Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7828 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-22
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 126 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
There seems to be no end to "beating-the-odds" American football movies these days, but We Are Marshall, based on a true story, is in the top tier of that clutch of movies. Matthew McConaughey plays Jack Lengyel, who becomes head coach--more or less by default--of Marshall University's rebuilding varsity American football team in Huntington, West Virginia, after the school's 37-member team and coaches (and a number of others) die in a plane crash in the Appalachian Mountains on November 14, 1970. Facing an indifferent college president (David Strathairn) ready to shut the football program down, a morose assistant coach (Matthew Fox of Lost fame), and a charged-up player (Anthony Mackie) who missed the doomed flight due to an injury, Lengyel is faced with fielding a new team and putting the players through their paces. There are the usual, perhaps too-familiar, training montages and field action, but screenwriter Jamie Linden and director McG (Charlie's Angels) also draw some very good performances from the likes of Kate Mara and Ian McShane, contributing to an emotional tapestry conveying a powerful sense of how such a sizable loss affects a small community. --Sally Giles

Synopsis
In November 1970, a plane carrying almost the entire Marshall University football team, its staff and fans crashed, killing 75 people in all and devastating the small town of Huntington, West Virginia. WE ARE MARSHALL, directed by McG (THE O.C., FASTLANE) tells the tragic true story of how the university and the citizens of Huntington rebuilt the football program and dealt with the loss of so many of their own. The university’s president, Donald Dedmon, earnestly portrayed by David Strathairn (GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK), hires the only willing coach to take on such a daunting task, Jack Lengyl (Matthew McConaughey). With the help of the lone Marshall football coach Red Dawson (Matthew Fox) and the three remaining players who weren’t on the plane, Coach Lengyl sets out to restructure Marshall’s team, and spirit. But for some in the community it’s still too soon, including Paul Griffen (Ian McShane) who lost his football-star son. They fear that moving on so quickly is disrespectful to those who died and to the loved ones who still mourn. The film emphasizes this issue, illustrating the struggle of that harrowing time at Marshall, and in college football history.
Although WE ARE MARSHALL contains a similar theme to other sports movies, rising from adversity, the tragedy of so many lives lost in a small community and the painful recovery sets this film apart. Strong performances by McConaughey (FAILURE TO LAUNCH) - whose wit and energy adds much needed doses of comic relief - Fox (LOST), and McShane (DEADWOOD) successfully help bring the historical and inspiring story of Marshall University to the big screen, a must-see for all sports fans.

Customer Reviews

A Real Gem
I love US sports movies, and as a big fan of American college football this was a movie I was looking forward to seeing. I was definitely not disappointed, this film is an emotional roller coaster, and I must confess to a good blub at certain points. McConaughey is not a big favourite of mine, but is outstanding as Jack Lengyl, the coach who tries to rebuild the devestated Marshall University football programme. He is a quirky character who provides some light relief, but McConaughey also shows Lengyl was a fine and dedicated coach, David Strathairn is also very good as the University Chancellor who decides to rebuild the football team against the wishes of many. This is a really good film, not just a good sports movie.

Yuk
Judging by the reviews already left on Amazon I very much doubt that many people will agree with me about this.But the whole point about writing a review is to be honest and this movie was awful.

It is based on a real life tragedy and at the start of the movie I did actually think that it might be OK.We are then subjected to the most blatant and cynical overblown scenes of emotion purely designed to make you cry.This is the type of movie that I can't stand.I don't mean an emotional film because when they are done correctly they can melt even the hardest of hearts.'It's A Wonderful Life','Schindler's List' and even 'Eight Below' never fail to tug at the heartstrings and are very well made without being overly sentimental.'We Are Marshall' deals with a horrible tragedy in a sickly and calculating way and so many scenes made me wince with their awfulness.Hear the music swell as yet another actor gets tears in their eyes.It's just so overdone.

Quite what that fine actor Ian McShane is doing in this is beyond me.No wonder he looks bored.This just isn't my bag at all and I can only give it one star.

Total disappointment
This film fails on evey level.

There is is virtually no football so it isn't really a sports movie. We only get to learn about one character, the new coach. He is an outsider to the catastrophe that has hit Marshall, so the film flops at an emotional level. There is tradegy and emotion but there is no journey.

The key moment in the whole Marshall story was the decision by the adminstrators to carry on with the football programme. That was dealt with very badly in the film.

I should say that the actors are not at fault for this film failing. The fault is with the writers and director. To not produce at least an average film, about such a great story, is a crying shame.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone as entertainment. As a piece of social history, I wouldn't recommend it either. The story as portrayed isn't credible and is very incomplete.

If you still want an emotional story about football, then get the excellent "Friday Night Lights" series.