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STUDIO: Warner Home Video
MSRP: $26.98
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 265 min
SPECIAL FEATURES:

  • Featurettes

The Pitch

Boston turns profit with ice hockey. 

The Humans

Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely

The Nutshell

The Boston Bruins aren’t my favorite Hockey team. I don’t hate them like how I hate Detroit or Dallas. But, I feel that they’ve got such a rabid fanbase that their history and past feats tend to get overblown. Warner Brothers Home Video has gone back to the past and decided to rebuild an unbiased history of one of the game’s best teams. So, let’s take a look at this storied franchise.

Ted Kennedy’s parking space.

The Lowdown

Professional Hockey has never really received the respect it deserves in America. NHL Studios in conjunction with Warner Brothers has gone out of their way to rebuild the way we watch Hockey. Taking a historical standpoint, we get to see how the Bruins built themselves into a formidable team over the last eighty-five years. There’s a lot of sports claptrap and stats, but there’s also a lot of heart. Plus, you get to see footage of the team’s Golden Age.

The History of the Boston Bruins isn’t the definitive word on the team. But, it’s a noble effort to try and explain their history to the long-time fan or any neophyte off the street. Bobby Orr and a few bits of talking head footage help to start the disc. But, the rest jumps around a lot. Which is sad, because it doesn’t get sorted out until you hit the special features.

That’s why it’s so hard to take a critical look at sports discs. You get a lot of on-the-scene footage and people remembering the past. But, there’s always this scene of staleness or bias to the material. When it comes to covering sports, you can only talk about what happened or your impressions. There’s room for interpretation, but it all comes down to the same thing. Your opinion.

The documentary does a good job at showing us the Bruins’ fundamentals and their key players. We get to see the different era represented with an appropriate amount of footage. But, it’s case of what’s next. What more can you do than talk about how cool a shot was and how well things played out. That’s the bitch of the matter, but it comes across well.

The History of the Boston Bruins comes to DVD
with a rather strong offering. The A/V Quality runs the gamut, as we get footage from various sources. The supplementals are extensions of the footage in the documentary. Everybody gets their time to shine, plus you get a little more Cam Neely. I’d recommend it to NHL fans.

The Eye of the Neely is on us all.

The Package

Featurettes –

The featurettes included on the DVD are extensions of the footage in the main feature. We get to see dedications to the various players, plus some bio info. There’s some footage of the last game at the Garden. Plus, you get to see all the greats at their retirement night specials. Then, there’s a chance for key players to chime in with personal stories about what it’s like to be a Bruin.

The Chiefs are so screwed.

7.4 out of 10