Rating: 
Summary: Should Have Been Greater
Review: When I bought this DVD, I was hoping for something to tide me over until football season starts up again, since football is the only sport I follow faithfully. Like other reviewers, I was most disappointed to see that the disc runs only one hour, which is insufficient time to talk about the first 5 Super Bowls, much less 34. Still, all aspects of the game are covered: Dominant Defenses, the Runners, the Defenders, the Quarterbacks, etc., but to cover any aspect of each of the 34 games in an hour-long format means that the highlights are going to zip by quickly, and they do. Many great features are included: interviews with players and coaches (some of which seem to be fairly recent), different camera angles, and game/player stats. The frustrating part of the disc is that it's over too quickly and really only serves as a teaser for what it doesn't show: the games themselves. How great it would be for the NFL to release each complete game on DVD including interviews, pre-game, post-game, half-time. THAT would be worth something! Until then...it's a long time until Opening Day...
Rating: 
Summary: Gettin' down to business
Review: Ya know, there ain't nothin' quite like the NFL post-season (kickin' off in just a couple days as I write this) to get me in the mood to watch those great moments and teams from past championships that NFL films has shot and preserved for posterity. Along with my 49ers, Redskins, and Broncos Super Bowl season highlight tapes, this particular DVD becomes required watchin' to help me get my fix for those long days that fall between the playoff rounds. Namath's guaranteed win, Garo Yepremian's immortal gaffe to cap off the Miami Dolphins' undefeated season, the dominance of the Steelers, 49ers, & Cowboys, Jim O'Brien's game-winning kick in the most poorly-played Super Bowl by both teams, Joe Montana's game-winning drive, the pathetic efforts of the four-time loser Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, and Denver Broncos, John Elway's inspiring spin-dive in game XXXII, a Titans receiver coming up a yard short as time runs out, and much more all come together to get me pumped for what hopefully will be the next championship game of the ages. But considering how most Super Bowls tend to be pretty one-sided affairs, I might be asking a bit too much with my hopes...Unlike most of the folks who've punched in their thoughts on this presentation, I thought it covered the big dance's best & worst moments quite well without gettin' TOO in-depth, and wasn't too short at all. Heck, with all the interviews with key participants, different camera angles of memorable plays, alternate radio broadcast tracks, pop-up player stats, action photos, and other moments they threw onto this as "interactive features" (more on this in the next paragraph), it took me over three hours to watch everything! So what's all this I hear about this platter not having enough material? I also liked NFL Films dropping the chronological format, and divvying up the various big dances by various chapters that focus on such things as the Masters of the Game (the Super Bowl's 2-plus-time MVPs Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Montana), running backs (Larry Csonka, Emmitt Smith, Franco Harris, John Riggins, Timmy Smith (?!), et. al.), quarterbacks (Troy Aikman, Kurt Warner, Steve Young, etc.), defenses (Dallas' Doomsday defense, the Steelers' Steel Curtain, the 1985 Bears' 46 defense, and so forth), special teams, coaches, and other related positions and aspects of the sport. Then there's the interactive features, which were the only real annoyance I encountered whilst watching this bad-boy. That, and they made Leon Lett's little gaffe in game XXVII a side feature, rather than a part of the main attraction. Also, there are some parts where the picture clarity wasn't all that great, but I blame that more on the source material than I do the video transfer. Stuff filmed in slo-mo tends to be quite a bit grainier than the regular speed variety. Anyhoo, each feature comes with an icon that pops up in the lower right corner of the screen as the show runs, prompting the viewer to access it with his DVD remote. I had trouble working them out at first, `cuz the buttons the liner notes told me to push on my DVD remote didn't activate the features they said they would. After a few rounds of random clicking, however, I eventually figured most of it out. But after taking a good look at the bonus bits, I came to the conclusion that NFL Films could've made things a lot easier if they'd just dropped most of this "interactive" nonsense, and just put the extras aside as bonus materials to be looked at after watching the feature presentation. But, this being one of NFL Films' earlier DVD release, they just HAD to get all experimental... Then there's the inevitable thing with this and other shows like it: as the Roman numerals advance, this becomes more and more out of date, lacking the great moments from subsequent Super Bowls. Like Adam Vinatieri's game-winning kick in XXXVI. Or Raiders QB Rich Gannon throwin' three TD passes to the other team in XXXVII. Fortunately, NFL Films tends to get around this by producing a new & updated "Greatest Super Bowl Moments" show every four to five years, and subsequently broadcast on ESPN or TNT the week before the big dance. That, and they'll put together a new half-hour segment out of the best parts of the latest contest and play it on ESPN2 during Super Bowl week the following year. Speakin' of which, I'm glad to see NFL Films has finally started putting these Super Bowl highlight shows out on DVD in ten-game box sets. If you're an ardent NFL / Super Bowl nut, I highly recommend it! It sure hit the spot for me, and would make a great companion piece to this presentation on any football nut's DVD shelf. My overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. `Late
