Friday Night Lights - The First Season

Customer Reviews:

Best Show Ever?.......2007-09-15

I've never reviewed anything on amazon before b/c I've never felt the urge to proselytize before.

Simply put, this is the best TV show my wife and I have ever seen, or at least the best since that aborted semi-season of My So-Called Life.

Unbelievably good acting, incredibly understated but powerful writing (except for the absurd football scenes, but so what?), phenomenal music. Just absolutely perfect, especially once they drop the annoying jittery cinema-verite stuff after the third epi.

You will not be disappointed. Unless you're looking for something about football.

Ok, so maybe you're not a fan of football.......2007-09-12

Or a fan of Texas, for that matter. WATCH THE SHOW ANYWAY. It's that good.

That being said, this is not a show about football. Like all of the most incredible tv, this show is about people - character-driven drama at it's absolute finest. The boring, boooorrring pilot episode shows us each character as a stereotype - who we might see them as if we were, say, outsiders who might not think too highly of the pampered Texas football stars and the locals who have nothing better to do on a Friday night than go watch a high school football game. And, frankly, you just won't give a darn. (Although I'm a tv addict, even I fell asleep during the pilot.)

But then, each character grows. And each character has such flaws. And such conviction. And you get to SEE them. Really see them, and what you find is depth and strength and courage and weakness. The show faces issues boldly without beating us over the head with them (race, gender, prejudice, rape, etc.), providing a forum to express the issues that Americans face everyday. And though some of these issues are heavy, the tone of the show is one of strength in overcoming adversity. Of challenges overcome and the power in forgiveness and in doing what is right rather than what is easy. The team motto says it all:" "Clear Eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose."

Best Show of the Season.......2007-09-11

It was the great underdog show of last season. Watching it on DVD would definitely be a journey worth traveling.

And however long NBC decides to keep it, (I hope for a long time), Season 1 itself is a truly engaging self-contained masterpiece. Enough said.

The only folks who don't love this show..........2007-09-09

are those who haven't seen it...so get this DVD and see what the fuss is about. The deleted scenes do wonders to inform the action of each episode, and to further develop--and make more subtle--the personalities and motivations of the characters; a welcome addition. The only negative I can detect is the decision to change some of the music; in general the first pieces used were just so perfect that any change would be a lesser choice.

Best 'undiscovered' show on television.......2007-09-06

If only the Emmy awards were smart enough to shower this show with nominations, would people realize how great this show really is. Do yourself a favor; buy this DVD. This is one of the best dramas ever on television.Hopefully, people will wake up before it is cancelled.

Friday Night Lights (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Very Realistic Football Film
Friday Nights
Definitely an above average sports film
Small Town Football
A great movie!

Friday Night Lights (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Lucas Black (II) , Garrett Hedlund , Derek Luke , and Jay Hernandez
Director: Peter Berg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005JNEW
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Customer Reviews:

Very Realistic Football Film.......2007-09-09

Based upon the best-selling nonfiction book of the same name, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is the story about Odessa, Texas's high school's bid for a state football championship in the fall of 1988. The movie follows the lives of key members of the team as they begin their summer training through their season that comes to a dramatic conclusion at the Astrodome. Odessa is a small town and doesn't offer many future prospects for the students who live there. Most of them come from troubled backgrounds, for example quarterback Mike Winchell's (Lucas Black) mother is sick and dying and Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) lives with an emotionally abusive alcoholic father. Nevertheless, hopes and expectations are high for the Permian "MOJO" Panthers and Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton). The town wants perfection, meaning a perfect season with a state title. Coach Gaines wants perfection, too, but he defines it differently. For him, perfection means giving it all; it is a way of life. The Panthers start off the season strong, lead by Winchell and star tailback Boobie Miles (Derek Luke). But then tragedy strikes, distilling the peace and threatening to destroy even Coach Gaines' definition of perfection.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is one of the better team football movies that I have seen. The action on the field is very realistic. That is in part due to some actual footage of Permian football games that were sliced in with filmed footage from the movie. However, much of the realism comes from the attitude of the characters. If you've never been to Texas or Oklahoma and have never played football or personally known someone who has, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is an incredibly depressing movie to watch. The film has been made that way because FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS isn't really supposed to be about football, but it's supposed to be about the characters in the movie. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is really a movie about the friendships between a group of close high school friends.

