional - telling us about the story, showing us clips of the film, etc.
Denzel Becomes Boone: This slightly more than 6 minute featurette revolves around Denzel Washington becoming Herman Boone. Washington and Boone both discuss their feelings about playing the character and the way that Boone is played by Denzel. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Gregory Allen Howard both contribute information about Washington as Boone, as well.
Beating The Odds: This is a very interesting 6 minute featurette where the filmmakers talk about the challenge of getting this picture made as several studios passed on the film (some more than once) before Jerry Bruckheimer thought it was certainly a movie worth making and bringing to Disney - whose chairman also speaks briefly. The film, according to Bruckheimer, actually only cost $27 million dollars, which is interesting because the picture looks like it cost more than that. This featurette is definitely the most interesting of the three and offers the most information about the making of the film.
Deleted Scenes: 6 deleted scenes are presented, and as with many of Disney's recent discs, the deleted scenes are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, which is a nice additional touch. Although I would have liked to have had commentary from the director about why these scenes were cut, I can sort of understand that they might need to have been cut for pacing. Still, these scenes are worth watching as some of them contain very good performances.
Trailer: The film's theatrical trailer in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Sneak Peeks: Although I spoke earlier about the annoyance of having these trailers before the main menu, they are also available on their own in an additional menu. "Atlantis", "102 Dalmations", "Emperor's New Groove" and "Disney's The Kid" are available to watch on their own.
Final Thoughts:
"Remember The Titans" is an enjoyable, feel-good picture that has a fantastic performance from Denzel Washington. Disney has provided a very enjoyable DVD presentation, with great video and fine audio quality, along with a good compliment of extra features - especially a fantastic commentary from the two real-life coaches. Recommended.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has reportedly been somewhat looking to expand outwards from what he has been known for - Summer pictures such as "Armageddon" and "The Rock". This new set of offerings from his new production company (called Technical Black) has, so far, been rather lightweight fun ("Coyote Ugly") and this well done, heavier dramatic picture. Set in 1971, this true story tells the tale of a high school football team at a school that has just been integrated. Coach Herman Boone(Denzel Washington) has just been brought up to be the head coach of the team - putting the current head coach Bill Yoast(Will Patton) in the secondary position - making the current players angry and wondering if they will have a position for them instead of trying to work together with their new teammates and play as one.
Before I go on, I must say that a great deal of "Remember The Titans" works as well as it does because of Denzel Washington, whose performance as Boone is wonderfully powerful. An actor who can make the simplest line seem like the most important thing in the universe at that moment, Washington's performance here is dramatic, bold and engaging - intensity mixed with a bit of humor. The stakes are high as well, as Boone finds out that the school board is watching his performance intensely and will replace him at the first sign of trouble if he can't get the team to work together.
"Titans" also is helped along by a cast of largely unknown young actors who play the team and strong supporting performances from the always reliable Will Patton as well as newcomer Hayden Panettiere, as Yoast's football-loving daughter. The film attempts to work in both elements of the sports film and racial drama, and although they really don't bring anything terribly new to the proceedings, director Boaz Yakin("A Price Above Rubies") does manage to make the elements that we are familiar with work, and often work well.
I also quite liked the screenplay by first-time writer Gregory Allen Howard. The film nicely transitions between comedy and drama and although it's a true story, the film handles several events wonderfully, making for quite a few moving and emotional situations. I also enjoyed the way that the film presents the drama - although the film is somewhat predictable at times, I never felt it was too overly dramatic or manipulative. Technically, I liked the film as well. Phillipe Russelot's cinematography is often wonderful, and Michael Tronick's editing moves along the 114 minute picture nicely, with only a couple of minor areas that slightly begin to feel slow before picking up again.
But again, I keep going back to Denzel Washington's tense, exciting performance as Boone. After a fantastic performance recently with "The Hurricane", Denzel Washington remains an actor who is getting better and better with each and every additional role he takes on.
The DVD
VIDEO: Aside from some small flaws, "Remember The Titans" is shown is the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and the anamorphic transfer is often stunning. Sharpness and detail are wonderful, and the picture sometimes attains a rather "film-like" level of depth to the image. There's hardly a second where the slightest bit of softness creeps in, and the picture looks consistently well-defined.
The presentation isn't without a couple of minor flaws, but there's one thing that we don't see here - there are no print flaws. This is a completely clean presentation free of even the slightest speckle or mark. There's a slight bit of shimmer and some trace amounts of pixelation, but these are hardly noticable problems.
Phillipe Russelot (whose work you can also see in the upcoming "Planet Of The Apes")'s excellent cinematography is definitely done justice here, as the beautiful scenery of the fields and towns is captured well within the 2.35:1 frame. Colors are rich, vibrant and well-saturated with no problems. This is a very, very nice presentation from Buena Vista, who has really made a fine turn-around on their DVD presentations in 2001. This is THX-Approved.
