ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Does this Blu-ray release catch any hell for its Blu-ray presentation?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 5, 2012

It's not just a game.

The fabric of sports is woven by the people who play, not the singular or the sum total of the events that give shape to sports, such as the rules and the boundaries and the statistics and the traditions and the wins and the losses and even the fans. ESPN's 30 for 30 series takes audiences closer than ever before to the people who do not simply participate in sports, but those whose lives shaped not only a game or an event but influenced something larger, something beyond the sporting landscape. Their presence in popular culture and impact on society at large transcend the sporting world, in this case the worlds of tennis, baseball, horse racing, basketball, and football. 30 for 30 goes well beyond the headlines and even the in-depth analysis of the sporting events themselves which find their way onto the morning's printed page, the radio or televised recap sportscast, after-the-fact magazine articles, or even Internet blogs to unearth the true, often painful, sometimes inspiring, occasionally even heroic or groundbreaking people whose lives may be magnified through the limelight of sports, but who live in the shadows or with a heavy burden or whose stories may inspire future generations not only of athletes, but of everyday people who find comfort and hope in the success of someone just like them. This 30 for 30 supplemental collection of five feature films largely focuses on people whose lives have become, or were, complicated by events both on the field of play and off of it, people praised and despised for what they could do, who they chose to be, the mistakes they made, and in some cases the rebounds and reprieves and forgiveness they found.

More than an athlete.

For viewers interested in a sampling of what ESPN's 30 for 30 series is all about, this set proves far more accessible and digestible than the rather daunting six-disc, thirty-film behemoth released a few months ago. These five films -- Renée, Catching Hell, Charismatic, The Fab 5, and Herschel -- are not included in that set, and collectively these are five of the better films in the 30 for 30 family, with Catching Hell the most humanly captivating of them all and Herschel perhaps the most inspiring, even if it plays as a straight biography. Still, each film is with merit. Renée takes a fascinating look at a life on the rise and a rather sudden sex change operation that seems something that would find its way into today's headlines, not the headlines of some thirty years ago. It's a compelling tale of a life in drastic transition, in the spotlight, and the ramifications then and now. Catching Hell is the enthralling story of Steve Bartman, an innocent, everyday man turned with one foul ball, one innocent reach of the hand into a public villain who has been forced into reclusiveness within the very city he loves. Charismatic, like the best stories from the race track, examines man and animal's rise to success and defeat by demons and history. The Fab 5 looks at the price of instant success, while Herschel follows a troubled but successful life shaped through extreme dedication to self and endless hours of hard work on the road to sporting greatness.

• Renée: Director Eric Drath's 30 for 30 film examines the life of female tennis star Renée Richards, formerly Mr. Richard Raskind, and her play at the 1977 Women's U.S. Open match. "Renée," which translates from the original French as "reborn," examines the figure's early life, current family structure, rise to tennis prominence, college career, time at medical school, Naval tennis career, the sex change, marriage, her son, and more. The narrative is shaped through photographs, video clips, family and friend interviews, and a sit-down with Renée herself.
• Catching Hell: October 14, 2003. The Chicago Cubs are mere innings away from advancing to the World Series. The franchise that had not captured a title since 1908 and had not even reached the Series since 1945 and the fans who desperately wanted to celebrate the breaking of the Billy Goat's curse teetered on the edge of euphoria. But curses aren't so easy to lift. When Florida Marlins batter Luis Castillo fouls a ball down the left-field line, a 26-year-old fan named Steve Bartman innocently reaches up to catch it -- as do the fans around him -- but interferes with left fielder Moises Alou's opportunity to make the grab. What follows is a story of tragedy as one young fan's dream to catch a ball and watch his team advance to the World Series are shattered, leaving him disgraced, hated, and forced to live a secret life then and even still today, almost ten years after the incident. The film is framed around the story of Bill Buckner, himself a singular scapegoat for the Boston Red Sox 1986 World Series loss, and his own story of acceptance and redemption in the midst of incredible turmoil.
• Charismatic: There may not be a more treasured achievement in sports. The Triple Crown represents the pinnacle of horse racing, the glamour, the rush, the rarity of wins at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont, all in the same year on the same horse. Directors Steven Michaels, Joel Surnow, and Jonathan Koch tell the story of Jockey Chris Antley's return to glory from drug addiction and depression atop Charismatic, a horse projected to be nothing remarkable -- despite a strong pedigree -- that took a run at the 1999 triple crown.
• The Fab 5: In the early 1990s, the University of Michigan basketball program landed five of the nation's top recruits. The collection became an instant sensation on and off the court. Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jalen Rose, and Chris Webber formed the freshman core of a uniquely talented basketball team, with these core players soon dubbed "The Fab Five." They embraced their generation and symbolized the popular culture of the early 1990s, but scandal and an errant Chris Webber timeout tainted what remains one of the finest collections of talent ever to grace the hardwood.
• Herschel: He was separated from his classmates. He was chubby, not at all athletic, and one day beaten on the playground. Young Herschel Walker decided he'd finally had enough. He raced the train through his small Johnson County, Georgia hometown. He endured grueling workouts. He studied hard. He graduated not only the valedictorian of his class, but he became the best athlete the county had ever seen. He chose to attend the University of Georgia where he dominated on the football field. He was "bigger, faster, and stronger than anyone in college football." He led Georgia to titles, he broke rushing records, and he transitioned to the pros, first in the USFL and later to the NFL. But that wasn't the real Herschel Walker. Director Rory Karpf's Herschel not only examines the football career of this immensely talented individual, but the man behind the football helmet and the off-the-field problems that he fights daily to overcome.

