Product Details

• Actors: Ann-Margret, Bill Bellamy, Elizabeth Berkley, Andrew Bryniarski, Dick Butkus
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner
• DVD Release Date: January 27, 2009
• Run Time: 157 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (246 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001AQT0OA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,952 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #27 in Movies & TV > Blu-ray > Sports
• Learn more about "Any Given Sunday (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Any Given Sunday, Oliver Stone's salute-cum-exposé of pro football, belabors some pretty obvious points for nigh onto three hours; but between the frenetic editing, the pounding rap-music beats, and several flashy performances, it's certainly never dull. Al Pacino, coach of the fictional Miami Sharks (the NFL declined involvement in this production), struggles with the most time-honored of sports movie dilemmas: what to do with the old friend who's past his prime and the young hotshot who could save the franchise but first has to learn what being a team player is all about. Comedian Jamie Foxx does a marvelous dramatic turn as the rookie quarterback whose ego and talent are equally impressive, while Pacino seems more at ease in Oliver Stone Land than any actor since regular James Woods (on hand as well as a sleazy team doctor). Prowling the sidelines, shouting spittle-flecked orders, seizing up in almost physical pain when a play goes the wrong way, Pacino is as unashamedly--and entertainingly--hyperbolic as Stone's whirling montages of boiling storm clouds, bloodthirsty fans, and players smashed into the mud. (Once again football, perhaps the most sophisticated of team sports, is viewed cinematically as a bunch of guys hitting each other in slow motion.) Unfortunately, all the self-conscious mythologizing and pumped-up macho posturing that Stone can muster doesn't conceal a clichéd, slapped-together script, whose few good ideas (mostly about race in America) jostle about with several hoary, terrible ones--including a too-literal analogy of football players as modern gladiators. (To drive the point home, Stone includes Charlton Heston--the aging Ben-Hur--in one of many star-powered cameos.) All in all, Any Given Sunday is never dull, but never very enjoyable, either. --Bruce Reid

Product Description

Life is a contact sport and football is life when three-time academy award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone and a dynamic acting ensemble explore the fortunes of the Miami Sharks in Any Given Sunday. At the 50-year line of this gridiron cosmos is Al Pacino as Tony D'Amato, the embattled Sharks coach facing a full-on blitz of team strife plus a new, marketing-savvy sharks owner (Cameron Diaz) who's sure Tony is way too old school. An injured quarterback (Dennis Quaid), a flashy, bull-headed backup QB (Jamie Foxx), a slithery team doctor (James Woods) and a running back with an incentive-laden contract (LL Cool J) also provide some of the stories that zigzag like diagrams in a playbook. and throughout, there's the awesome spectacle of motion, sound and action orchestrated by Stone.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Any Given Sunday August 20, 2000

By Brian Brems

Format:VHS Tape

This was truly an excellent film. This movie is Oliver Stone's best since Platoon. The fast-moving and dizzying cinemaphotography fits the high adrenaline atmosphere of the professional football world well. The film is also perfectly cast. Pacino gives life to the head coach, and Cameron Diaz's clearly most intense role as the team's owner is believeable. James Woods gives an excellent performance as the team doctor, who doesn't really seem to care about anyone but himself. Jamie Foxx has a breakthrough dramatic role as the new hotshot quarterback, whose ritualistic vomiting adds humor to the movie. With his performance, we find out Foxx really can act. LL Cool J, also puts through a convincing performance as the team's running back. Dennis Quaid doesn't really do much as the former QB with injury problems except help to develop Pacino's character. An outstanding cast, that features Charlton Heston as the football comissioner, and Ann-Margaret as Cameron Diaz's alcoholic mother. Former pro football players Jim Brown and Lawrence Taylor pop up as members of the team. I recommend it highly. This is possibly the best sports movie ever made.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Oliver Stone tries out for NFL Films. September 25, 2000

By casualsuede

Format:DVD

I am a passing football viewer (go Jets!) and I was interested in this movie, not because of the football, not because of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz or Oliver Stone, because I love NFL films. They makes some of the best recordings and could give all other sports filmworks a run for their money. They take the gridiron and change it into the stuff of legends. When I saw my first NFL tape, I didn't know Football could be so dramatic.

