Remember The Titans follows the explosive cinematic events that took place in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971 when African-American football coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) was hired to guide an integrated but racially polarized high school team – the T.C. Williams Titans. Angry, stubborn and a rigid task master, Boone faces a cool reception from the teams’ players as well as an awkward relationship with the assistant coach (Will Patton).
Coming off a successful and powerful real life role as the Hurricane, Denzel Washington decides to do it again, as only he can. His skillful and dynamic style created an indelible celluloid composite of what Coach Boone was like. This was not a man without his faults, and we were able to see the multifaceted elements of the character through the powerful acting by Washington.
Having said that I want to go on to say that I enjoyed this film. While Washington was fantastic, the film, to me, was really about the interaction of this team and the world in which they lived in 1971. There were some other brilliant performances here.
One comment about the production, while it was done for a modest 30 million (modest by Hollywood standards) Bruckhiemer does it again. He has a way of producing hits, sometimes overly polished and ultra slick, he has a way of making his films work. The only thing that irked me a bit was the fact that the cast sings a song. Now it did work, but lately there has been a glut of movies out there that feature the cast coming together in unity singing a song.
The features here are great. The anamorpic transfer is top notch, and the sound is great. Though there are two editions out there, one is the anamorphic widescreen, the other is a full screen pan and scan, I am not sure why they could not have been combined.
The two commentaries are great, the first one is the filmaker and the writer primarily and it is very good and informative. The second track I enjoyed more. It is a track by both real life coaches. Who knows better than them about the real story. While you wont be treated to technical info here, it is great listening to their stories.
Features Additional Footage Anamorphic Widescreen Version Audio Commentary By Actual Coaches Audio Commentary By Director, Producer, Writer Behind-The-Scenes Footage Deleted Scenes Dolby Digital 5.1 Featurette Featurette "Beating The Odds" Featurette "Denzel Becomes Boone" Interactive Menus Scene Access Special "Behind The Scenes" FeaturetteC's Final Word - PROPER!
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