Yet, it is a football movie. I never played football myself, but I generally like watching football movies. RUDY and INVICIBLE are great films to watch. They aren't as uplifting, but I also enjoyed ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, THE PROGRAM, and VARSITY BLUES as well as comical dramas like THE LONGEST YARD. However, as much as I enjoy watching these films, they are nothing like real football in a small town. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is. It's a very realistic film that illustrates how much the game means to many people and if you are connected to the sport at all, it seems a little insane. For example, in FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS more money is spent on the football team than the rest of a school district's budget combined, the game is followed as a religion, and the biggest moments expected to happen in a person's life are during the Friday night lights of the football season of their senior year. I realize for many people all of that sounds incredible, but in many parts of the country those things are a way of life. Priorities might be out of line, the people might be misguided, and living like that seems incredibly depressing, but it's all very real.

In short, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is one of the most realistic football movies ever made. Highly recommended for football fans, citizens of Texas, anyone who read the book, and people who favor dramas scattered with a little sport action.

A couple of trivia pieces: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS features country singer Tim McGraw in his motion picture debut. Also, Connie Britton who plays Coach Gaines' wife, Sharon, is also the same actress who plays Coach Eric Taylor's (Kyle Chandler) wife Tami on the television series FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

An extra on the DVD is the short documentary "The Story of the 1988 Permian Panthers." This featurette is a look back at the 1988 season with some of the real life players from that 1988 team, including Boobie Miles, Mike Winchell, Brian Chavez and Don Billingsley. Real footage from some of their games as well as television interviews and news pieces about the team are seen. I really enjoyed this featurette. It's the best extra on the DVD.

Other extras include the usual directors commentary, deleted scenes, a brief conversation with Tim McGraw about acting, a behind the scenes personal video entitled "Player Cam", and a comment from director Peter Berg about the reasoning why he added the scene at the burger joint.

Friday Nights.......2007-05-17

Friday Nights

Title: Friday Night Lights
Director: Peter Berg
Produced by: Brian Grazer
Release date: 10/08/04

Did you know that the Permian Panthers have won more state championships then any other high school team in the state of Texas? That is a very good record considering that there are more high school teams in Texas than Kentucky and Tennessee put together.

In this great sports film it tells the true story of a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, where football is life. This movie was inspired by the true season of the 1988 Permian Panthers. Friday Night Lights was based on a book written by H.G. Bissinger, and was voted by ESPN the magazine the greatest football novel of all time.

This movie keys on the life of five ordinary small town boys that all share one dream, a state championship, Mike Winchell (Lucas Black), Boobie Miles (Derek Luke) Brian Chavez (Jay Hernandez), Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund), and Ivory Christian (Lee Jackson). These teenage boys have the weight of the world on them as they head into the 1988 season.

In this small town they have one huge quality that is football. Every Friday night all businesses close for the night and all the houses are empty. Since everybody is at Barrett Stadium one of the largest high school fields in the country. The Panthers are always one of the top teams in the state, and every year the community expects a state title. Considering all this anything less then a state championship is failure.

Permian heads in as a good favorite to win state, but when Permian's star All American running back, Boobie Miles, hurts his leg in there first game the teams confidence and chances decline. The panthers were then forced to start a tiny one hundred pound running back that is nowhere near the skill level of Boobie Miles. After Bobbie finds out he is out for the season, the whole team and town about give up on their chances of winning state. It looked as if there was a horrible disaster that happened in the town, the way everybody acted. However quarterback Mike Winchell, fullback Don Billingsley, and defensive end Ivory Christian will not let this team go down that easy.