The movie is based on several characters of the fake Miami Sharks. The first is the aging coach, who is losing control of his team to an owner who thinks she knows more about the game than the old grizzled 30 year veteran. The coach is a worn out Al Pacino, who shines in the role of Tony D'Amato. Al would make a great coach, because all he does is give grandiose speeches in his movies and yell real loud. The owner is Cameron Diaz, who took over the team when her father died. She has real veins of steel in this movie and goes toe to toe with Pacino and gives as well as she gets. Their relationship is very stormy and a delight to watch them both.

Another story is about Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx). He is the the (Kurt) Warneresque third string QB given a chance to shine when the aging star Cap Rooney is injured. He is so nervous that he pukes on the fifty yard line (Right on the Team Logo!), but he begins to shine and nearly wins his first game for them. He is humble and awestruck in the early stages of the movie, but once his career gets going, he becomes this arrogant jerk who suddenly begins to think he's god gift to football. His arrogance nearly upends the team, as he disregards plays the coach tell him to run, he disses their star player Julian Washington (LL Cool J) and ...... of the Defensive Captain Luther Lavoy (A mean Lawrence Taylor). Jamie Foxx's performance steals this movie away from all the other high profile actors. He has this intensity that I never saw on his stupid Jamie Foxx show and he has the tools to become a great actor. Just look at his fire at a dinner meeting he has with Pacino.

Cap Rooney is a sub-story and his is about the aging superstar (read: Dan Marino). He is still good, but age is getting to him and he becomes paranoid about slipping into oblivion when Beaman is discovered. The relationship with Beaman is all politically driven and the pressures on Rooney are intense (especially from his wife, played with icyness by Lauren Holly).

The final sub-story is with Lawrence Taylor, Cap Rooney and the two doctors Dr. Mandrake (James Woods) and Allie Powers (Matthew Modine). Stone takes a stab at the back-end politics of Football, how the owners and doctors really only see these people as pieces of meat money-makers. One chilling scene is between Diaz and Woods, where she applies the non too subtle pressure to play Lavoy for the final, even if it will cost him his life. Mandrake, apart of the system and paid handsomely for it, is more than happy to oblige.

The story also takes other issues such as racism in the Football league, owners plotting to get new stadiums, the immoralities of being a ball player, people giving up everything (including family) for the game as well as players playing for performance bonuses, rather than for the team.

The DVD has excellent picture and the sound is fantastic. The mixture of hip-hop and Metallica really intensifies the adrenaline in the picture. The extras are pretty slim though, with only a trailer, video by LL Cool J (......) and the making.

While the performances all stand out (including non-actor Lawrence Taylor), the directing is mixed. There are some excellent scenes and the hit on Beaman in the rain (where his helmet goes flying) had some slow motion scenes, the ones involving the shaky cam (for realistic effect) were annoying, even nauseating to watch. Stone is an advocate for quick cuts, but at times it's so fast that all I get is a headache. If only we could get that director who did all those NFL films, then I would have given this movie a much higher rating....Rating: B-

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie, Simple DVD December 21, 2000

By "ragefan12399"

Format:DVD

Any Given Sunday is Oliver Stone's expose of football, and more importantly the lives of the men that experience it. This hard hitting drama runs at almost 3 hours, and not a minute is wasted. The cast is all-star and cast perfectly. This movie proved to me that Lawrence Taylor can act, as he has the most powerful scene in the movie in the shower room. The Any Given Sunday DVD is very simple for such a great movie. The only extras are a documentary, a trailer, and a music video. There is also some extra footage thrown in. Although lacking features, sound makes up for the lack of extras. If you got a nice sound system, you will feel like you're right in the game, with every hit and crunch. If you are a DVD sound-junkie, then this one is for you.