Rating: 
Summary: Best Football Action Movie
Review: Being a former player and now a football coach, I consider myself to be pretty critical of football movies. This is the best one (just barely beating "Varsity Blues" with "Any Given Sunday" coming in third). The practice scenes are extreemly realistic, and the games are well done too. Anyone who loves football will like this movie. Anyone who wants to know what it's like at practices or games, this is pretty close!James Caan and Omar Epps are great. The rest of the cast have come into their own now, but at the time this was filmed, they were a bit sad. Some of the non-football plots are a bit cheesy, as is the soundtrack. Still, an awesome movie! I never get sick of watching it and I do so before every season begins!
Rating: 
Summary: Get Ready For This!
Review: I must have seen this video like 1,000 times, and I never get tired of watching it. It's the most realistic sports movie I've seen in my life. It tells you the real stuff college programs go through. It's not easy for students athletes to keep doing what they do without getting in trouble. I'm glad someone decided to make this movie. It's definately the best. Besides...I Love college football.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad at all.
Review: I never thought I'd watch a movie about jocks (I'd rather just watch them play) and enjoy it. But "The Program" wasn't so much about jocks, per se, as about *people*...with very realistic hopes, fears, dreams and failings.
Plus, a certain 6'7" Hoosier proves that he's under-rated...by *singing,* and doing a good job of it.
Here's to the release of a DVD version; hopefully, complete with the controversial deleted scenes. Us movie buffs should not have to suffer for the irresponsibility of others.
Rating:
Summary: Best football movie ever
Review: If you look through the other 39 reviews, the majority are 5 star ratings and that's all you need to know!! Excellent movie from start to finish. Some hard facts to swallow (steroids, back handers etc...)
But that is the reality of this movie. As a amateur football player here in Ireland,
it thought me alot about team work and especially how to play hard hitting football.
We all watch this great movie before games to pump ourselves up.
It's not just a must see, It's a must BUY!!
Has to be released on DVD soon. "STARTING DEFENSE- PLACE AT THE TABLE"
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Subplots, but still a Good Effort
Review: If you're looking for a movie that will give you an overall feel on what behind the curtain NCAA college football is all about, this ain't the one. Unfortunately, there aren't too many out there. While I did find The Program somewhat entertaining, I thought that it tried to appeal to way too many *types* of viewers by convoluting any one clear and relevant plotline with a host of subplots.
At the beginning of this movie, you may be led to believe that the movie is going to be a sort of expose on the business that college athletics has become. We start out by seeing the college's well-planned attempt at trying to recruit a blue chip running-back (Omar Epps). James Cann is great as the 3-dimensional cool-headed coach, who understands that college football is big money (I like contrasting this to the mean sum'va'bitch coach that Jon Voight plays in Varsity Blues). This underscores the idea that education is a secondary concern to many university officials.
There are some great moments in the movie about NCAA corruption. Star linebackers take alumni bribes in the movie. Issues of steroid addiction and grade fixing are touched upon, but never examined to full capacity. Don't get me wrong, normally, I like my sports movies with plenty of sports, but I don't think that the proper set up was there for this to be called a solid 100% sports flick.
While the movie toys with the idea of being a sort of expose, it never quite gets off the ground. I think this is largely due to the fact that the makers of the film tried to rig it to appeal to too many different audiences.
For example, for the non-sports fans, there are 2 romantic subplots. One involving the moping pariah star QB, Joe Cain, and his passion for the girl who doesn't date jocks (touching...yawn). And yet, another involving Epp's and Halle's characters. For the sports diehards, there is the oh so very cliche big game with the classic slow motion play that always works. For the sentimental crowd there is another subplot involving Joe Kain's tobacco-roadish alcoholic father who never goes to see him play. There is, yet another subplot about Kain's rehab from eposodic alcoholism.
