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STUDIO: Warner Bros.
MSRP: $19.98
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 335 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES: 49ers Featurettes
Check out reviews for other releases in this series:
– Ian’s take on the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins sets here and here.
– Jeremy’s take on the Oakland Raiders set here.
– My take on the Dallas Cowboys set here.
The Pitch
“Remember when the Niners were great? Yeah, me neither, but here’s some film footage to prove it.”
The Humans
Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert
The Chargers were the first team to use only spotlights during night
games as a way of confounding their opponents.
The Nutshell
The
Joe Montana served as the quarterback/on-field coach through the 80’s, passing to wide receiver Jerry Rice (the best receiver the NFL has ever seen) and handing off to high-kicking running back Roger Craig. Human torpedo Ronnie Lott commanded the Niners defense through those years, cutting down anyone who tried to catch a pass over the middle. Perennial bench warmer Steve Young took over the quarterback duties from an aging
To enhance his rage and intensity before a game, Ronnie thought
about Bob Sagat’s comedy career.
The Package
This two-disc set, like the other Super Bowl Champions DVD set I reviewed, is long on game footage but short on interesting extra features. All of the features consist of interview and clip segments about players and coaches. The first disc has two featurettes, one titled The 49er Family that is basically a look at the enduring influence of Bill Walsh on the team. The other highlights the awesome stopping power of Ronnie Lott. The disc two features focus on the individual achievements of Craig, Rice and Young as well as a breakdown of the incredible drive that led to the win in Super Bowl XXIII.
The video and audio quality vary greatly between the old and new footage. All but the newest films are sub-par and should not have been released digitally without a cleanup. I’d be shocked if the NFL couldn’t afford to restore their film archives. It would be a big job, but one that would at least merit a release on DVD or any future formats.
"Mom! I need more soup!"
The Lowdown
If you like the
For better nostalgia, I would prefer to see the complete Super Bowl games as they aired on TV, but NFL Films doesn’t work that way. They stand behind the scenes, offering their unique brand of documentary filmmaking that undoubtedly records all the action in the stadium, but loses a little bit of the power and excitement that the full contests provide. This set is not worthy of your hard-earned scratch.
5 out of 10
Musburger achieved happiness through the successes of others.