Borg Vs. Mcenroe [DVD]

Borg and McEnroe were a little before my time but what a film to watch. It makes you see both athletes differently. If you're not familiar with either and not a fan of tennis but love a good drama then you can't go wrong with this.

This was a really nice film about the build up to the legendary wimbledon final between Borg and McEnroe. This was the 'Golden Age' of tennis when the players like Borg, Skerulitis and McEnroe became the equivalent of popstars. Girls went crazy over Borg in ways unparalleled in modern sport! So it was a very exciting era to be involved in, and I'd heard from my parents how exciting it really was.This film tried, and succeeded, to portray these two players as very contrasting characters on court; Borg was the Swedish introvert who never showed any emotion and McEnroe was the American brat who spat, shouted, screamed and raged when calls didn't go his way. Borg was an obsessive, who had to travel in the same car to tournaments, who had a spotless hotel room and personally tested the tension of his own racquets each night before the match. In contrast, McEnroe was pictured lying in a messy room, with baggy clothing on, and with the whole wimbledon draw scribbled accross the walls.The nice part about the film was that it showed that their on-court demeanours were once much more similar - Borg used to lose his temper completely on court and upset all the middle class Swedes. However, he changed this at the instruction of the Swedish Davis Cup coach, who said he should 'show no emotion ever again. Nothing.' So whereas McEnroe left all his demons on court, Borg's bottling up of emotions is likely to have caused him further harm by allowing his demons to travel off court with him into his private life. The film seemed done by a Swedish production team, so, rightly so, they did not delve deeply enough into the reality around Borg's retirement at 26. He developed a cocaine addiction and his personal life took a bit of a downward turn.However the film showed that the two players gained a mutual friendship even though they were, on the face of it, very different characters. There were snippets of their personal lives in the film, to show how both the characters developed.

I think it was McEnroe that said that only Golf puts the level of physcological pressure that Tennis does on it's players. And in Golf you are playing yourself and the course, and dont need to be especially fit..In Tennis it's totally you versus the other player - Eyeball to Eyeball in tiny claustrophobic arenas. Sure there are lots of other sports where it's 'mano a mano' with large degrees of often extreme fitness Notably boxing.. But you won't win a boxing match just by psyching out your opponent - One good punch can be all it takes. Ask Andy Ruiz Jr - He took one and recovered, the hot favourite Anthony Joshua took one and didn't and went on to lose the bout..It's entirely possible to win a Tennis match by psyching out an opponent.And also Tennis needs athleticism, extreme skill and the psychological elementThe film was Nordic in style, with great acting and editing and captured all that perfectly.Unlike the other classic rivalry films like Hunt / Lauda in Rush it really did go under the skin of the subjects, and was highly illuminating.Sure there was artistic licence.. I don't think McEnroe ever used profanities quite like the way he was portrayed, but hey it's a film and meant to be entertaining. 5 stars

I have the actual original final on DVD (bought a couple of years ago), so I really wanted to love this dramatized version of the run up to it... but I'm afraid that I came away from it rather disappointed.Good things first: the actor playing Borg simply nails it in every possible way. I was also interested to learn of his (Borg) stormy youth and OCD-like tendencies, rather like Nadal is known to have today.Things I didn't like... simply the fact that this was an entirely routine biopic. I accept that since I knew going in who won the final, this was bound to reduce the dramatic tension, but with no good or bad guy I'm not sure there much dramatic tension to begin with.Well made, but I'm afraid that's pretty much it.

I remember watching Borg play tennis, in the afternoon, when I got back from school. I used to love watching him play, so cool, calm and focused. Bizarrely, I ended up with a Dunlop Maxply Tennis Racket which was used by John McEnroe, who I was not a fan of. I have many fond memories of using he tennis racket but I can't for the life of me remember how I came to own a racket that was used by a sportsman that I was not a fan of. I can only imagine that it was a gift and yet I seem to have some deep seated memories of looking at it longingly through the window of the sports shop in Wimborne Minster. I did win my fair share of games with the racket and in that respect, I can see how someone with eminently more talent, drive and enthusiasm for the game could be coerced by their pushy parents into becoming a top tennis player. I still prefer Borg as a human being though. Sunday afternoon film, for sure. Very enjoyable.

Excellent service and very quick arrival

True story about two tennis legends! We are a tennis family, and this movie was very inspiring and very entertaining. I love true stories! Great price for a blu-Ray dvd.

Dvd sans sous titre français !!!

Great packaging, Blu-ray works well

Compré la película como un regalo.Pero no tenía subtítulos al español y tuve que regresarla.

No indican que NO vienen subtitulos o cambio de idioma