Remember the Titans (Widescreen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: My favorite sports film
Review: The year is 1971. Coach Bill Yoast ( Will Patton) has led The Titans to fifteen winning seasons. However since the Titans play for an all white school, the school system decides that it is time to intigrate the school with some African American students which leads to a change on the football field as well. This marks the arrival of Coach Herman Boone ( Denzel Washington). Despite his impressive record, Coach Yoast is demoted to Boone's assistant and Boone is made the new head coach. Boone is extremely tough and opinionated, and likes to shake things up. His coaching methods are met with skepticism and resentment from the entire team when he forces the players to look past the color of their skin and treat each other with respect. Watching Boone and Yoast put aside their differences, and turn a group of hostile young men into champions, will give us all a reason to "Remember the Titans".

Remember the Titans is an inspiring film that is based on a true story. Disney effectively portrays the story behind the film with talented actors and an amazing musical score. Denzel Washington is great as always. His portrayal of coach Herman Boone is driven with intensity, integrity, and determination. Will Patton gave the best performance as Bill Yoast. He is torn by envy and hate, but still manages to do the best job possible. There was a lot of inner conflict that the character had to overcome, so the transition is really emotional. The football team itself is full of talented young actors that really symolized the spirit of teamwork. All of them do an outstanding job and actually had to go through a football training camp to make their roles believeable. The football action in this film is hard hitting, suspenseful, and realistic. The last thing that amazed me about this film, was that Disney realisticly captured the racism and segregation that went on during that time. It gives an extra sense of tension to the already dramatic film.

Disney definately scores a touchdown with Remember the Tians. The acting, emotional story, and realistic look at racism makes for a very dramatic and important film. The film is also fun to watch with the hard hitting and realistic football action. The DVD is amazing. You get two commentaries - one from the real life coaches Boone and Yoast, and the other from the crew members on the film. There are also two featurettes, an ABC special, and much more. This is a must own DVD for anyone's collection.

A solid 5 stars...