Supplements:

 

The Film:

Underdog movies are a durable genre and never go out of style. They're fairly predictable, in the sense that few movie underdogs ever lose in the big last scene. The notion is enormously appealing, however, because everyone can identify in one way or another.

 

In "Rudy," Astin's performance is so self-effacing, so focused and low-key, that we lose sight of the underdog formula and begin to focus on this dogged kid who won't quit. And the last big scene is an emotional powerhouse, just the way it's supposed to be.

Excerpt from Roger Ebert's review at The Chicago Sun-Times located HERE

Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Surprisingly strong image considering the film is 15 years old now. Detail exhibited by the 33.0 Gig of space on the dual-layered Blu-ray produces a competent, if not always stellar, 1080P image. This is a very demonstrative improvement over the old SD edition from 2000. Although this new Blu-ray supports the football field scenes of the film with bright true colors - there are still some monochromatic scenes with noise - and even a few speckles. The transfer seems to match the film's lead character with a quiet, understated appearance that plods through the entire film. It is fairly consistent and detail occasionally reaches those profound heights fans of this new format tend to gush over. Rudy is not an overly visual feast with a straightforward storyline and some infrequent close-ups. So purchasers shouldn't expect extravagance. Bottom like is that this transfer quality is healthy enough to endorse and there is no DNR or edge enhancement that I could detect. The majority of the time it is pretty crisp, clean and film-like. The screen captures (linked to full-resolution versions) should give a fair idea of the quality.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Extras:
Not too much, although I enjoyed seeing the 'real' Rudy in the 12 minutes featurette 'Rudy: The Real Story'. There is also a kind of production teaser lasting a scant 3 minutes (with Anspaugh, Charles Dutton and the screenwriter Pizzo among others giving a line or two) and another piece with the lead; First Down With Sean Astin - all three are in SD. Lastly an HD trailer for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (as seen on many Sony Blu-rays). This disc supports Sony's BD-Live Features.

Bottom line:
I really enjoyed this film - especially looking (and sounding) this good. It's the type of experience you need to repeat every once in a while. It's not as over-the-top as so many Hollywood efforts and Anspaugh really has a handle on the underlying 'phantasm' of sports thing - his Hoosiers is another favorite film (also in Indiana, by the way.) I'm a firm believer in so much of life being trying as opposed to succeeding. Rudy supports this philosophy and we need it reinforced continually. The Blu-ray really helps this film hit home and we endorse this new transfer as the best it looks for home theater playback.