The panthers manage to pull together a good season. They faced a season that Permian was not use to, finishing barely in front of five hundred. Losing games no one in town thought would be close. But they ended up in a three-way tie for first and second place in the region. As a result they do it the way everyone settles a tie, they flipped a coin. The coin flip went there way and they found them self in the state tournament. The team gets motivated after hearing about Boobie being hurt, and probably having his football career end. They then dedicate the state tournament to Boobie. Permian makes it all the way to the state championship game where they face a powerhouse from central Texas, the Dallas Carter Cowboys. Where Dallas Carter went undefeated and won every game without breaking a sweat. Since Permian barely got into state championship Dallas Carter was heavily favored. But the panthers wont go down without a fight.

This movie has great camera views and makes you feel like your watching a real football game. After I watched the movie I really wanted to play football, it was that good. For example I would watch the part of the movie where they play Dallas Carter before every one of my football games, it made me so pumped and ready to play. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole movie just waiting to see what happens next. I would defiantly advise sports lovers or people who just like a good movie to check this one out.

By.jd

Definitely an above average sports film.......2007-04-10

I have read so many spectacular reviews of the TV series FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT that I decided that I needed to watch the series myself. But I first wanted to see the film that the TV series was based upon.

This is a carefully crafted film about the somewhat dubious role that football is allowed to play in the lives of small town Americans. What many people seem to miss in seeing the film is the deeply critical aspects of the film. While the struggles of Permian High School to overcome the loss of their star player Boobie Miles -- who is portrayed as a 1988 high school equivalent of today's Darren McFadden of Arkansas (like McFadden, Miles is portrayed as someone who is spectacularly fast, a great receiver, and even an accomplished passer) -- take center stage, there is also a quiet but pervasive criticism of the role that football is allowed to play in people's lives in this small town. There is the sadness of several former players who have never been able to find meaning in their lives after hanging up their cleats. There is also the poignancy of people utterly obsessed with the failure or success of the local high school team, as if there was some connection between the quality of their lives and the fate of the team. From the beginning to the end of the movie there is a sense that these are people without lives, so that while on one level we celebrate the victories of the team on another we experience a deep sadness. I kept thinking of something Kierkegaard wrote while watching the movie. He distinguished between the comic and the tragic, characterizing the latter as regarding with finite interest that which ought to be of eternal interest, while identifying the comic as regarding something finite as of eternal interest. In this sense, the movie is at its heart a tragicomedy. The movie doesn't explore precisely why these people have such sad lives, but it leaves no question at the end that they do.

This is a very slick movie, which is impressive given that it was essentially a low budget film (it was made for around $30 million) with a very large cast. As a result the film has pretty much a no name cast, the only actor that most people would be familiar with being Billy Bob Thornton. But the film never reveals its low budget. From beginning to end every aspect is highly polished.

I mentioned the way that the movie criticizes our obsession with football and how this obsession is contrasted with the fundamental emptiness in the lives of the characters in the film. The two characters who most display these aspects of the film are the aforementioned Boobie Miles and former star Charles Billingsley, played by country music star Tim McGraw. The only thing that Miles has going for him at the start of the film is his athletic ability and as we hear him struggling to read a recruiting letter we realize that he is borderline illiterate. When he learns that his knee injury is far worse than anyone imagined he realizes how little life has to offer him. He is a man with rapidly collapsing horizons. Billingsley, on the other hand, has only his memories of having starred for Permian. He relentlessly drives his son to achieve a similar kind of success so that he can relive some of it vicariously.

This film in the end is not a celebration of football, but a paean on our excessive obsession with what is, in the end, only a game. It does not mean that football is devoid of all redeeming values, but it does mean to point out that there is more to life than football.

