Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3630 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-11-20
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Director's Cut, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 150 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday is a massive 150-minute American football drama which, for all its ferocity and cynicism, is as soft-centred and clichéd as any Rocky-style underdogs-make-good crowd-pleaser. The Miami Sharks have lost three games in a row and their coach, Al Pacino in an intense performance as the only half-decent major character in the film, faces crisis when untested quarterback Willie Beamen (an excellent Jamie Foxx) becomes an overnight star. Fame goes to Beamen's ego; manager Cameron Diaz ruthlessly wheels-and-deals; and team doctor James Woods sacrifices medical ethics for his career. The Gladiator-esque close-up "shakycam" visuals reflect the player's POV yet make many scenes almost incomprehensible, while the ludicrously fragmented (seven composers, 80 songs) rap-metal-ambient soundtrack obscures much of the dialogue. The world of American football is presented as brutal, nightmarish and corrupting, the players mainly drug-taking, money-grubbing, whoring, foul-mouthed barbarians. So when Stone's last act offers his hollow men as heroes, mythological noble warriors incarnate, the attempted feel-good finale rings seriously false. Stone exposed the rotten heart of the American dream to infinitely greater effect in JFK (1991), is here too much in love with his target for the shots to hit home. --Gary Dalkin

On the DVD: The first disc presents the director's cut of Any Given Sunday. The UK cinema cut was nine minutes shorter than the US release. The director's cut starts with the longer US version, removes 11 minutes, adds six, including one of the most shocking and horrifying images seen on screen in some time, then re-edits several other sequences. Stone's commentary ranges far and wide, and he is far more interesting and thought-provoking to listen to than his film is to watch. The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 image and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack are both flawless.

The second disc is divided into pre-game, half-time and post-game sections, beginning with Jamie Foxx's audition video and screen tests and a routine 27-minute making-of documentary. Halftime consists of two music videos by Jamie Foxx (both anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1) and one by LL Cool J. Post-game offers three sets of outtakes set to music, a stills gallery, a collection of advertising images and 33 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary from Stone. Completing an exceptional set of extras are DVD-ROM features on scripting and editing, plus reviews, a quiz and the complete original promotional Web site.

DVD Description
Subtitles: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Synopsis
Oliver Stone's hard-hitting look at the adrenaline-fueled world of pro football stars Al Pacino as Miama Sharks coach Tony D'Amato. Having just lost his star quarterback, Jack Rooney (Dennis Quaid), he's forced to use the erratic Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) off the bench, hoping he can resuscitate his team, which is floundering on the field and in attendance figures. If not, Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), the team's new owner, may be drop-kicking him to a new destination.

Customer Reviews

A disappointing football film given that it is Oliver Stone
I am not surprised that the NFL passed on getting behind "Any Given Sunday," because everybody in the Commissioner's office must be cringing at virtually every scene of the antics of these football players off camera. "North Dallas Forty" is still the best football movie made to date, but I have to admit I am somewhat surprised that this film was not more impressive. I would have thought that Oliver Stone filming football plays would be awesome. But while he does try to give us a sense of how FAST the games in the NFL are played I found myself cringing every time there was a slow motion shot of a pass hanging forever in the air. The drama of a pass play is seeing it develop, but if all you see is the ball you have no idea of who the ball is being thrown to, how well he is covered, or anything that makes the play exciting. Stone pulls this gambit several times and it never works once. The touchdown routines after the scores are choreographed better. And do not even get me started about the bit with the eye...

