Remember The Titans - Unrated [DVD]

A Treasure. The story itself. The history of desegregation in Virginia involving a high school football team. The music of its day. The acting. The cast. So much to love and enjoy.

One of my favorites!

Great movie

Good movie

Great movie

One of the best movies made about unity and segregation.

Like most cinematic versions of true-life stories, "Remember the Titans," is an idealized version of reality. The main theme focuses on the two-sided coin of racial tension and racial harmony. Such moralistic tales can be heavy going but in this case, using school football as a backdrop, director Boaz Yakin creates a moving and entertaining parable.Set in Virginia around 1971, the story primarily involves the football team at T.C. Williams High. The school is in the middle of a racial integration process and seems to find the concept, of blacks and whites in physical contact, objectionable. Thrown into this already volatile mix is Coach Boone, a black man from out of state and from a lower grade of football. Boone is placed above Coach Yoast, the current, and white, head of the football department. This strange form of affirmative action is seemingly aimed at political, rather than social, goals.Not surprisingly Coach Yoast, solidly played by Will Patton, takes umbrage at this obvious slight to his tenure, experience and standing in the community. His young daughter, Sheryl, takes the news with even more disgust. Played by Hayden Panettiere, Sheryl steals every scene she's in, creating a funny and memorable character; a small curly haired girl who loves football more than life itself.Seeing the danger of his team abandoning university scholarships just to show solidarity, Yoast steps back onto the team in a subordinate role to Boone. Densel Washington gives us another strong performance as the forceful, and borderline abusive, Coach Boone. His credo seems to emphasise offence, both on the field and off. This is made clear after he challenges the worst elements of the town to face him, following an incident involving bricks flung through his home's windows.Boone's first act as head coach is to undo the racial divide among his players. Instead, the team is split along offensive and defensive lines. This forced integration soon causes conflict, allowing the audience to explore the large cast of characters in more depth. It is remarkable that so many minor characters stand out in memory and if some of them seem a little shallow, there are limits to what can be achieved in under two hours.True reconciliation, perhaps even racial harmony, does not begin building until the team is lead on a crippling morning run that finishes at the Gettysburg battle ground. Boone, who set up the event, gives a shaming speech comparing the "cause" that their forefathers fought and died for, to the smaller battles still being fought within their team. In addition, each player was given an ongoing assignment to get to know each and every other member of the team, forcing some level of understanding in most of these young men.There is a fair amount of football in the film but for me, it was the character expositions and interpersonal conflict that held my interest. I'm sure those who enjoy the game will get a lot more out of the film but the game does not overshadow the strong narrative, creative cinematography and moving soundtrack. In the end, the film's value rests on the shoulders of the two leading men rather than on football. These two honourable men may start out as adversaries but, like the team's offensive and defensive captains, they eventually become life-long friends.

Good movie