Hoosiers - Gene Hackman Barbara Hershey Dennis Hopper

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Best Shot')

directed by David Anspaugh
USA 1986

I don't mind admitting that I really love this film. Certainly I consider it one of my favorite sports films. The supporting cast is 'spot-on' - Sheb Wooley, Fern Persons, Barb Hershey and Dennis Hopper (lets no exclude the boys who were the players too!). Gene Hackman is at his most charismatic as the new coach - an outsider entering the small town community to take over the reigns of the much coveted, and puny, basketball team. The school in the movie is so small, in fact, that it can barely field a full squad, they do though - and the name: the 'Hickory Huskers'. David Anspaugh's film is filled with so much small town charm, passion, maturity, acceptance and the type male bonding accomplishments that we reflect on with timeless pride. Many can associate with that type of high school heroics. The soundtrack is a big part of the feel of this film. Jerry Goldsmith was coming off of the most successful period of his career at that time, with several of his most uplifting scores produced in the early 80's. This track has beautiful subtlety as well as pointed aggression when appropriate. I'll wager I've seen this film 6 or 7 times now - I'm content to float back to my high school days, and an imaginary time and place that films rarely venture. A little cloying and all-American - yes, but that's okay - this is strong feel-good movie. out of

Gary W. Tooze

Poster

Theatrical Release: November 14th, 1986 - USA

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DVD Comparison:

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM (2-disc SE) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM - Region A Blu-ray

1) MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) MGM (SE) - Region 1- NTSC - MIDDLE

3) MGM - Region A - Blu-ray - RIGHT

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	MGM - Region 1- NTSC	MGM - Region 1- NTSC (2 -disc SE)	MGM - Region A - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:54:40	1:54:44	1:55:03
Video	1.81:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.99 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.1 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: approx 21 mb/s MPEG-2 - 1080P Single-layered (25 GIG)
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: MGM
Bitrate: MGM (SE)
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUBs: Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (DTS HD Dolby Digital 5.1), DUBs: Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles	Spanish, French, None	English, Spanish, French, and none	English, Spanish, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Aspect Ratio 1.81:1 Edition Details: • Trailer - (2:42) • Pan and scan version on the opposite side DVD Release Date: December 18th, 2001 Keep Case Chapters: 36	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by director David Anspaugh and writer Angelo Pizzo • "Hoosier History: The Truth Behind the Legend" • Deleted scenes with introduction by director David Anspaugh and writer Angelo Pizzo • Milan vs. Muncie 1954 Indiana High School championship game • Photo gallery • Theatrical trailer DVD Release Date: March 1st, 2005 Digipak slipcase into cardboard box Chapters: 32	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailer DVD Release Date: March 13th, 2007 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters: 32

Comments:

ADDITION: Blu-ray - June -08': We'll it's obvious the vast improvement the 1080P resolution has had in more faithfully representing the image quality of the film (I think capture with Barbara Hershey - below - is the most revealing). The SE, was a leap beyond the original SD DVD but is flailing far behind this Blu-ray edition in terms of image quality. I note a shade of black boosting in the SE and it's most apparent in side-by-side comparison. Colors, in terms of consistency and smoothness, seem the most affected by the resolution bump, but also contrast as well as detail to some degree and obviously the Blu-ray has far less digital noise.

NOTE: We've linked all the Blu-ray captures to their 1920X1080 counterparts and if you'd care to see simply click on them.

I also noted a big difference in the original score by Jerry Goldsmith. For myself, the music of Hoosiers of a big part of my enjoyment of the film experience and it sounded triumphant in lossless HD and it fired out of the rears a few times - I appreciated the subtleties.

Extras - Gee, what happened here? It would have seemed easy enough to port over the excellent supplements from the SE (Commentary, Featurettes, the Milan/Muncie High School game etc.). I suspect this may have been one of MGM's early attempts at Blu-ray and they could have been testing the waters - it seems the single-layering is almost filled by the film. Still, I can't see that as being a viable enough reason. Truly a mistake by MGM.

So, depending on how much you appreciate the film, you may want both the Blu-ray and the SE (for the extras)... or if you are just wanting to see and hear Hoosiers in the best possible home theater format - the Blu-ray is the obvious choice. Presently it is $3 more than the SE.

****

ON THE TWO SD's: We can now see how washed-out the colors of the old edition transfer were and how much was cropped off the sides and top edges. The new edition is vastly superior in every area - colors - contrast - aspect ratio - subtitles - extras - brightness. Skin tones still had a tendency in certain scenes to look a shade red to me. What is a real bonus to this new edition are the extensive extras with interview and somehow they got a copy of the old 1954 Indiana High School championship game - what a hoot. This film holds a lot of personal enjoyment for me and I am so grateful this DVD actually did take the image and extras more seriously than in the initial edition. Aspect ratio is off on one of these as characters are somewhat thinner in the new edition.

- Gary W. Tooze

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(MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. MGM (SE) - Region 1- NTSC - RIGHT)