Off the playing field every character has their own cliché. The whole subplot with Cameron Diaz as the team owner is painful (but no one is wasted more in this film than Ann-Margaret as her mom) and Lawrence Taylor's performance as a toned down version of himself nicknamed the "Shark" is negated by the melodramatic waiting question of what will happen if he is hit wrong. Dennis Quaid tries to bring some poignancy to the final days of a once great quarterback, but unfortunately he has Lauren Holly as a psychotic wife. The Dallas Knights have the ugliest football uniforms in the history of the known universe, but, hey, isn't that Johnny U. roaming the sidelines as their coach? That sure is Jim Brown preaching the gospel of defense to his troops. Then again, I liked Willie Beamon's game ritual (and the way it becomes taken as a sure sign of good things to come); Jamie Fox, ironically enough, ends up being one of the most realistic characters in the film. Still, when the best scene in the film is coach Al Pacino's pep talk before the big game or the punch line that caps off the end credits, that is not really a great selling point for a football movie. But at least that scene makes up for all the scenery chewing and maudlin reflections Pacino has to do throughout the rest of the movie.

Oh, and did I mention that the clips from "Ben-Hur" keep going out of sequence? Apparently Charlton Heston did not point that out when he did his cameo as the Commissioner. But like most of the problems in this film, Oliver Stone covers it by distracting us with music or simply pumping the volume up on the soundtrack. "Any Given Sunday" is disappointing because you look at the talent on both sides of the camera and you really expected just so much more.

A great movie to watch on Sunday, or any day...
Any Given Sunday is a great piece of film making, if slightly tarred by an overly polished Hollywood format. What I mean is, it has all of the [Oliver] Stone ingredients we've come to expect; various video formats, a seemingly incongruous mix of camera angles and close-ups and some amazing performances, but minus the imperfections. So what you say, well sometimes it's those little accidental nuances that turn a good movie into an amazing one. AGS is a piece of highly professional, polished movie making - but at the end of the day it's just a good movie, not an amazing one.

The performances are just fantastic, Pacino whilst not as intense as in say "Heat" really drives the movie and doesn't for a second let you question whether he's a football coach. You just BELIEVE it, when he's shouting you think it's at you. James Woods is typically side-lined, no pun intended, but what time he is on screen he's James Woods through and through. Why this guy is never given bigger parts I'll never know. Cameron Diaz' is one of the most surprising characters. When Charlton Heston says "I actually believe this woman would eat her young" (line of the movie right there) you totally empathise. She's ruthless, self-opinionated and such a b***h. But it's no facade, she really throws herself into the part and the results are great.

The actual film itself is an amazing piece of work. It's like some sort of drug; it's cocktail of visual and audio mixing is so intense, so in your face you soon get totally sucked in. The on-field football action is incredible, when the tackles come in you find yourself tensing your whole body waiting for the impact. Then you're treated to the players perspective as the stadium swims around them, the crowds die away and you're left for a few seconds to recover before you're hit with the next instalment. You really start to root for the sharks by the end as they go from average schmoes, to washed-up has-beens to a team in the play-offs. And whilst yes this is a fairly predictable journey it's not entirely predictable.
I'm not so sure the parallels between 'gladiators of the field' and Spartacus really pay-off, in some ways you feel a little spoon-fed - because just watching the action you really feel the players are warriors, willing to sacrifice absolutely everything to play the game they're good at.

I've never been a massive fan of American sports, or even American 'Football' but what drew me to the movie is the acting and directing talent and I wasn't disappointed. After I'd bought the movie I mentioned it to a friend who told me it was his 'favourite sports movie of all time'. I can't really think of that many sports movies worth watching, but sport aside if you want some high quality entertainment and a feast for the senses this movie will not disappoint. Strap yourself in and enjoy every intoxicating minute.

The quality of the movie on DVD is also awesome, not a single imperfection could I spot. The audio also nicely fires round the room, it makes me wish I'd seen it at the cinema... it represents outstanding value for money, especially as it has a second disc entirely dedicated to extras you can watch on any given rainy Sunday. A great movie, and great value.

Sporting Greatness
Any Given Sunday provides viewers with some truly shocking insights into the amazing world of professional sport. Scratching deeply below the surface of what one might expect from a sports drama, a truly sinister side of the game is on show in this film. Given that, however, the film still has that ability to make you wanna go out and play sport straight after watching it. A great 'psyche up' movie to watch before a big game! Excellent performances from LL Cool J and Al Pacino.