Product Details

• Actors: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Jon Voight, Austin Nichols, Evan Jones
• Directors: James Gartner
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Unknown), Spanish (Unknown)
• Subtitles: Spanish, French
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: June 6, 2006
• Run Time: 118 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000EXZFCQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,239 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #53 in Movies & TV > DVD > Sports
• Learn more about "Glory Road (Widescreen Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of the greatest basketball games in NCAA history is immortalized in Glory Road, an engaging sports movie that dramatizes a pivotal milestone in the racial integration of college athletics. While it may not be as rousing as similar movies like Hoosiers or Friday Night Lights, this fact-based drama gains depth and substance from the groundbreaking achievement of Don Haskins (well-played by Josh Lucas), who coached the 1965-66 team from Texas Western University to the NCAA championship, using the first-ever all-black lineup in the championship game and forever changing the rules of college basketball. Texas Western's underdog season is followed from anxious start to glorious finish, as Haskins recruits many of his black star players from the North, including Bobby Joe Hill (Derek Luke) and Willie Cager (Damaine Radcliff), and this typically wholesome Disney film doesn't flinch from the harsh realities of racial tension (including player beatings and vandalized motel rooms) that Texas Western's black players had to struggle against as their victories began to draw national attention. Jon Voight (under heavy makeup) makes a memorable cameo appearance as legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, whose favored all-white team was no match for Texas Western, and Haskins' unforgettable achievement is celebrated in an end-credits sequence that demonstrates the positive ripple-effect of his color-blind coaching. Glory Road relies a bit too heavily on sports-movie clichés, but its shortcomings are easily overlooked in favor of its greater historical significance. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

The studio that brought you REMEMBER THE TITANS now delivers another winner with this exciting and inspirational true story of the team that changed college basketball -- and the nation -- forever! Josh Lucas (SWEET HOME ALABAMA) stars as future Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins of tiny Texas Western University, who bucks convention by simply starting the best players he can find: history's first all-African American lineup. In a turbulent time of social and political change, their unlikely success sends shock waves through the sport that follow the underdog Miners all the way to an epic showdown with all-white, #1 ranked Kentucky for the National Championship!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 69 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars BEFORE UTEP, THERE WAS TEXAS WESTERN....!! 2006 ESPY Winner !! January 13, 2006

By RBSProds TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Five MOMENTOUS Stars!! A Great Movie!! "Glory Road" tells the true story, with much dramatic license along the way, of one of sport's greatest moments. A moment that changed the face and color of college basketball and rippled across all sports. It's the story of a little known college basketball coach, Don Haskins, and how he came to be the coach of little known Texas Western College in El Paso, Texas. It's also the story of the black players who would be recruited from all around the USA to eventually wind up playing in one of the greatest moments in college basketball: David "Daddy D" Lattin, Nevil Shed, Willie Cager, Orsten Artis, "Wee" Willie Worsley, Harry Flournoy, and of course the late floor general, Bobby Joe Hill. And the other team members played their vital roles also: Jerry Armstrong, Louis Baudoin, Dick Meyers, Togo Railey and David Palacio. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer does a wonderful job of bringing back the singular moment of the all-white Kentucky team under Adolph Rupp (Jon Voigt is a hoot in this role) and Haskin's all-black starting five meeting in the NCAA basketball national championship final game spotlight during some tough racial times for the USA. In fact, Haskins had played this combination of players many times before during the season to little local fanfare, so it was no big deal to him. He just wanted to win. Josh Lucas is great as Don "The Bear" Haskins in this excellent James Gartner-directed movie. It's said that Lucas, in preparing for this role, was driven out into the desert by Haskins in his truck and they just sat and talked (and drank) for many hours discussing how Haskins did it and the way he did it. (This has turned into quite a good friendship since then.) The movie pre-screenings, with all of the living original players on hand, in El Paso are greatly appreciated by all of us who lived through those incredible times and are still here.

