Hoosiers (DVD)

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he soundtrack is English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and and French and Spanish Mono, with English, French, and Spanish subtitles. There's not much in the way of rear speaker action, but the tracking on the front and center speakers is fairly precise. When, for example, the camera zeroes in on Coach Dale during a game and the pep band is playing, as the camera does a 360 around the coach the band sound moves from left to right main speaker, and settles on the center speaker when the camera focuses on them. Compared to most DVDs, though, this one's recorded on low volume, and will have to be played at a higher volume than usual.

Extras:
Let's start with the packaging—a handsome slipcase featuring a pebble-textured basketball with a inflatable rubber on the back. The same attention to detail can be found inside, where the main feature, "Hoosier History: The Truth Behind the Legend," tells the story of the film against a backdrop of Indiana's passion for basketball. Purdue coach Gene Keady makes an appearance, as do Pacers' star Reggie Miller and his coach, as well as current Milan High School coach Randy Combs, and players from the 1953-54 Milan team that won it all: Bob Engle, Bob Plump, Ray Craft, Glenn Butte, and Roger Schroder. And from the Muncie team that was plunked on the noggin by David, there's the still-incredulous Jimmie Barnes.

The full-length commentary by director David Anspaugh and writer Angelo Pizzo is jam-packed with information, though there are a few dead spots where you begin to wonder if the pair took a bathroom break. Still, it's an above-average commentary that delivers such details as the coach was originally young, as the real-life model, but that after seeing "The Verdict" and "Tender Mercies" the writer/producer and director decided to go with an older has-been coach who's looking for one last shot. They talk about the locals, and how the core of 40-60 New Richmond Hoosiers became a club of sorts, attending every shoot and holding reunions years after the movie was filmed. Perhaps the most striking revelation is that the high school players who were not actors began to gel as a team and actually ad-libbed lines during the movie. The filmmakers added (joking or serious, we're not sure) that they always suspected it was because the lads wanted more lines. When crowds rush onto the court, the filmmakers remark, "this is usually a one-take," because it takes the continuity people an hour to get everybody back into their seats afterwards.

There are also thirteen deleted scenes (some 30 minutes) which are introduced by the pair, who lament how the first rough cut came in at two hours and 48 minutes, the first screening came in at two hours and 18 minutes, but Orion Pictures insisted that the film be released at no longer than two hours. As these deleted scenes play out—particularly ones which show the developing relationship between Coach Dale and Myra (Hershey)—you begin to wish that the bottom line in Hollywood was artistic achievement and not money.

One interesting bonus is archival footage of the game that inspired this picture, the 1954 Indiana State High School Championship Game between Milan and Muncie—and we're talking the COMPLETE game in black and white. It's fuzzy, it's blurry, but, hey, it's Indiana basketball history. Only real roundball addicts will watch it all the way through, but it's a nice nod to Indiana basketball that it's even included here. The reason for that is undoubtedly that both Anspaugh and Pizzo are from Indiana, and they have memories of state tournaments that fuel their filmmakers' visions.

Bottom Line:
"Hoosiers" is a classic sports film—a showcase for unlikely winners and the unlikely tandem of Hackman, Hershey and Hopper, who click together like team players. And MGM really did it justice with this release, which preserves the film, like trophies in a case, for the ages.

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