For Love of the Game is a fine sports movie and perhaps the perfect baseball film.
Video:
Universal has had its ups and downs with catalog titles and I was more than pleased that "For Love of the Game" has received a stellar transfer that is highly detailed, wonderfully colored and brings Billy Chapel´s final and perfect game to life on high definition HD-DVD. The VC-1 film is nicely mastered and preserves the film´s 2.35:1 original aspect ratio. The bright lights of Yankee Stadium are brought to life and the pin-striped white Yankee uniforms are clean and bright and perfectly contrasted by their dark blue stripes. Detail is very strong and everything from Kevin Costner´s weathered facial features to the dirty mound looks equally strong and impressive. Colors are bright and the nicely lit outdoor sequences are the films strongest and show the spot-on contrast and saturation consistent throughout the film. Fleshtones are accurate. Black levels are deep and whites are bright without being overblown. About the only minor complaint I have with the film is the minor amount of film grain that can be seen during some of the darker scenes and one or two blemishes on the source materials. Overall, "For Love of the Game" looks stunning.
Audio:
Somebody must know how much I enjoy this film and how much I had hoped for a strong HD-DVD transfer, because Universal has blessed "For Love of the Game" with a solid sounding Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. The most interesting and rewarding scenes are, of course, the baseball scenes and the noise and fervor of a game at Yankee Stadium are perfectly recreated. I´ve been to a few live baseball games and the soundtrack brings back fond memories of Camden Yards, Veterans Stadium and Fenway Park. The sound of a wooden bat striking a fast ball echoes loudly and clearly. All six speakers are used by this mix and from the rainy scene in New York to the cheering of the crowd when Chapel´s game is complete, this is an enveloping experience. Bass is deep, whether it be from the rain storm or the crowd that is jeering Chapel. One of the most memorable moments of "For Love of the Game" is when everything goes silent and this too sounds excellent. Dialogue is also strong, with Costner´s voice showing excellent timbre and clarity. "For Love of the Game" makes an excellent argument to include TrueHD with every Universal catalog title.
Extra Features:
About an hours worth of bonus features are included on the HD-DVD release of "For Love of the Game" and have been carried over from previous DVD releases. Unfortunately, "For Love of the Game" is a bit thin when compared to other releases from Sam Raimi and I still am hoping for a truly special release at some point in the future. The disc contains the film´s theatrical trailer. The electronic press kit feature Spotlight on Location (19:38) is a decent documentary that features the main talent. A lot of information is given about the work done to make the movie as true to baseball as possible and discussion is had about Costner´s work ethic during the film and what he went through to pitch eight mile per hour fastballs and such. The Deleted Scenes (21:36) are thrown together and includes new scenes, as well as extended and alternate takes of existing scenes. The closing moment between Billy Chapel and Davis Birch was a nice touch that would not have worked in the film, but was a nice bonus. The interactive The Perfect Game gives a few menu screens talking about perfect games and listing each of them up until Randy Johnson´s perfect game in 2004. Finally, On the Mound is a dozen trivia questions regarding perfect games. Answering all of them unlocks the short film Play Ball with Babe Ruth: Slide Babe Slide (9:31) and finds Babe Ruth teaching some kids how to slide. It´s fun to watch the Babe slide in nice clothes.
Closing Comments:
"For Love of the Game" is a fine sports movie and perhaps the perfect baseball film. Kevin Costner is about the only actor in Hollywood who could have made this film and his combination of All-American looks and his baseball athleticism allowed him to become Billy Chapel. Athletes who have played their last game know the feeling of saying goodbye to something as loved as a sport. For me, "For Love of the Game" rings a special note and this is one of my all-time favorite sports movies. I´m a hockey player and put this above even "Slap Shot." The HD-DVD features a great looking picture and a solid Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. The supplements are a little lacking, but till take over an hour to watch them all – that is if you spend enough time to answer all of the trivia questions to watch the bonus Babe Ruth short film. I´m happy with this release and feel that Universal has done well porting the picture from DVD to HD-DVD.
