National Champions Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

National Champions Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 8, 2022

If one goes into National Champions blind, expecting the next rah-rah Sports film about an underdog winning the title or a player rising from nothing to lead a team to victory in the big game, those expectations will be shattered in favor of a film that is decidedly different from the norm. Rather than stand up and cheer, the film challenges viewers to sit down and think. The plot follows a high-profile protest for financial freedom and recognition for collegiate athletes on the eve of the biggest stage in all of college sports. With no sports action and plenty of high drama and debate, the film shatters the sports film mold and dares to look at the darker underbelly of the college sports landscape. The film decries the imbalance between the fat cats who get rich off the game and the no-pay athletes who put in all the hard work on the field.

It is only days away from the college national championship football game between the 13-1 Cougars and the undefeated Wolves. The game features Wolves' star quarterback LeMarcus James (Stephan James) who, win or lose, is expected to be taken #1 overall in the coming draft by the Miami Dolphins. However, it doesn't look like he's going to play. He's not injured, he's protesting. He and his friend and teammate Emmett Sunday (Alexander Ludwig) tweet out their intention to sit the game out. Their reason: a demand that college athletes be paid in proportion to services rendered on the field. For too long have the players labored for the coaches and fat cats behind the programs who get rich off of their hard work. They demand health care, long-term security, and fair wages. Slowly, they gather more players to their cause. While Wolves' Head Coach James Lazor (J.K. Simmons) tries to reel LaMarcus in and keep his A-team on the field for the game, he must battle a spat with his wayward wife Bailey (Kristin Chenoweth).

What the film does well is present both sides of the issue with ferocity and clarity and it does not shy away from the intense gray area maneuverings that seem to evolve once the clearly delineated boundaries begin to merge together in something of a sociopolitical morass. The film takes a serious issue and treats it seriously. There are some manipulated and manufactured moments to be sure, some caricatures on either side as well, but the core drumbeats are compellingly introduced and thoroughly explored. It is a high stakes game of back and forth demands that seem only to pull the players and the college football higher-ups further apart while Coach Lazor attempts to straddle some evaporating middle ground in which he supports his players but also must play up for the people who pay his salary. It is perhaps his ride -- as bogged down as it may be with a purposeless side story involving his cheating wife -- that is the most compelling as the character who is hopelessly caught in the middle of the burgeoning and then exploding crisis just hours away from the game of his life.

If there is a downside to the film it's that, once the ball really gets rolling, the battle lines are drawn, and the soldiers are dug into their trenches (with Coach Lazor mulling about the no man's land battleground, trying to play peacemaker and hold his team, and his dreams, and his life, together), it's that the film slow drip introduces a number of wrenches that challenge perceptions and motivations that ultimately take some of the focus away from the central idea of whether college athletes should be paid, and paid handsomely, for their work. No major character is free from radical reworking and revelation, for better or for worse. Some of these are important plot elements, some of them feel like wrenched-in plot twists to build tension that doesn't need to be further built. The core story and drama are excellent; there's no need to shift the prism -- too much -- once everything is in focus.

The film benefits from a very expressive, grounded, and believable performance from Stephan James in the lead role, playing LaMarcus with a passionate focus and ability to both rally the troops to his cause but also spell out the truth behind the protest in a way that is both understandable and relatable. James brings unbridled passion to the part, so much so that the audience might forget that it is an actor, not a gifted speaker and determined student athlete, who is behind the character. Simmons is, of course, excellent as well, particularly as the character finds himself drawn deeper into various truths and forced to wrestle with the increasing likelihood that his star QB, and a bunch of his senior players, will not be suiting up for the game. The performance is hindered by the subplot involving his wife, but it's still laudable work from a great actor.

National Champions Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal brings National Champions to Blu-ray with a very noisy 1080p transfer. Much of the story unfolds inside, in low light hotel rooms, where dense noise abounds and becomes one of the image's defining characteristics. However, it lessens considerably in better lit locations where the image's baseline strengths are revealed. Clarity is terrific and details are high in close-ups of faces in particular. Viewers will appreciate the good essential definition at play. Colors are nicely saturated. There's not a lot of vitality and vividness at play here, and Lazor's red polo, for example, is a good standout representation of the image's color grading accuracy. Black levels hold fairly deep and skin tones look fine. There are no major compression issues of note.

National Champions Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

National Champions features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is fine, offering well defined essentials. Particular emphasis must be given to Jonathan Sanford's unique score, which is presented with the distinctive clarity and spacing it requires as an interesting supporting voice for the film; its width, breadth, and definition make it a critical sonic component. Most of the rest of the tack is dialogue driven. There is no football action, no intense crowd noise, nothing of the sort. The spoken word comes across clearly and distinctively from a natural front-center location.

National Champions Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of National Champions contains three featurettes. No DVD copy is included, but Universal has bundled in an AppleTV digital copy code. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Behind the Music (1080p, 2:09): Composer Jonathan Sanford discusses his draw to the material and the unique sound he crafted for the picture.
• The Game (1080p, 3:01): A closer look at the struggles of collegiate athletes as depicted in the film.
• Sports Trivia (1080p, 0:59): The cast answers a few rapid-fire college football questions.

National Champions Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

National Champions is compelling to a point but the point wears a bit thin as the plot jumbles up and the tentacles draw focus away from the more interesting main storyline. It's worth watching to discover how it will play out -- honestly the movie ends with a bit of a thud, though -- and for a couple of rock solid performances in the lead. The film could have been much more, but as it is it's a worthwhile endeavor, flawed though it may be. Universal's Blu-ray delivers solid enough video and audio as well as three very brief extras. Worth a look; this one just doesn't have much, if any, replay value.