nfl films super bowl

For this new edition of great Super Bowl highlights, NFL Films jumps around a bit, staying away from viewing 34 Super Bowls in chronological order. The video is split up into 12 chapters focusing on different aspects, starting with "Masters of the Game," which focuses on the three players who won multiple MVP awards (quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Bart Starr). Other segments look at special-team play, defenses, receivers, and the like. "The Quarterbacks" includes a segment on the MVP of Super Bowl 34, St. Louis Ram Kurt Warner. The material really comes alive in the DVD version of the title, but any fan of the game will be charged up by NFL Films' gusto mix of music, action, and insightful interviews (from players, coaches, and such experts as Frank Deford, many of them new
Ya know, there ain't nothin' quite like the NFL post-season (kickin' off in just a couple days as I write this) to get me in the mood to watch those great moments and teams from past championships that NFL films has shot and preserved for posterity. Along with my 49ers, Redskins, and Broncos Super Bowl season highlight tapes, this particular DVD becomes required watchin' to help me get my fix for those long days that fall between the playoff rounds. Namath's guaranteed win, Garo Yepremian's immortal gaffe to cap off the Miami Dolphins' undefeated season, the dominance of the Steelers, 49ers, & Cowboys, Jim O'Brien's game-winning kick in the most poorly-played Super Bowl by both teams, Joe Montana's game-winning drive, the pathetic efforts of the four-time loser Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, and Denver Broncos, John Elway's inspiring spin-dive in game XXXII, a Titans receiver coming up a yard short as time runs out, and much more all come together to get me pumped for what hopefully will be the next championship game of the ages. But considering how most Super Bowls tend to be pretty one-sided affairs, I might be asking a bit too much with my hopes...
Unlike most of the folks who've punched in their thoughts on this presentation, I thought it covered the big dance's best & worst moments quite well without gettin' TOO in-depth, and wasn't too short at all. Heck, with all the interviews with key participants, different camera angles of memorable plays, alternate radio broadcast tracks, pop-up player stats, action photos, and other moments they threw onto this as "interactive features" (more on this in the next paragraph), it took me over three hours to watch everything! So what's all this I hear about this platter not having enough material? I also liked NFL Films dropping the chronological format, and divvying up the various big dances by various chapters that focus on such things as the Masters of the Game (the Super Bowl's 2-plus-time MVPs Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Montana), running backs (Larry Csonka, Emmitt Smith, Franco Harris, John Riggins, Timmy Smith (?!), et. al.), quarterbacks (Troy Aikman, Kurt Warner, Steve Young, etc.), defenses (Dallas' Doomsday defense, the Steelers' Steel Curtain, the 1985 Bears' 46 defense, and so forth), special teams, coaches, and other related positions and aspects of the sport.
Then there's the interactive features, which were the only real annoyance I encountered whilst watching this bad-boy. That, and they made Leon Lett's little gaffe in game XXVII a side feature, rather than a part of the main attraction. Also, there are some parts where the picture clarity wasn't all that great, but I blame that more on the source material than I do the video transfer. Stuff filmed in slo-mo tends to be quite a bit grainier than the regular speed variety. Anyhoo, each feature comes with an icon that pops up in the lower right corner of the screen as the show runs, prompting the viewer to access it with his DVD remote. I had trouble working them out at first, `cuz the buttons the liner notes told me to push on my DVD remote didn't activate the features they said they would. After a few rounds of random clicking, however, I eventually figured most of it out. But after taking a good look at the bonus bits, I came to the conclusion that NFL Films could've made things a lot easier if they'd just dropped most of this "interactive" nonsense, and just put the extras aside as bonus materials to be looked at after watching the feature presentation. But, this being one of NFL Films' earlier DVD release, they just HAD to get all experimental...
Then there's the inevitable thing with this and other shows like it: as the Roman numerals advance, this becomes more and more out of date, lacking the great moments from subsequent Super Bowls. Like Adam Vinatieri's game-winning kick in XXXVI. Or Raiders QB Rich Gannon throwin' three TD passes to the other team in XXXVII. Fortunately, NFL Films tends to get around this by producing a new & updated "Greatest Super Bowl Moments" show every four to five years, and subsequently broadcast on ESPN or TNT the week before the big dance. That, and they'll put together a new half-hour segment out of the best parts of the latest contest and play it on ESPN2 during Super Bowl week the following year. Speakin' of which, I'm glad to see NFL Films has finally started putting these Super Bowl highlight shows out on DVD in ten-game box sets. If you're an ardent NFL / Super Bowl nut, I highly recommend it! It sure hit the spot for me, and would make a great companion piece to this presentation on any football nut's DVD shelf. My overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.