Universal has had its ups and downs with catalog titles and I was more than pleased that "For Love of the Game" has received a stellar transfer that is highly detailed, wonderfully colored and brings Billy Chapel´s final and perfect game to life on high definition HD-DVD. The VC-1 film is nicely mastered and preserves the film´s 2.35:1 original aspect ratio. The bright lights of Yankee Stadium are brought to life and the pin-striped white Yankee uniforms are clean and bright and perfectly contrasted by their dark blue stripes. Detail is very strong and everything from Kevin Costner´s weathered facial features to the dirty mound looks equally strong and impressive. Colors are bright and the nicely lit outdoor sequences are the films strongest and show the spot-on contrast and saturation consistent throughout the film. Fleshtones are accurate. Black levels are deep and whites are bright without being overblown. About the only minor complaint I have with the film is the minor amount of film grain that can be seen during some of the darker scenes and one or two blemishes on the source materials. Overall, "For Love of the Game" looks stunning.
Audio:
Somebody must know how much I enjoy this film and how much I had hoped for a strong HD-DVD transfer, because Universal has blessed "For Love of the Game" with a solid sounding Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. The most interesting and rewarding scenes are, of course, the baseball scenes and the noise and fervor of a game at Yankee Stadium are perfectly recreated. I´ve been to a few live baseball games and the soundtrack brings back fond memories of Camden Yards, Veterans Stadium and Fenway Park. The sound of a wooden bat striking a fast ball echoes loudly and clearly. All six speakers are used by this mix and from the rainy scene in New York to the cheering of the crowd when Chapel´s game is complete, this is an enveloping experience. Bass is deep, whether it be from the rain storm or the crowd that is jeering Chapel. One of the most memorable moments of "For Love of the Game" is when everything goes silent and this too sounds excellent. Dialogue is also strong, with Costner´s voice showing excellent timbre and clarity. "For Love of the Game" makes an excellent argument to include TrueHD with every Universal catalog title.
Extra Features:
About an hours worth of bonus features are included on the HD-DVD release of "For Love of the Game" and have been carried over from previous DVD releases. Unfortunately, "For Love of the Game" is a bit thin when compared to other releases from Sam Raimi and I still am hoping for a truly special release at some point in the future. The disc contains the film´s theatrical trailer. The electronic press kit feature Spotlight on Location (19:38) is a decent documentary that features the main talent. A lot of information is given about the work done to make the movie as true to baseball as possible and discussion is had about Costner´s work ethic during the film and what he went through to pitch eight mile per hour fastballs and such. The Deleted Scenes (21:36) are thrown together and includes new scenes, as well as extended and alternate takes of existing scenes. The closing moment between Billy Chapel and Davis Birch was a nice touch that would not have worked in the film, but was a nice bonus. The interactive The Perfect Game gives a few menu screens talking about perfect games and listing each of them up until Randy Johnson´s perfect game in 2004. Finally, On the Mound is a dozen trivia questions regarding perfect games. Answering all of them unlocks the short film Play Ball with Babe Ruth: Slide Babe Slide (9:31) and finds Babe Ruth teaching some kids how to slide. It´s fun to watch the Babe slide in nice clothes.
Closing Comments:
"For Love of the Game" is a fine sports movie and perhaps the perfect baseball film. Kevin Costner is about the only actor in Hollywood who could have made this film and his combination of All-American looks and his baseball athleticism allowed him to become Billy Chapel. Athletes who have played their last game know the feeling of saying goodbye to something as loved as a sport. For me, "For Love of the Game" rings a special note and this is one of my all-time favorite sports movies. I´m a hockey player and put this above even "Slap Shot." The HD-DVD features a great looking picture and a solid Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. The supplements are a little lacking, but till take over an hour to watch them all – that is if you spend enough time to answer all of the trivia questions to watch the bonus Babe Ruth short film. I´m happy with this release and feel that Universal has done well porting the picture from DVD to HD-DVD.
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[release]21574[/release]