Product Details

• Actors: Terence Stamp, Pele, Maradona
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Color, NTSC, Dolby
• Language: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 7
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout Factory
• DVD Release Date: October 7, 2003
• Run Time: 914 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000C238U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,804 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Through unparalleled footage and exclusive interviews with some of the all-time greats, History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game is the ultimate DVD box set for soccer fanatics gearing up for the World Cup, as well as an insightful overview for new converts. This 7-DVD deluxe box set travels around the globe capturing some of the most inspiring footage ever of this Beautiful Game!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Ken Burns Did a Soccer Documentary, This Would Be It!, January 8, 2005

By 

Kevin Nieman "Writer / Provocateur" (Thousand Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game (DVD)

This 6 DVD box set is titled, "History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game" on the outer package, but in fact, the documentary is actually called "History of FOOTBALL," so I will be using the word "football" to describe this great game, as it should be called.

At any rate, this is a very meticulous package. It contains the first ever, motion picture of football. Film footage of the 1901 FA Cup Final between Spurs and Sheffield United. Every World Cup final goal ever scored. And these are just the EXTRAS.

The real show is the documentary, narrated wonderfully by Terence Stamp. It starts from the beginning, where a multitude of cultures and nations began to kick a ball around, and it moves through every significant event that has shaped the football world since.

There is the Soccer War, where an actual war was started as a result of a football match.

There is the Moscow Dynamo team, captured in Nazi-occupied Russia, whose exploits against Nazis in a concentration camp were the stuff of communist legend, but are revealed to have been less than legendary now that the truth can be told.

There are the giants of club football, such as Manchester United and Liverpool on the England side, Juventus, Milan, and Inter on the Italian side, Real Madrid and Barcelona on the Spanish side, and many others. And there is even a look at the darker side of the game, such as hooliganism, various victims of air crashes, and the horrendous Hillsborough tragedy.

A spotlight is shone on every football-loving nation, from England, where the game's governing body was founded, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Germany, Russia, and many more.

There is tragedy and triumph, elation and dejection at every moment. Scores of interviews from actual participants of many matches lends a human side to every story, and if you love this game of football, you will eat this DVD series up like I did.

Buy this if you are curious. Buy this if you are a fan. But most of all, buy this because it is a quality piece of documentary work with so many extras that it will take you a long time to complete viewing the entire set. You won't regret it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious...but uneven, December 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game (DVD)

HOS is certainly an ambitious series. With hundreds of teams, leagues & countries playing the game, there'll always be omissions. Many of the topics they chose to cover deal with social and political issues surrounding the game's development. They certainly give due respect to the giants of the game. However, they seem to have spent most of their budget on World Cup highlights as there's very little club football in the shows.

Despite the sometimes arrogant commentary and questionable generalizations (such as the howler that the Soviet sport system didn't produce champions in team sports), HOS is a useful addition to any fan's collection.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SUPERB!!!, November 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game (DVD)

A lavish production by people who clearly love Soccer, this is probably the best sport documentary series ever produced and worth every cent.
The DVD box set contains a 13-episode documentary series exploring various aspects of Soccer's development and cultural significance as well as its greatest moments, and a whole slew of extras featuring *hours* of match highlights, extended interviews, more featurettes, biographies and even some easter eggs, little silent documentary films showing various regions' passion for the game. The production values are absolutely fantastic, equaling any of the Ken Burns documentary series. The range of interviews is staggering - lengthy and utterly engrossing chats with the likes of di Stefano, Maradona, Pele, Menotti, Sandro Mazzola and Jurgen Klinsmann to name just a few.
Absorbing, fascinating, well made and well worth it. Five out of five.