Remember the Titans Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Remember the Titans Blu-ray Movie Review

A feel good, well made, and important movie looks great in Blu.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 14, 2008

I'm not a savior or Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, or the Easter Bunny. I'm a football coach. That's all.

As you can tell from my reviews of Invincible, Gridiron Gang, and We Are Marshall, I love football movies, and Remember the Titans is another good one. It's not part of the "inspirational trio," as I like to call them, that the three aforementioned films make up (they were all released within months of one another in theaters), but Titans is every bit as good. It's hard to believe this movie is almost eight years old because it fits in so well with the influx of football films. While inspirational, this is more of a morality tale that portrays an instance at the height of segregation in the 1960s when race riots were commonplace and hatred abundant. This is the story of one African-American football coach breaking racial lines and creating a team in the truest sense of the word. They learn to see past skin color and care more about the game and also, more importantly, the man behind the helmet and under the skin.

Coach Boone rallies the troops.

In 1971 Virginia, T.C. Williams High School's football program is among the elites. The team is coached by Hall of Fame candidate Bill Yoast (Will Patton, The Punisher). Amidst the mounting racial tensions and under pressure from the African American community, the school unexpectedly replaces Coach Yoast with Herman Boone (Denzel Washington, Deja Vu), a black coach from North Carolina with winning experience, but not at the highest level of competition. The team is instantly divided between the races, and disdain for coach Boone amongst the team and the community rises. Boone re-hires Yoast as an assistant coach, or perhaps better said as a bridge between the old regime and the new, and certainly between the races. As training camp heats up, tensions continue to flare. Nevertheless, the team slowly but surely begins to gel under Boone's tutelage. Soon, the respective "leaders" of the races on the team, Julius (Wood Harris, The Wire) and Gerry (Ryan Hurst, We Were Soldiers) begin to bond, and so too does the team. They are a whole unit once camp is over, segregation a thing of the past, and the dinner table separated between "offense" and "defense" rather than "black" and "white." Back home, the team struggles to remain together in the midst of the continued battle over segregation, but as the team begins winning games, the town is forced to embrace them as they set an example that demonstrates the true meaning of the word "team."

Remember the Titans is a fine film that is predictable but nevertheless manages to entertain while engendering a powerful message about not only the value of teamwork but also about seeing past the superficial and into what makes a man a man. While the racial tensions portrayed in the film are palpable and based on real events, they are, if anything, underplayed in the severity and divisiveness that really tore various Southern communities apart in the 1960s and early 1970s. The movie presents some wonderful sequences, and the subplot of Julius and Gerry, who transform from enemies into the closest of friends, is portrayed and acted very well between the actors, who have a touching and honest camaraderie on screen. Denzel Washington turns in a fine performance as Herman Boone, and his approach to the material as the tough coach you love to hate but also learn to love is second to none. Remember the Titans may not be the greatest race film ever, it may not be the greatest football movie ever, and it may no be the greatest inspirational movie ever, but it's so good at each genre that it's hard not to put this movie somewhere near the top of all three lists.

Remember the Titans Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Remember the Titans is yet another entry into Disney's ever-growing list of Blu-ray discs with excellent transfers. Presented in 2.35:1, 1080p high definition, the viewer is awestruck by the rich colors of autumn and the stunning clarity and beauty of this transfer is evident right from the get-go. It has a very natural appearance that is lifelike and real. Flesh tones appear to be nearly perfect. This transfer offers perhaps the deepest and purest black levels I've seen, rivaling the best Blu-ray has to offer to this point. Detail is extremely high as individual threads and stitches are seen in clothing and fine detail is present in faces. Outdoor scenes are stunning with a realistic look and feel. A scene where coach Yoast and his daughter are sitting outside under a tree made me feel like I was outside in the early morning with the sun shining brightly through the leaves and a light mist of dew on the ground. I could almost smell the fresh air. There are a few pops and speckles here and there over the print, and that's the only fault I can find with it. It's most notable when Coach Boone takes them to the battlefield at Gettysburg. This is a superb transfer that is nearly perfect in every regard.

Remember the Titans Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Remember the Titans is presented on Blu-ray with a PCM uncompressed 5.1 soundtrack. A lesser quality Dolby Digital 5.1 track is also included. While this is a fine track on the whole, I was slightly underwhelmed by it. It definitely lacks the punch I've come to expect from the top tier soundtracks on football films, or on any film with hard hitting action. Bass is present but it doesn't punch you in the gut. As the film begins, surrounds are almost nonexistent. As the movie progresses, the track seems to pick up some steam. Ambience emerges from nowhere and the surrounds become more active. The final two football games in the movie pack a harder hit than the rest of the track, but it still proved to be underwhelming compared to the best tracks out there. On the plus side, dialogue comes across as natural and is never lost under the music or other parts of the soundtrack. Separation across the front soundstage sounds great with both action and nuances well placed. While this is a perfectly adequate track, I expected a bit more zest.

Remember the Titans Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Remember the Titans includes a number of special features sure to please fans of the film. First up are two commentaries. The first features director Boaz Yakin, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and writer Gregory Allen Howard. This track offers a mostly dry and bland look at the film with mention of historical accuracies in the film, casting, filming techniques, and so on. It's informative and probably best suited for a listen by students of film but not the casual viewer. The second track features real-life coaches Herman Boone and Bill Yoast. Some of my favorite commentary tracks feature "real" people rather than actors and filmmakers, and as such this one is pretty good. Boone and Yoast share how they were approached by filmmakers and their reaction to finding out it wasn't an elaborate prank. Boone shares his reactions to the film and discusses his feelings both then and now about the story of the Titans. Boone proves to be an excellent storyteller but a little quiet and reserved, and that's OK. His reserved nature adds an air of credibility and honesty to his story and both participants prove to be well informed, educated, and kind. This track is definitely worth a listen.

Next up is a Movie Showcase that allows viewers to immediately jump to scenes that "showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound." Six deleted scenes make up the next group of extras. They are presented in 480p with a total length of 8:07. 'Remember the Titans:' An Inspirational Journey Behind the Scenes (480p, 20:59) features Pittsburgh Steeler great and NFL Hall of Famer Lynn Swann hosting a promotional piece for the film that features cast and crew discussing the film. This is pretty typical stuff. Denzel Becomes Boone (480p, 6:15) showcases actor Denzel Washington's preparation for portraying the role of Herman Boone. The piece features segments with the real Herman Boone, director Boaz Yakin, and writer Gregory Allen Howard. This is a good short piece that I felt was the best on the disc outside of the commentary track with Boone and Yost. Finally, Beating the Odds (480p, 6:20) is a piece that discusses the difficulty in getting the script accepted by a studio and Jerry Bruckheimer's interest in bringing this story to the big screen after the script had been rejected multiple times by multiple studios.

Remember the Titans Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Remember the Titans is an important film that tackles subject materials that continue to be the topic of discussion and tension even today, some 35+ years after the true life events that inspired the film. Showcasing a great story, believable characters, terrific acting, and a meaningful message, Remember the Titans is a film well worth seeing. This Blu-ray disc boasts wonderful video quality, solid audio quality, and an above average set of supplements. Highly recommended.