| 61 | | Cast : | Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane | | Director : | Billy Crystal | | Studio : | Hbo Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby | | Released Date : | April 28, 2001 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | NR (Not Rated) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | Crystal Deserves Honorary Yankee Status | Content
 | It's been a long time -- too long, sad to say -- since I felt
such affection for baseball as came over me while watching *61.
As far as I'm concerned, from now on Billy Crystal is bulletproof.
No one could possibly have done a better job with this subject. No one.
His attention to historical detail and his integrity, insight and feel for all the real stuff, the human stuff that make this such a terrific, inspiring American story simply puts most other filmmakers who have attempted fact-based period pieces to shame. Sports or otherwise, they rarely display this
much respect and devotion to a story's heart and soul.
Watching *61 was like taking a time machine back to a part of my youth that I had almost entirely forgotten about. I too lived for Mickey Mantle's triumph. So this movie gave me the chance, in some small way, to repent for my unfair disdain and disregard for the truly heroic Roger Maris. It is a fitting memorial to a splendid athlete, and a decent guy.
So, thanks Billy! I think you deserve your own pinstripes for this one. But while we're waiting, how about doing one about Casey?!
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| Rating | | | Date | August 03, 2005 | | Summary | This is a Must Watch movie! | Content
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You don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy this movie. You don't have to be a Yankees fan either. Personally, as a Red Sox die hard, its hard for me to like anything to do with the Yankees, but this movie is a winner! Great performances, very moving. Must see!! |
| Rating | | | Date | July 25, 2005 | | Summary | A movie for all baseball fans | Content
| First off I am not a New York Yankees fan but a baseball fan who enjoys baseball history. After viewing this movie about the 1961 home run chase, I must say that this fan really was moved on what Roger Maris endured during that infamous year. Barry Pepper did a great job and he made you feel for his character. By far one of the best baseball movies ever made and should be in any baseball fan's collection. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 19, 2005 | | Summary | Best Baseball Movie Ever | Content
| When I saw this movie I did not quite know what to expect because though I am a Yankees fan, I was not born until 27 years after this happened. But this movie destroyed every low expectation I had.
Crystal does an outstanding job here by showing what Mantle and Maris went through that year. Thomas Jane as Mantle is great and shows the demons that caused Mantle to be who he was during his playing days. Barry Pepper is superb and plays the tormented Maris perfectly and even looks like him. This movie was great on every level and amazingly I can not really say anything bad about it but I'm sure someone will. (Red Sox fans) What ever happened to Tracy Stallard?
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| Rating | | | Date | July 08, 2005 | | Summary | Dear Mr. Crystal... | Content
| ...I just have to tell you and the world how your beautiful, emotional film moved me to tears.
Every ounce of your passion, your knowledge...your love...of baseball, the Yanks, Mickey and the glorious summer of 1961 is up on the screen in your impossibly good movie, "61*".
It's obvious you were there for all this stuff...you've made a movie that only you could have made, and how many times can you say that? What filmmaker...ever...would not only have the talent to pull off this story, but also witnessed it as it happened?
Nobody. But you.
This is a film that belonged on the big screen, not the small. The reconstruction of the U.S. back in 1961 feels pitch-perfect; even though I was technically a negative-three years old at the time, it feels 'right.' Even though I missed it, being pre-embryonic and all that, I "got" Mantle's appeal, Maris' torture, the press' pressure.
Your direction varied from the emotionally operatic to the documentary-like, yet fit each scene like a glove. Intertwining scenes from the stands, the field, the broadcast booth and elsewhere exquisitely enhanced the drama without attracting too much attention to itself. I liked it when you just sort of let the events unfold. Yes, I know that a simple groundball-to-short must have involved 30 shots and five days of work, but it seemed as if it was happening "real time."
On the other hand, some of those great overhead or "in the air" shots, usually of some massive home run, conveyed the drama and the excitement in a way only film can.
Your casting was phenomenal. As the other reviewers have mentioned over and over again, Thomas Jane and Barry Pepper were perfect. Perfect beyond belief. But I found the other characters equally fine...Mel Allen, Ralph Houk, Phil Rizzuto were all played by character actors easily recognizable to anyone who has seen more than a dozen movies in their lifetime, yet they evaporated into their character. Your daughter put in a sublime performance herself...sweet enough that I sought her name out at the end of the film, only to find out who she "really" was!
An intelligent, perceptive script combined with some seriously impressive cinematography and again, masterful art direction (in recreating 1961), made for a film package better than the majority of "movie theater" films that came out that year, or any year.
This is a film that every baseball fan will adore, every film fan will love, and every casual fan will thoroughly enjoy. It's a terrific movie. Thank you so much, Mr. Crystal, and I urge you to make more baseball movies...please!
And as a final note: the making-of doc is essential viewing. It made a great film better. |
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