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STUDIO: Warner Home Video
MSRP: $19.98
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 346 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES: Cowboys Featurettes





The Pitch

“Eleven guys try to transport a ball made of skin towards a big “Y” and eleven other guys try to stop them. Then they switch.”

The Humans

Roger Staubach, Drew Pearson, Tony Dorsett, Randy White, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Larry Brown, lots of other players.

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Nobody covered No. 19 because he spent his short career refusing to

cross the goal line.

The Nutshell

Whether or not you like the Dallas Cowboys, or football, or any sport, or any public display of athleticism, or any type of human interaction at all, you have to accept a couple of historical facts. Fact one: the Cowboys have made eight Super Bowl appearances, five in the 70’s and three in the 90’s, the most of any team in NFL history. Fact two: the Cowboys have won five Super Bowls, the most in NFL history, a record they share with one other team, the San Francisco 49ers. Because of those two facts, it could be argued that the Dallas Cowboys are the most successful franchise in all of professional football. Facts are important when making a statement like that. For instance, here’s another interesting, yet totally unrelated fact: John Elway was spawned by beavers (he has more tooth matter than any seven humans combined). For this and other reasons, AFC West fans have theorized that he may be the Antichrist (facts supporting that theory are a bit harder to come by). But I kid Mr. Elway unnecessarily.

Super Bowl Champions – Dallas Cowboys presents highlights from the best Cowboys finishes via the voluminous vaults of NFL Films. For each season, several short films recall the successes and failures of various teams, details of the playoffs, and finally (and mercifully) the Super Bowl game in minute detail.

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Ronnie "Bub" Johannsen perfected the tackle-and-eat technique.

The Package

As much as I respect NFL Films for being the archival standard-bearer of sports, they really need to get to work restoring their older films. It doesn’t make sense to release these films over and over in a digital format without trying to make them look as good as possible. Restoration is a vital part of securing the visual history of the NFL. Unfortunately, the video quality of the Cowboys’ first two Super Bowl wins during the 70’s is marred by film grain and scratches galore. The three Super Bowls from the 90’s look very good in comparison, as one might expect. The variations in audio quality from older to newer footage gets a pass from me, since there is only so much that can be done to enhance vintage audio tracks.

Each disc contains four featurettes on some of the people who helped make the Cowboys so successful. While the extras on the first disc focuses on the often dramatic backstories of the early Super Bowl teams and how a couple of players faired after their football careers ended, those of the second disc are straightforward biographical pieces of the 90’s Cowboys stars, including Coach Jimmy Johnson, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Larry Brown. These features are a hit and miss affair. Because this is a Super Bowl collection, I would have rather seen more Super Bowl related features. Why not put some relevant stats on here, like win-loss records or player achievements for each season? It would also be nice to have the team rosters for each winning season as a reference. Those are the kinds of extras that enrich a DVD package like this. Without them, the set just feels incomplete.

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"Nice taint, Ref."

The Lowdown

Since the day I first found out what professional football was, I’ve been a Dallas Cowboys supporter. I can’t adequately explain how this allegiance began, so I won’t bother trying. A DVD set like this one should appeal to me, but instead it leaves me unsatisfied. There is way too much material on these discs that doesn’t concern the Cowboys so the average Dallas fan, like me, is ultimately going to tire quickly of all the warm-up footage leading to the championships. I spent many a lazy weekend afternoon watching various NFL Films productions and I never minded the random nature of those programs, but this set should have been much more narrow in scope.

It’s obvious that the films included in this collection are the unedited shows I may have already watched over the years, so their focus on the Cowboys’ championship runs are merely coincidental. This set should have contained newly-edited Cowboys highlights from all of their games in each winning season along with shorter segments on the competitive teams in those years. What it does contain is just not that engaging for the devoted Dallas fan. I can’t recommend it.

5.5 out of 10

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The Ben Stiller Styling Gel line was popular with people who hadn’t seen

his films.