SOUND: "Remember The Titans" is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 audio versions. The film, unlike almost all of Jerry Bruckheimer's productions both big ("Armageddon") and small("Coyote Ugly"),is more subtle in its audio approach. The audio is active, but certainly restrained in comparison to the producer's other pictures.
Trevor Rabin (who has worked with Bruckheimer on several other films)'s score is enjoyable, keeping the emotions high without going over-the-top into being melodramatic. There are also several classic tunes throughout the soundtrack that are well presented and, like the score, have a fine presence in the listening space, enveloping the viewer clearly and warmly.
Surrounds are certainly not silent throughout the film, but their use is not terribly intense, generally offering either the score or some subtle effects. Dialogue remains clear and easily understood throughout. The score and tunes are really the highlight of the audio. The presentation has room to be slightly more active at times, but what is offered works well enough.
MENUS:: The main menu is slightly animated with the score behind it. Although not animated, the sub-menus make nice use of images from the film. Nothing too agressive, simply some subtle backgrounds. The irritating thing is that, although Disney seems to have done away with the previews that pop up before the main menu (or moved them to their own section and don't have them play as you put the disc in), for "Remember The Titans" there are several minutes worth of these before the main menu. You can press the "menu" button and go directly to the menu, but I thought putting this many before the main menu was a bit much.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, writer Gregory Allen Howard and director Boaz Yakin. I often look forward to listening to Jerry Bruckheimer's contribution to a commentary track. Although I've not been a fan of all of his films, he's an intelligent speaker who is open about the experiences he has while producing these pictures and has a lot of solid information to share. Here, he doesn't contribute as much as the other two, but he does offer some interesting stories about the production and as always, has some good insights.
Writer Gregory Allen Howard had to do the most research of the three, as, of course, he was the one that had to tell this story through the screenplay. As such, he is the one with the most information about what happened in real life and how that was translated to the big screen. Yakin delivers some good general information about the making of the picture, discussing what it was like to work with the actors.
Although the commentary is slightly slow at times, there are hardly any pauses throughout the track and often, some good tidbits and stories are shared. Worth a listen for fans of the movie.
Commentary: This is a commentary from the real-life coaches in the picture, Herman Boone and Bill Yoast. Disney has been putting together some very good commentaries lately and I really appreciate that they were able to get the real-life coaches behind the story to shed some light about what really happened. Hilariously, both coaches start off the commentary talking about their experiences meeting writer Gregory Allen Howard and, at first, not believing that he was interested in making a feature film based upon their experiences. I liked hearing their experiences about the film's production and their opinions on the film and production details such as the very tough training camp that the actors had to go through).
Both men are excellent storytellers, energetically sharing their real-life tales of coaching that we see in the movie as well as talking about the real-life players. The two men are recorded together and really have a great deal of insight and information to offer. Although I still certainly liked the first track with the three filmmakers, the two men provide a more engaging and entertaining discussion as they share their history. They also do a great job with the commentary, filling the great majority of the track with hardly any pauses. Definitely a recommended listen.
A Journey Behind The Scenes: This is a slightly less than 21 minute promotional documentary hosted by Lynn Swann. The documentary does give us some insights about the story and the performances from the actors and filmmakers, but the majority is promotional - telling us about the story, showing us clips of the film, etc.
Denzel Becomes Boone: This slightly more than 6 minute featurette revolves around Denzel Washington becoming Herman Boone. Washington and Boone both discuss their feelings about playing the character and the way that Boone is played by Denzel. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Gregory Allen Howard both contribute information about Washington as Boone, as well.
Beating The Odds: This is a very interesting 6 minute featurette where the filmmakers talk about the challenge of getting this picture made as several studios passed on the film (some more than once) before Jerry Bruckheimer thought it was certainly a movie worth making and bringing to Disney - whose chairman also speaks briefly. The film, according to Bruckheimer, actually only cost $27 million dollars, which is interesting because the picture looks like it cost more than that. This featurette is definitely the most interesting of the three and offers the most information about the making of the film.
Deleted Scenes: 6 deleted scenes are presented, and as with many of Disney's recent discs, the deleted scenes are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, which is a nice additional touch. Although I would have liked to have had commentary from the director about why these scenes were cut, I can sort of understand that they might need to have been cut for pacing. Still, these scenes are worth watching as some of them contain very good performances.
Trailer: The film's theatrical trailer in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Sneak Peeks: Although I spoke earlier about the annoyance of having these trailers before the main menu, they are also available on their own in an additional menu. "Atlantis", "102 Dalmations", "Emperor's New Groove" and "Disney's The Kid" are available to watch on their own.
Final Thoughts:
"Remember The Titans" is an enjoyable, feel-good picture that has a fantastic performance from Denzel Washington. Disney has provided a very enjoyable DVD presentation, with great video and fine audio quality, along with a good compliment of extra features - especially a fantastic commentary from the two real-life coaches. Recommended.
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