6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A baseball legend almost finished with his distinguished career at the age of forty has one last chance to prove who he is, what he is capable of, and win the heart of the woman he has loved for the past four years.
Starring: Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston, John C. Reilly, Jena Malone, Brian CoxRomance | 100% |
Sport | 92% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Kevin Costner, one of Hollywood's most well-known actors but also one of the town's most ardent baseball fans, has starred in several films that take place on and around the revered diamond, two of which -- Field of Dreams and Bull Durham -- are unquestionable classics in the genre. Another is For Love of the Game, a movie that doesn't rank in the top handful of baseball films but, then again, it's not exactly a baseball movie. While it can certainly be a little banal and cheesy at times in the exploration of its dramatic and romantic elements, it's also a film that's a bit under-appreciated for its satisfying character study of a man who reflects on his life on what is not the biggest stage of his public career but certainly the most trying game of his life. The film, based on the posthumously published novel by Michael Shaara (the same man who wrote the high school history class staple The Killer Angels), offers a touching reflection on aging, love, and the pursuit of greatness, greatness not necessarily for fame and fortune but rather as a validation of lifelong pursuits.
If there is a sure thing in the Blu-ray business, it's picture quality inconsistency from Universal when it comes to the studio's catalogue output. For Love of the Game fortunately fares better than many, and while the 1080p transfer is certainly imperfect, it more often satisfies than it disappoints. The image is by-and-large pleasantly filmic, retaining a light and largely consistent grain structure while boasting quality textural stability. Faces are impressively complex in close-up, revealing pores and hair with ease. Baseball uniforms, jackets, and street attire all manage to satisfy with visibly complex lines and seams. Colors are pleasant. Tiger orange pops, Yankee blue and green grass are vibrant mainstays during the baseball sequences, and general coloring maintains a pleasant neutrality in other scenes, whether in hotel rooms or inside an airport. Black levels don't give much room to complain, and flesh tones appear accurate. This is an older master, however, and the image has the print pops and speckles to prove it, but even still, and with the crapshoot that is the Universal catalogue division, one that holds up this well is most welcome.
For Love of the Game's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is, much like the video, highly satisfying but not exactly in the stratosphere of Blu-ray excellence. Music, from the opening titles forward, satisfies, delivering a pleasing, rich, full-bodied sound throughout the range and throughout the soundstage, from airy highs to modest lows. Positive spacing and light envelopment aid. The track offers plenty of pleasantly immersive din, whether screaming kids, passing traffic, and light breezes at an early Central Park scene or various reactions to Chapel's game inside the airport where Jane is kinda-sorta watching the game and kinda-sorta trying to get away from it. Crowd noise at Yankee Stadium isn't super raucous. There's definitely a loud and diverse buzz but the din is never as sonically overwhelming as it looks on the screen. There are some interesting pokes and prods and hints of sound and jeers when the stage goes nearly silent when Chapel "clears the mechanism" and tunes out all of the distractions around him, focusing only on what's in front of him at home place. Dialogue is clear and detailed, well prioritized and natural positioned in the front-center speaker.
For Love of the Game contains three extras, available only in-film via the pop-up menu.
For Love of the Game staggers through some bland surface-level romance, but the larger picture is much more satisfying. Baseball is a prism through which the audience comes to know Billy Chapel, the man beyond the pitcher's mound. Through his quest to twirl the game of his life in what may very well be his last, and with a painful shoulder at that, he reminisces about the road that brought him to that mound on that day. The film explores a life imperfectly but well lived, a man who gives all he has not only for fame and personal glory but as a gift to the game he loves, standing for what is right with it and, more importantly, for the life he's lived. Universal's Blu-ray offers pleasant video and audio. A few extras are included. Recommended.
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