Small Town Football.......2007-03-17

"Friday Night Lights", the inspiration for the 2006-2007 TV series of the same name, is an unflinchingly look at a small, economically-depressed Texas town where the only exciting event is the Friday night high school football game. That kind of spotlight creates intense expectations for the Permian High School Football Team to succeed, causing players to make tough choices and live with the consequences.

Billy Bob Thornton does an inspiring turn as the football coach who rallies the team after a season-ending injury to a key player. His leadership and mentoring of the team causes the players to come together and make the best of their situation and of each other. The movie avoids a cliche ending but leaves the viewer with the sense that what the players accomplish together will be with them all their lives.

This film is highly recommended as an excellent capture of high school sports as preparation for the challenges of adult life.

A great movie!.......2007-02-21

I don't claim to be a movie critic, I'm just a regular guy. And I thought this movie was one of the best sports movies that I've ever seen! I would rank it right up there with Hoosiers, Rudy and Remember the Titans. It's not necessarily a feel-good movie, like the others I mentioned, but it's just a great story! The west-Texas realism is outstanding!

Average customer rating:

Very Realistic Football Film
Friday Nights
Definitely an above average sports film
Small Town Football
A great movie!

Friday Night Lights [HD DVD]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Lucas Black (II) , Garrett Hedlund , Derek Luke , and Jay Hernandez
Director: Josh Pate , Peter Berg , and Mark Piznarski
Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000FGG60C
Release Date: 2006-07-11

Description

A genuine stand-up-and-cheer movie about a courageous high school football team's fight to fulfill their destiny and live their dream, Friday Night Lights is "unforgettable and real!" (Larry King) Billy Bob Thornton stars in a true American story of how one legendary Texas town made hope come alive under the exhilarating glare of Friday Night Lights! "One of the greatest sports stories ever told" (Sports Illustrated) is now "one of the greatest sports movies ever made!" (Larry King)

Customer Reviews:

Very Realistic Football Film.......2007-09-09

Friday Nights.......2007-05-17

Definitely an above average sports film.......2007-04-10

Small Town Football.......2007-03-17

A great movie!.......2007-02-21

Friday Night Lights (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Very Realistic Football Film
Friday Nights
Definitely an above average sports film
Small Town Football
A great movie!

Friday Night Lights (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Lucas Black (II) , Garrett Hedlund , Derek Luke , and Jay Hernandez
Director: Peter Berg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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Sports | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0006IJ5PM
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Customer Reviews:

Very Realistic Football Film.......2007-09-09

Friday Nights.......2007-05-17

Definitely an above average sports film.......2007-04-10

Small Town Football.......2007-03-17

A great movie!.......2007-02-21

1: The Story Behind the Longest Winning Streak in Football History

Average customer rating:

The Story Behind the Longest Winning Streak in Football History
More Than Just a Football Documentary
Can Someone Please Help Me.
A must if you love the purity of High School Athletics...or simply love athletics
Excellent insight into the De La Salle football program

1: The Story Behind the Longest Winning Streak in Football History
Starring: Maurice Drew; Bob Ladouceur
Director: Tim O'Hara
Manufacturer: goingdigitalfilms, LLC
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000693YI0
Release Date: 2005-02-01

Product Description

EXCLUSIVELY OFFERED BY GOINGDIGITALFILMS---Brand New DVDs--LIMITED FIRST PRODUCTION RUN--ORDER Yours Today! DVD FEATURES: Additional 45min Edited Version (No Explicit Language), Filmmakers Commentary Track, Deleted Scenes, Extended Football Games, 2 Additional Speeches by Head Coach Bob Ladouceur, 2 Teaser Trailers, Photo Gallery, Production Notes and More... You've heard the staggering statistics.... 151 consecutive wins....0 losses in the span of a decade... A winning percentage over 90% since 1979... You'd think it was a high school football factory, you'll find it's something much more... 1 is a rare behind-the-scenes chronicle of the most successful high school football team ever and follows the De La Salle Spartans through a season on a quest not to win another championship or break another national record, but on a journey to become a cohesive team bound by love. Recommended for anyone interested in the factors behind phenomenal team success, high school, football, greatest sports stories or teen development. It's not about X's and O's. It's about having faith in something larger than yourself. Feature length version contains some explicit language. Edited version contains no explicit language.

