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Any Given Sunday (Special Edition Director's Cut) - Oliver Stone Collection

Any Given Sunday (Special Edition Director's Cut) - Oliver Stone Collection

List Price: $14.97
Your Price: $11.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Blood, sweat, spit, tears, crap, and an eyeball...
Review: Oliver Stone's movie about professional football is very tough, very hard-driving, almost as visceral as "Natural Born Killers", and often very funny as well. It's a movie punctuated by three or four football games, but the meat of the movie is in between, the clash of egos and ideologies. Stone is not afraid (and never has been) to take it to absurd levels, in his style as well as in the content, and if there is any serious flaw in the movie (other than the ridiculous casting of a totally out-of-place Cameron Diaz), it's that he puts in too much and holds nothing back. But then subtlety has not been Stone's M.O. these last few years. The cast, aside from Diaz, is fantastic. Al Pacino must've felt that all the screaming characters he has played in his career needed to be fused into one, and here he is, on the sidelines--Ricky Roma meets Tony Montana meets Colonel Slade meets Sonny Wortzik by way of Bill Parcells. But even with a cast so varied, Jamie Foxx manages a complete takeover of the movie as Steamin' Willie Beamen, fleshing out a complex character with an incredibly varied performance. There's a wonderful and very relevant side-story involving an injured player, while a shady older doctor (James Woods) and an idealistic younger doctor (Aaron Eckhart) clash in their ideas of what to do with him. Dennis Quaid is also great as the injured veteran QB whose wife (Lauren Holly) goes from delightful to despicable all too quickly. Hall-of-famers Jim Brown and Lawrence Taylor also add fire, but the real star of the show, as in all Oliver Stone movies, is Oliver Stone. The movie is best viewed on a big screen, at very high volume, and a six-pack probably wouldn't hurt either.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another One of Stone's Gems!
Review: "When a man looks back on his life, he should be proud of all of it, not just the years he's been in pads and cleets" says the elder statesman of football LT to young Beaman. The modern day gladiator drama that is football explodes on the screen in all the digital surround glory that is Oliver Stone. His tale of a civil war within another male institution is explored here much as it was in PLATOON.
The DVD quality is one of the best I have seen. The opening half-hour football sequence is bone-crunching, pulse-pounding, and unfolds much like scenes in JFK, DOORS, and NATURAL BORN KILLERS. Try to spot all of the real-life football hereos such as Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, LT, and Barry Switzer. (THOSE ARE PRETTY EASY TO SPOT SINCE THEY GET A LOT OF SCREEN TIME BUT THERE ARE PROBABLY OTHERS THAT IF YOU BLINKED YOU WOULD MISS THEM). Stone's use of fantasy teams instead of using actual teams(although the CROSS-TOWN DOLPHINS are mentioned!) works very effectively.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Awful
Review: This movie is one big, loud contrivance. Badly written, and shot with quick cuts like a TV commericial or music video. And Al Pacino gives another yell-every-line-like-a-deaf-man performance. What happened to the subtle acting of his early career? The only reason I'm not giving it only one star is Cameron Diaz is lovely to look at, and Dennis Quaid in fact does a first-rate acting job in his role, and Jamie Foxx acts well, too. But everything else about the movie is as bad as it gets.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: On 'Any Given Sunday' anything can happen!
Review: This 1999-film gives an entertaining background into the Miami Sharks, a NFL-team. It shows the struggles surrounding this team, from the personal struggle of older coach Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino), the decline of the legendary quarterback (Dennis Quaid), the upcoming of the new star (Jamie Foxx), the dealings of new club owner (Cameron Diaz), tricks of the dodgy team doctor (James Woods), and a frustrated running back with an incentive-laden contract (LL Cool J). There is plenty of action, both on- and off-the-field, whereby it also shows the darker side behind the NFL (drugs-problems, injuries, money, blackmail, etc.). Although the film is not worth any Oscars, the filming is superbly under direction of Oliver Stone (Platoon, JFK, Nixon, etc.), with excellent actors and an excellent soundtrack. Great, entertaining film for an easy evening in, especially on a widescreen with the home-entertainment on loud!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pacino and Foxx are Outstanding
Review: I am actually the last person that most people would expect to endorse this film. I don't really like football, and I generally don't care for Oliver Stone. Now that I have made that disclaimer, I have to say that this is an extremely good movie. The writing, camera work and acting are all first rate. The sound editing is particularly first rate, enhancing the on screen action immeasurably. The DVD edition is crisp and has many special features.