Like I said, normally I like my sports movies with plenty sports, but this movie frames itself up to deal with the "behind the scenes" issues and just doesn't come through. Yes, NCAA football is a dirty business. Shoot to kill! Who gives a damn whether Omar Epps and Joe Kane find true romance?
By the way, the guy who played Lattimer deserved an Oscar for best supporting actor!
Rating:
Summary: Definitely a first rate movie
Review: Other reviewers have covered the accuracy of this movie better than I could so I will not attempt to comment in that respect. As a die-hard college football fan, I didn't see too many things that jumped out at me. The movie takes us through one season of college football at a fictional school called "Eastern State University". But unlike most directional schools, this one seems to be some kinda good at football. Mostly, the action centers around the lives of the star quarterback, a Heisman candidate, and the highly recruited true freshman tailback. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting much. ... I thought it might be something neat to watch. I was very surprised that it turned out to be good. Here's a few thoughts: * The movie is rated R, but it could easily have been PG or even G if not for the gratuitous use of profanity. * I kinda wondered if this is supposed to be the University of Georgia. They finish their season with Georgia Tech and there is a banner that says "SEC" hanging in some shots. Although the banner could be there just because nobody bothered to take it down - when they show a wide shot of the stadium, it looks like South Carolina's stadium. * The logic doesn't quite work out with what they needed to do for a bowl game. By 1993, the bowl alliance system had started and by winning their conference, they were already assured of going to an alliance bowl regardless of what happened with GT. * There is one play where a defensive player sacks the QB to end the game. But he does so by ripping off the poor guy's helmet. Rules have changed a little in the last ten years, but I'm pretty sure that was still illegal then. Overall, it's a good movie for a college football fan. The plot is a bit cheesy, but a college football fan can enjoy it anyway.
Rating:
Summary: real football action
Review: People have been critical of this film, but I'd like to talk about those of us who have played the game, been in the programs, and know that what this movie portrays is in many respects the truth nowdays in the business of college sports. The football action is some of the best that Hollywood has put on the bigscreen. My friends and I love this film, as it shows what we have lived. We sympothize with even the un-lovable charactors. Latimer does some terrible things in the movie but we know what pressure is like, the injury to the biggest bada$$ on the field hits close to home with any athlete, and keeping ones "edge" is convincing yourself that you are indestructable, invincible. The best football movie out there, still. Whoever says this movie doesn't hit home has never strapped it up and laid hat. Well worth the buy, need more on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Best Ever
Review: the Program is the Best Footbal movie ever made. I've seen thousands of them and this one wins hands down. My team watches it before and after every game. This is the only football movie I've seen where the practices and games are just like real ones. Anyone who wants to get pumped up before a game should watch The Program. 5 Stars, no question.
Rating:
Summary: Two Great Movies
Review: The Program is, in my opinion as a former football player, the best football movie of all time. I used to watch it to get worked up for a game. No jokes, no exaggerations, just real college football. True, all the drama is a bit much in one school, but ESU (the college in the movie)acts as a microchosm for all of college football. Very exciting guy flick with just the right amount of romance for the girls. Still though, total guy flick.
Con Air is much the same. Total action guy flick about a prison break on a flight of cons, but with some non-forced romance from the sensitive hero just tryin to get home to see his wife and baby. He was of course, wrongly imprisoned and is on the flight because he made parole.
Rarely can you find a better combo of movies.
Rating:
Summary: Two Great Movies
Review: The Program is, in my opinion as a former football player, the best football movie of all time. I used to watch it to get worked up for a game. No jokes, no exaggerations, just real college football. True, all the drama is a bit much in one school, but ESU (the college in the movie)acts as a microchosm for all of college football. Very exciting guy flick with just the right amount of romance for the girls. Still though, total guy flick.
Con Air is much the same. Total action guy flick about a prison break on a flight of cons, but with some non-forced romance from the sensitive hero just tryin to get home to see his wife and baby. He was of course, wrongly imprisoned and is on the flight because he made parole.
Rarely can you find a better combo of movies.
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