Customer Reviews:

The Story Behind the Longest Winning Streak in Football History.......2007-08-26

This film will give people an opportunity to analyze the mindset and climate created by Coach Ladouceur and the De La Salle coaching staff. You will also learn the importance of brotherhood between children and adults. The director and producers did an outstanding job at giving us a visual description of the mystery behind the streak. This is a must see for anyone interested in being successful in the professional world of sports and business.

More Than Just a Football Documentary.......2007-01-09

I have purchased this video twice now, the first I loaned to a friend and he never returned it!
This DVD is a great documentary that gives a glimpse of a football power built on discipline, dedication and strong interpersonal relationships, with football success a manifestation of these qualities.
I recommend reading the book "When the Game Stands Tall" and watch this DVD and you will gain a great insight to DeLaSalle and their program as they were both done over the same time period.
A great video for athletes, coaches, students, etc. I cannot recommend it enough

Can Someone Please Help Me........2006-05-26

I am trying to find a way to get this film on DVD, but I am running into deadend after deadend. Does anyone know why its in unavailable ? Can anyone help me ? I Have sent emails to the GDFilms website, and made phone calss but have recieved no responce. PLEASE HELP !!!!

Please contact me with info at
ruebels2k3@yahoo.com

A must if you love the purity of High School Athletics...or simply love athletics.......2005-11-24

"1: The Story..." is a must in every coach and sport's fan DVD library. I first caught on to this story as most of us did: little blurbs on the news and small anecdotes in the paper. When I saw that goingdigital films and Tim O'Hara had spent a season with the team, I decided to take a shot and order this DVD.
I should mention that I coach softball and girls soccer, and when I showed the girls soccer team pieces of the DVD they were immediately hooked. We were looking to start a tradition of excellence of our own based on hard work, honesty, morals and Christian values. The girls instituted aspects from the documentary such as chapel time and committment cards into our own season. As a matter of fact, at our first chapel the girls stood up and hugged to seal their committments to each other just as Coach Ladoceur's players do after their own team chapels.
These ideas have become the basis of what we did (and still do), and the cohesion we picked up from Coach Laudceur, his team and his staff were a major inspiration that created our success.
When other coaches at my school found out about Tim O'Hara's work and how we were using it, they began to ask to borrow the DVD. Now, nearly a year later, the DVD has been widely viewed and highly appreciated by nearly every coach in our building.
The beauty of this story is that it's not about football. It's about sports, life and the love of teammates. It's about a coach who has stayed humble (despite ridiculous success), who never preaches the sermon but simply lives it, and who might just knock you off your seat with his dry delivery of powerful words.
Shot beautifully, this DVD captures the essence of high school sports and the true definition of "success" at this level. It's not always pretty, it's not always joyful, but at its best it is pure and honest. In a day of Terrel Owens arbitration cases, steroid-using baseball players and coaches who seem to have lost their influence to players who make three times what they do, "1: The Story..." reminds us that we can still go out to the local ballfield and catch sports at its best.
And if you're a coach, it reminds you that your job matters for all the right reasons.

Excellent insight into the De La Salle football program.......2005-05-19

I've been going to De La Salle football games for a long time now, ever since "the streak" started. Like most people that follow the program, I would always find myself asking "How do they do it"? How do they win so many games against the high level of compitetion that they play? This excellent documentary answers all of these questions and the answers are not what you would think. They do it by getting the kids to commit to each other, to their community, and to themselves. By following around the coaches and players for a year, the viewer is able to get direct insight into the program. It is almost surreal to see how well the kids bond to one another through these techniques; teenage boys crying and telling each other how much they love and mean to one another. You don't even have to have an interest in football to enjoy this film. If you are at all interested in the development and education of young men and women then this film will do you great good.