Rating:
Summary: Gettin' down to business
Review: Ya know, there ain't nothin' quite like the NFL post-season (kickin' off in just a couple days as I write this) to get me in the mood to watch those great moments and teams from past championships that NFL films has shot and preserved for posterity. Along with my 49ers, Redskins, and Broncos Super Bowl season highlight tapes, this particular DVD becomes required watchin' to help me get my fix for those long days that fall between the playoff rounds. Namath's guaranteed win, Garo Yepremian's immortal gaffe to cap off the Miami Dolphins' undefeated season, the dominance of the Steelers, 49ers, & Cowboys, Jim O'Brien's game-winning kick in the most poorly-played Super Bowl by both teams, Joe Montana's game-winning drive, the pathetic efforts of the four-time loser Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, and Denver Broncos, John Elway's inspiring spin-dive in game XXXII, a Titans receiver coming up a yard short as time runs out, and much more all come together to get me pumped for what hopefully will be the next championship game of the ages. But considering how most Super Bowls tend to be pretty one-sided affairs, I might be asking a bit too much with my hopes... Unlike most of the folks who've punched in their thoughts on this presentation, I thought it covered the big dance's best & worst moments quite well without gettin' TOO in-depth, and wasn't too short at all. Heck, with all the interviews with key participants, different camera angles of memorable plays, alternate radio broadcast tracks, pop-up player stats, action photos, and other moments they threw onto this as "interactive features" (more on this in the next paragraph), it took me over three hours to watch everything! So what's all this I hear about this platter not having enough material? I also liked NFL Films dropping the chronological format, and divvying up the various big dances by various chapters that focus on such things as the Masters of the Game (the Super Bowl's 2-plus-time MVPs Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Montana), running backs (Larry Csonka, Emmitt Smith, Franco Harris, John Riggins, Timmy Smith (?!), et. al.), quarterbacks (Troy Aikman, Kurt Warner, Steve Young, etc.), defenses (Dallas' Doomsday defense, the Steelers' Steel Curtain, the 1985 Bears' 46 defense, and so forth), special teams, coaches, and other related positions and aspects of the sport. Then there's the interactive features, which were the only real annoyance I encountered whilst watching this bad-boy. That, and they made Leon Lett's little gaffe in game XXVII a side feature, rather than a part of the main attraction. Also, there are some parts where the picture clarity wasn't all that great, but I blame that more on the source material than I do the video transfer. Stuff filmed in slo-mo tends to be quite a bit grainier than the regular speed variety. Anyhoo, each feature comes with an icon that pops up in the lower right corner of the screen as the show runs, prompting the viewer to access it with his DVD remote. I had trouble working them out at first, 'cuz the buttons the liner notes told me to push on my DVD remote didn't activate the features they said they would. After a few rounds of random clicking, however, I eventually figured most of it out. But after taking a good look at the bonus bits, I came to the conclusion that NFL Films could've made things a lot easier if they'd just dropped most of this "interactive" nonsense, and just put the extras aside as bonus materials to be looked at after watching the feature presentation. But, this being one of NFL Films' earlier DVD release, they just HAD to get all experimental... Then there's the inevitable thing with this and other shows like it: as the Roman numerals advance, this becomes more and more out of date, lacking the great moments from subsequent Super Bowls. Like Adam Vinatieri's game-winning kick in XXXVI. Or Raiders QB Rich Gannon throwin' three TD passes to the other team in XXXVII. Fortunately, NFL Films tends to get around this by producing a new & updated "Greatest Super Bowl Moments" show every four to five years, and subsequently broadcast on ESPN or TNT the week before the big dance. That, and they'll put together a new half-hour segment out of the best parts of the latest contest and play it on ESPN2 during Super Bowl week the following year. Speakin' of which, I'm glad to see NFL Films has finally started putting these Super Bowl highlight shows out on DVD in ten-game box sets. If you're an ardent NFL / Super Bowl nut, I highly recommend it! It sure hit the spot for me, and would make a great companion piece to this presentation on any football nut's DVD shelf. My overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. 'Late
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