Essentially this film is a story of a failing football team with an aging coach (Pacino) and an arrogant young quarterback (Foxx, who really has a terrific throwing arm) who struggle to work together, at first failing miserably. Ultimately, they complete the evolution to a true team and find victory in teamwork. The plot is intricate, yet never boring as Pacino struggles for personal redemption and a new start while reigning in Foxx, and Foxx struggles with all authority, most particularly the coaching staff.

An excellent supporting cast rounds out the production, notably Dennis Quaid as an aging quarterback, a one time nemesis of Foxx, and James Woods as a slimy team doctor in a role that only he could execute this flawlessly.

I would have given this film five stars except for some unsightly (full frontal male) nudity, bad language that fails to enhance the plot and a disgusting, dislodged eyeball scene that did nothing to help the movie other than crank up the gore. With the exception of those quibbles, the movie is a very well made, very human movie that most mature audiences (even us non sports lovers) will like.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A big-time classic!
Review: The first two times I saw this movie, I didn't really think much of it. But when I saw it the third time, I really enjoyed it and thought to myself this could be the number one movie in my top 100. This should have gotten Oscar consideration. Al Pacino and Jamie Foxx carried this movie. Most of the movies that were up for Oscar consideration in recent years were nothing but long, dry-ass movies to quote Steve Harvey. If you want a movie that dispalys great acting and is very entertaining, then Any Given Sunday is it for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Masterpeice!
Review: Stylistically the script is a breeding block for an awesome film, far removed from any previous 'football movie'. Despite a serious overdrive of genre branding the viewers appetite is enhanced by this films hidden depths.
The second half sees the characters failings reach a terrifying and very real conclusion. This is perhaps a point where the film could have reached it's end without suffering form being under developed. The scenes that follow are however, critically important.
A sense of naive pleasure can be gained from seeing football stars in turmoil. The whole film follows the problems facing fictitious team - Miami Raiders. A cameo appearance by British snooker player Steve Davis provides a lot of intensity to an otherwise epic journey. This is superb and ironic both at the same time. Camera angles influenced by the production of classic reality trauma only help this well paced film reach an ever more impressive level.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: MISUNDERSTOOD
Review: This is an excellent DVD of a visionary film by a visionary film director. Many of the other reviews simply miss the point. While sports geeks who don't like the film have no understanding of cinema. American football is merely the canvas the themes of struggle transcends the medium and the filmmaking is stunning.
The special edition DVD is superb inside and outside of the film.
As a rule I don't go for sports movies this is so much more.

Howard Simon Marks Manchester UK

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pure football
Review: After watching Any Given Sunday, I was convinced of many things. One thing was that it depicted football like it is in the NFL, as ruthless and violent. I was also convinced that this movie contained more profanity than all the other movies I've seen put together. There's also a bit of nudity and violence. Although the profanity is part of reality in football circles, it was a bit too much. So I've established that this movie isn't recommended for little kids (probably not good for adults too, but anyway).

But the amount of drama in this movie is amazing. We witness a bad football team, The Sharks, that really need to win games. What happens when 2 quarterbacks get injured? The backup quarterback is given the responsibility of carrying the offense. But this quarterback (Willy Beaman played by Jamie Foxx) isn't a conventional QB, he's one who makes his own plays. He's arrogant and brags that he will be the one to carry the team into the playoffs. But his cocksure self manages to learn that football is a game where learning to cooperate is key. He learns the hard way. If you want to see an inspirational movie about a football team that strives to win, then go no further. Buy and watch Any Given Sunday.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: [junk]. Pure, unadulterated [junk].
Review: If you've ever wanted to see a football movie made by a guy who's never watched a football game, here's your chance.

Oliver Stone runs through every tired pro-athlete cliche while never giving us a story that's worth any more than a Movie of The Week on your local network affiliate... The only bright spot is Jamie Foxx, in a role that lets him run around as an egotistical football player. Even Pacino looks forced, like he's phoning in his lines from Hawaii while CGI artists create a polygon Al for the screen.

Are you a football fan? See Brian's Song instead, a TV movie with better direction and screenplay than this steaming pile of offal.

Are you a film fan? Go earn yourself some Terry Gilliam, a better director than Stone will ever be, even in his most feverish wet dreams...


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