Average customer rating:

Friday Night Lights Season 1 Volume 1

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Description

Actors: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Zach Gilford Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, Dolby Language: Spanish Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number of discs: 3 Rating NOT RATED Studio: Universal Studios DVD Release Date: August 28, 2007 Run Time: 559 MINUTES

Average customer rating:

GREAT!
Mostly true to the book - an elegiac classic
Sad movie delving into heartbreaking reality behind game
Good depiction of football but a little boring
A Great Movie About Living In The Moment

Friday Night Lights (UMD Mini For PSP)
Starring: Angie Bolling , Connie Cooper , Rutherford Cravens , Ken Farmer , and John Patrick Hayden
Director: Peter Berg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: UMD for PSP

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A genuine stand-up-and-cheer movie about a courageous high school football team s fight to fulfill their destiny and live their dream, Friday Night Lights is unforgettable and real! (Larry King) Billy Bob Thornton stars in a true American story of how one legendary Texas town made hope come alive under the exhilarating glare of Friday Night Lights! One of the greatest sports stories ever told (Spo

ASIN: B0009WK5CM
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Amazon.com

Based on the perennial nonfiction bestseller by H.G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights looks at high school football in the harsh light of reality, finding heart and hardness while stirring our emotions. Actor-director Peter Berg (Very Bad Things, The Rundown) is Bissinger's cousin; he knows the material well, and understands how an obsession with winning turns high school kids into somber, over-pressured gladiators--expendable soldiers in a community war against shame and obscurity. The fact-based story focuses on the 1988 football season of Odessa-Permian high school in West Texas, and as a fast-paced sports movie, Berg delivers the goods with a rousing, frenetically styled crowd-pleaser. But there's darkness in this tale of weary underdogs, including an abusive father (well-played by country music star Tim McGraw), threatening townsfolk, an injured star running back (Derek Luke), a tormented quarterback (Lucas Black), and the melancholy coach (Billy Bob Thornton) who takes his team to the finals. Berg's film could use less flashy cutting and more drama to support its gridiron intensity, but Friday Night Lights offers a refreshing alternative to the conventional sports movie, and makes a perfect triple-feature with the equally exciting documentaries Go Tigers! and The Last Game. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

GREAT!.......2007-01-04

It was a gift for my grandson and he was very happy, so I'm happy!

Mostly true to the book - an elegiac classic.......2004-11-16

While it doesn't have quite the impact the book has, the movie "Friday Night Lights" is definitely better than many other sports movies. This one is up there among Hoosiers and Remember the Titans.

For those unfamiliar with the tale - this movie is about the Permian High School Panthers, of Odessa, Texas. It is the 1988 season, and expectations are high, with a star-studded roster, and many key returnees.

The back story, however, is what makes the book, and thus the movie - compelling. This is not merely a season-long documentary of the team and their deeds on the field of competition. It is more about what makes them what they are off the field.

Odessa is a declining oil town in the wasteland that is the Permian Basin, a desert-like landscape nearly oppressive in its endless sameness. The townspeople of Odessa draw virtually their whole sense of community pride, self-esteem and well-being from how well the Panthers perform on the football field. Unfortunately, these are not professional football players, but merely 17-year-old boys who, because of the intense pressure on them to perform, cannot possibly life the carefree life of the normal 17-year-old.

The movie spends a lot of time on the choreographed football sequences, which are great, but also explores some of the issues surrounding the players and their lives off the field - some have abusive fathers, some feel inexorably tied down by family obligations, others feel like they're just marking time before they go on to bigger and better things.

While some liberty was taken with the book, the essence of it was not lost, and the melancholy pacing of the film is appropriate to how one feels when reading the book.