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 features a high definition video presentation that varies greatly in quality, between episodes and dependent on the era from which the original footage was shot. The HD interview and brand-new footage for Renée, for instance, fares poorly. The image is murky, noisy, and home to a fair amount of banding. Details and colors both fall rather flat in this episode. Fortunately, the new footage from the other films appears appreciably more stable. Though generally viewers will find a decidedly flat video sheen, episodes such as Catching Hell and Herschel offer crisp and tangible textures, a generally more polished veneer, better color balance, and lighter banding. Still, all fall victim to some level of blocking. However, black levels fare well, and the crisper the image -- Herschel in particular -- the less prone to trouble spots it appears. Of course, all of the films weave in older footage of now-substandard quality. Needless to say, TV broadcasts from decades past don't factor into the overall score; those will never look better on Blu-ray, and will never look better, period, save for the development some unforeseen future technology, of course. All told, this isn't a bad collection of transfers by any means, but expectations need be modest to best enjoy ESPN's handiwork on Blu-ray.

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 features, primarily, DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtracks. Beginning with Renée, viewers will once again find the lowest quality film from a technical perspective. Narration is edgy and sharp and best, sloppy at reference volume. It evens out a bit at a lower level, however, ditto Charismatic. Herschel's narration and interview snippets enjoy a little more natural balance. Music plays smoothly with fair spacing across the front. There's little in the way of ambience, and even heavier effects -- the sonic rush of a horse race, for instance, or the din of a crowd at a basketball game -- don't offer too much in terms of energy or excitement or immersion or power. Catching Hell does offer a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, the only one not exclusively offered with a two-channel presentation. Needless to say, it's the best of the collection. It offers up quite a bit more clarity and a somewhat greater sense of space. Traffic moves naturally outside the WGN studios in one shot, for example. Narration and interviews are the smoothest, most balanced, and natural of the set. Music plays more naturally, more crisply, more deeply, with good balance and spacing but a little bit of rattle across the low end. These tracks as a whole are acceptable at best; they get the job done, but listeners will likely be disappointed with the net result.

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Each film in ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 contains extra content. The highlights include three triple crown races and a condensed football game.

Disc One:

• Renée (1080p): Director's Statement (7:15), 1976 Howard Cosell Coverage of René Richards (18:53), 1978 Howard Cosell Interview with Renée Richards (4:31), and Additional Interviews, including Billie Jean King (1:18), Dr. Stephen Levine (8:26), Dr. Richard Pleak (4:03), Martina Navratilova (2:01), and Nicholas Raskind (4:48).
• Catching Hell (1080p): Extended Director's Interview (7:02), Alex Gibney Red Carpet Interview (1:35), PTI: When Will Bartman Be Forgiven? (1:55), The Bartman Equation (3:53), and Deleted Scenes, including Detective Paul (2:16), It Felt Like Destiny (2:14), and Cubs Fans Round table (4:31).

Disc Two:

• Charismatic (1080p): 1999 Kentucky Derby (13:54), 1999 Preakness Stakes (10:50), 1999 Belmont Stakes (12:22), Al Michaels Interview (5:45), and D. Wayne Lukas Interview (1:30).
• The Fab 5 (1080p): Director's Statement 1 (0:53), Director's Statement 2 (0:47), and Deleted Scenes (1080p), including Academics (1:36), Campus Life (1:31), Mile Run (2:18), South Quad (1:11), and The Girls (1:26).
• Herschel (1080p): 1980 Herschel Interview (1:36), 1981 Sugar Bowl Condensed Game (43:20), 1982 Film Profile (23:47), Herschel Interview (11:47), and Deleted Scenes, including Herschel and His Sister (1:38), Return to Georgia (1:13), Advice to Players (1:15), and Extremes (1:12).

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 delivers five excellent films in a package that's not nearly as daunting as the thirty-film set. It's representative of the whole, an easy way for newcomers to decide if the 30 for 30 style and content is worth the larger price of admission for the bigger set. As a bonus, these five films are exclusive to this set, so there's no carryover should one choose to take the plunge for the pricer six-disc release. This package contains both Catching Hell and Herschel, arguably the two best films in the entire 30 for 30 collection. ESPN Films Collection Vol. 1 delivers serviceable video and audio to go along with several extras for each film. Recommended.