In light of today's social freedoms, the movie does a great job of depicting the tough racial times of the 1960's and the events that put Haskins, the team, and TWC on the athletic map forever. Not to mention the huge pot of money that TWC got from participating in the tournament. Shortly after these events, the University of Texas education system made TWC a full partner by the redesignation of the "University of Texas-El Paso" and a boatload of construction/faculty money flowed from Austin to El Paso. I was there and it was a grand moment to be remembered. A great must-see movie not just for the sports but also for the social impact of those times. Hats off again to Jerry Bruckheimer for personally carrying the banner on the national-level TV and radio shows promoting this movie. Five "Slam-Dunking" Stars.

(Notes:
*"Glory Road" won the "ESPY" Award as the Best Sports Movie of 2006.
*The Texas Western College NCAA Championship team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A very fine historic sports movie March 14, 2007

By Noirman

Format:DVD

Glory Road is the true story of Texas college basketball coach Dan Haskins.

In 1965, white players dominated college basketball and a predominantly black team was just not even thought of, especially in Klan infested Southern states.

The coach assists his Texas-Western players in breaking down race relation obstacles still grasping the nation and even more brazenly evident in violent Jim Crow South.

Coach Haskins drives all his players, both on the court, and demands more then passing academic grades in the classroom as well.

Classic Soul and R & B music of the mid-1960's era play a key part through out this well made picture.

"The incredible story of the team that changed the game forever / Based on a true story"

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Portrayal of The "Greatest Upset in College Basketball History" June 30, 2006

By Kalie A. Gipson

Format:DVD

"Glory Road" tells the story of the Texas Western Miners, a college basketball team who won the NCAA Championship in 1966. But this wasn't just an ordinary championship, no, for the starting line-up in the championship game was all Black players, a thing that was unheard of in '66. Or better yet, even a black player being recruited by a college team was out of the ordinary. However, the 36 year old coach Don Haskins recruited seven Black players for his Texas Western team (when the season begins, he starts three of those players). The team was barely even thought of in the college world before then, then with the help of the seven black players, they went on to win the championship.

The movie opens with a girls basketball game, and you see that Don Haskins coaches girl's basketball. Later on, he is asked to coach Division 1 basketball, for the Texas Western team (with one drawback; he would have to live in the dorm room with his wife and kids). Then, he sets out to recruit players that would help the team win. When he recruits all Black players, it's obvious that most people (even the Black players themselves) thought Haskins was crazy. Among the players he recruited were Bobby Jo Hill (played exceptionally by Derek Luke), Willie Cager, David Lattin, and Harry Flournoy. His practices for the team were intense and his rules were strict. This would all pay off in the end though, with the Miners winning the championship over Adolf Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats (with Pat Riley, who is a character in the movie, it's weird to hear his name called while he's playing, knowing he's a game-winning coach with plenty of rings).

The movie does depict the racism at the time as well. It wasn't an easy ride for the coach or the Black players on the team. In the first game, the fans clapped for the two starting white players, but the whole arena was quiet when the Black players were announced. The team had racial slurs written in their hotel room during their game. One player was even beat up in a bathroom. Haskins was harassed as well. The racism almost tore the team apart, but with the coach's help they stayed together and changed the course of basketball.

All around, the acting was great. Josh Lucas did a great job as Coach Haskins, completely becoming his character. Derek Luke did great as Bobby Jo Hill. Jon Voight played Kentucky coach Adolf Rupp, but you wouldn't really know unless you read the credits. Nonetheless he did a great job. Mehcad Brooks, Sam Jones III, Schin A.S. Kerr and Damaine Radcliff (who played Flournoy, Worsley, Lattin, and Cager, respectively) all did excellent in their roles. The actors practically become the players. The cast couldn't have been better.

Overall, Disney has released another superb movie about sports underdogs winning it all (I enjoyed Remember The Titans as well). If you like that movie, there's no way you'll dislike this. It is a well-cast, well-directed movie that will satisfy any basketball fan, and will keep everyone watching. It's been said that it follows the cliches of all other similar movies, but don't we always watch them anyway?

The film triumphantly shows how one coach changed the game (and face) of basketball completely. One quote from the film is "You're acting like negroes are gonna be the future of basketball!" and I couldn't help but laugh when that line was said. The importance and significance of that season and the tribulations of the team is wonderfully shown. Don't pass this up.