Sad movie delving into heartbreaking reality behind game.......2004-11-12

I have a strong taste for realistic movies, but I must say that "Friday Night Lights" almost brought me to tears. The most heartwrenching scene is when Derek Luke (who plays the self-confident and talented "Boobie" Miles) knows his season, and time playing football is over, and goes to clean out his locker. He's all smiles, and confidence, telling his teammates to be perfect and win. But as soon as he walks outside the school, and joins his uncle in his car, he breaks down. Football is all I have, he cries, it's all I can do, and his uncle holds him. I have rarely seen such a powerful scene. I don't cry at movies, but I fought to hold in tears. Derek Luke is a largely overrated actor and deserves to be a star. I've seen reviews that unforgivingly didn't even mention his name among the cast. The other sad, moving storyline is that of the second-string running back, whose abusive, alcoholic father is played by singer Tim McGraw. What this film doesn't have is a happy ending, and cliche-ridden sports formulas that sink most sports movies. It's all the more powerful for that. It's a bleak, almost depressing movie because you know for the vast majority of kids in this rural town (that lives precariously through high school kids who are expected to play to perfection) are going to go nowhere, to sink into working class lives. Weeks later after seeing it, I still can't shake the images and sounds of seeing Billingsley and Miles struggling under the weight of expectation and knowing they most likely live in a dead-end town.

Good depiction of football but a little boring.......2004-11-04

This movie was ok... It was one of those films you walk out of unchanged...like it didn't matter if you had seen it or not. The movie didn't quite hold my full attention...I found myself wondering when it was going to be over but there were some good aspects of the film. I really enjoyed the documentary-like feel to the movie- it made the story really come to life as if the viewer were there. It was also a good depiction of highschool football, in that, these guy's lives turned into a fight to win and nothing else. They had one motive and no other aspects to their lives. However, as good a depiction it was- I think the movie lacked character developement. Some of the guys we get to know- but others not so much. The film opens with the quarter back and this makes the viewer assume that he will be a driving character for the movie but we really don't get to know him all that well. This is a flaw with numerous other characters as well- the movie really only shows you the surface level of some the guys. So I couldn't really get that emotionally involved. But the movie did stur up some tears, so i do reccomend seeing it if you are a football fan- but maybe as just a rental-

A Great Movie About Living In The Moment.......2004-11-02

I had heard nothing but good things about "Friday Night Lights" before going to see the film for myself. As a teenager, I attended a school with a similiar love of football, so this movie really hit home for me. "Friday Night Lights" manages to take the viewer into the action better than most football movies to date.

The movie starts off a little fuzzy, adding the documentary type effect, but after a third of the movie has passed, it takes on a more professional Hollywood big film feel.

The acting is good. The storyline is not only true but works well on the big screen. Billy Bob Thorton, besides having been married to the most beautiful woman in the world, is a also a great actor. He does a great job not over-acting in this film. Many actors would have not have been able to pull this role off. But Billy Bob makes the true-life character Coach Gary Gaines come across quite well.

The on-the-field scenes are very realistic, and the movie manages to throw in "touching" moments and a few "funny" parts. All of the young actors did a great job of making the situations seem believable and also managed to not over-act their parts.

I highly recommend this movie top any football fan. It delivers the goods.

For parents...their are a few sexually explicit scenes, so use discretion. Send little ones for popcorn when the scene starts to get a little heavy.

See ya next review

Average customer rating:

Friday Night Lights / 8 Mile Value Pack
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Lucas Black (II) , Garrett Hedlund , Derek Luke , and Jay Hernandez
Director: Peter Berg , and Curtis Hanson
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000788034
Release Date: 2005-04-26

Friday Night Lights: 1st Season Second Half

Average customer rating:

Friday Night Lights: 1st Season Second Half

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Product Description

Actors: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Zach Gilford Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, Dolby Language: Spanish Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number of discs: 2 Rating : NOT RATED Studio: Universal Studios DVD Release Date: August 28, 2007 Run Time: 348 minutes

DVD:

DVD

DVD