The Legend of Lambeau Field

Rating:
Summary: Elegaic and yes, a formatting problem
Review: Even though THE LEGEND OF LAMBEAU FIELD covers much the same territory as the double-DVD set THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE GREEN BAY PACKERS, the tone is a lot different. Whereas THE COMPLETE HISTORY is fast-paced and lineal, THE LEGEND is elegaic, relaxed, even dreamy. Highlights of Packer triumphs in football's most famous stadium move past sedately, a series of big plays that make a viewer think, "Remember when?" For example, seeing Don Chandler's questionable field goal that gave Green Bay its place in the 1965 NFL championship--a play that I had completely forgotten until I saw the replay--took me back to the afternoon I watched it live in my grandparents' house almost 40 years ago. For a moment all the people who were watching it with me that day were alive again, just as they were in 1965. I also like the "rediscovered" footage of the Ice Bowl, taken by a home movie camera from the grandstand. You see the famous third-and-goal play from an angle you've never seen it before, behind and to the left of the offense, and the view is hazy because so many fans in front are breathing little puffs of steam. It's like looking at a football game being played in the arctic; it conveys the bleak brutal cold of that day a lot better than the footage recorded by network TV.

The trouble is that the nostalgic mood is tough to sustain for an hour, and sometimes the film seems too slow-moving. Like another reviewer, I also have trouble with the format. For about five minutes near the end, the bottom of the screen is sliced off, and a narrow black area appears at the top. But it's still worth the price if you're a loyal citizen of Packerland, and that's the intended audience for this one. Go Pack, Go!



Rating:
Summary: Great but with formatting problem
Review: I have a standard television set; when watching the DVD, the names of the players, when superimposed, were cut off the screen and could not be read. I searched and searched every option on the DVD to see if I could watch the program in "widescreen" mode. I could not; only full-screen version, and therefore the problem with the "supers". I have only run into this on one other DVD of the probably 1000 I've seen. Perhaps it is formatted for the new rectangle televisions moreso than the standard televisions. So that was very disappointing.

But the program itself was very interesting and enjoyable; I grew up in Titletown, not far from Lambeau, and even though some of the stories I had heard many times, many more were new to me.

Rating:
Summary: Best Packer program ever
Review: I was really impressed with the quality of this program. I've followed the Packers all my life, but I've never heard the players tell some of these stories before. And the old footage was cool. Especially the Ice Bowl.