Product Details

• Actors: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon
• Directors: Clint Eastwood
• Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: May 18, 2010
• Run Time: 133 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (206 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002JCSWV6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,894 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Invictus" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

What does Nelson Mandela do after becoming president of South Africa? He rejects revenge, forgives oppressors who jailed him 27 years for his fight against apartheid and finds hope of national unity in an unlikely place: the rugby field. Clint Eastwood (named 2009's Best Director by the National Board of Review) directs an uplifting film about a team and a people inspired to greatness. Morgan Freeman (NBR's Best Actor Award winner and Oscar nominee for this role) is Mandela, who asks the national rugby team captain (Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Matt Damon) and his squad to do the impossible and win the World Cup. Prepare to be moved--and thrilled.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational January 25, 2010

By Andrew Desmond VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Turning a story with a sports theme into a good movie is often a challenge. Too often, the viewer is left with clichés. This is not the case with "Invictus". Clint Eastwood as director and producer has crafted a wonderful and moving tale. It deserves a wide audience.

The sport of Rugby Union is little known in America but the use of big name stars such as Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon playing the South African captain Francois Pienaar works well. They were both truly convincing. Damon in particular seemed to master the Afrikaans accent.

"Invictus" is touching. I frequently found myself almost moved to tears. The story of how Mandela was able to look beyond simple revenge and move forward in the spirit of reconciliation was uplifting. If only other nations could follow this example. Mandela had much to be bitter about but proved that he was a bigger man. In this way, he further condemned apartheid to the dustbin of history where it belongs.

Many people will know the story of the 1995 World Cup. South Africa as the host nation rose from the ranks of relative easy beats to become champions. However, in Clint Eastwood's hands we are provided with more than a simple tale of underdog victory. This is a very tired story. Instead, Eastwood homes in on both the bigger picture and the touching interplay between Mandela and Pienaar. Eastwood is getting better with age. When most men are in retirement at his age, he continues to dazzle. He is an inspiration himself.

Go see this film. Your effort will be rewarded.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Forgiveness liberates the soul May 21, 2010

By C. Christopher Blackshere

Format:DVD

What a powerful story, a remarkable leader, and incredible direction here. Invictus is the true story of Nelson Mandela and the '95 Rugby World Cup.

Eastwood easily could have pulled on the emotional strings and presented the harsh realities of the apartheid in South Africa. He also could have appealed to any impatient movie watchers by inserting graphic details of the grueling years of captivity Mandela endured. But instead this story begins immediately after he was released from prison and is elected president. He has the daunting task of rebuilding the country after the fall of apartheid. Could sports really help a country unite?

The acting here is impeccable. Morgan Freeman has turned in tons of great performances, but never has he felt more perfect for a role. Plus Matt Damon did great with his accent and mannerisms of the team captain.

I was very impressed with the actions and words of Nelson Mandela. He reminded me of Mahatma Gandhi. Despite his lengthy imprisonment and his country's animosity that lingered from the past, he refused to act out of hatred.

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR PETTY REVENGE"

This film never gets too political. It focuses more on human relationships and the country's underdog rugby team. Invictus is an extraordinary true story about the power of the human spirit. A movie not to be missed

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Invictus March 9, 2010

By Helping hands Life Improve

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a South AFrican and was outside the stadium when the final game in the movie was played. This was a real event. Only someone who was there can tell you the emotional impact of that game and what Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar (captain of the Springbok rugby team) achieved. For several hours after that game there was not a single crime in South Africa. The whole country united as one to spur our team on. I, unfortunately, did not attend the actual game but I was outside that stadium and the fellowship and goodwill that emanated from it had to be experienced. I went to see the movie with my youngest daughter here in the USA. She was only 8 years old at the time of that game. She could well recall the impact of the emotion and, for me, it was a pleasure moment relived. The movie did it justice and the two actors performed very well in their roles as two South Africans. I loved the movie and definitely want to see it again. Always a South African. We are a nation of such spirit.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So moved that I got the book Playing the Enemy July 3, 2010

By Tara Lawrence-Stuart

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Leaving the movie description to other more able reviewers, I won't repeat anything. Let me just say I am seeing it for about the fifth or sixth time and my eyes still well with tears of emotion when I see that troubled nation magically changing by the sheer will of the great statesman Nelson Mandela. He managed to draw all peoples together and change the flag and the nation to multi-color, and he managed to win the Springboks over before they won the 1995 World Cup. If I could be granted a wish to have been anywhere in the past 20 years, it would be attending that great game in Ellis Stadium in Johannesburg, the last bastion of Afrikanerdom, just to watch that game, the mighty Springboks versus the feared New Zealand All-Blacks (so named after the color of their uniforms). I'd see the old Boer "bitter-ender" descendants of hard-line Afrikaner voortrekkers playing rugby and fathers and sons of apartheid hugging and being hugged by peoples of all colors and persuasions during and after the game when their countrymen won the World Cup. I'd hear people of all tribes, colors, and religions cheering and shouting Mandela's name and see that game. I'd hear alack, white, and every color of men, women, and children sing "Nkosi Sikelele' iAfrica", the cherished song of black freedom. The film is true to life by director Clint Eastwood. But oh to be in old J'burg just to see the Springboks win the World Cup Rugby and the great president Mandela in his Springbok jersey and cap, smiling from ear to ear, as he presented the World Cup to the Captain of the Springboks, which by his sheer force of will he made the whole country's team, no longer exclusive to Afrikaners....

Immediately after seeing this movie I googled Francois Pienaar and got him on You-Tube talking to and about Mandela and ended up buying the book "Playing the Enemy", by John Carlin, which moved me even more. It reassured me of the authenticity of the film. The 'Boks winning that day was the crowning moment for South Africa not just in sporting events but the culmination and beginning of Mandela's "One Team, One Country" idea which both shocked, surprised, and pleased all citizens (mostly themselves) by their own reactions.

President Nelson Mandela is played most ably by Morgan Freeman,and in voice, accent, and and gesture--he is authentically Mandela). Francois Pienaar, the Afrikaans Captain of the Springboks is played by Matt Damon (of Bourne fame) with a very authentic Afrikaans accent and a fierce rugby-playing skill, though only 5'11" not 6'4" is very believable and played a strong Captain. He was big in soul and a convincing Captain and you could see Damon was playing great rugby. I'am sure the real Pienaar was pleased. The first meeting between Pienaar and Mandela, like everything in the film, is based on fact. I had no inkling that these incidents had ever occurred. How I managed to miss this is beyond someone who has been following South African politics and reading all she could since the mid-sixties. But this film is about more than a game, it is the magic of Mandela and his shrewd and wise perception that sports can be a uniting force, and he played it for all it was worth, and the beginning of a great, united South Africa came to be, and at a very pivotal point in South Africa's history.

Of course there is much more than the Springboks game involved in this film. As in real life, there was more to Mandela's presidency ending apartheid, and his most herculean task was to draw all peoples together in a spirit of forgiveness, redemption, and the Afrikaner Springboks represented all Afrikaners in this effort, and that was key in succeeding. Mandela believes that sometimes in order to create a new nation people have to work with people they don't like, or even trust!

In the film, Mandela gives a poem to the Springbok Captain. "Invictus", the famous poem by William Ernest Henley and though it's not mentioned in Mandela's own autobiography or even in the book "Playing the Enemy," Eastwood takes a liberty by making it Mandela's comfort and strength while in prison. It may well have been so, as it is for anyone who lives under such horrible conditions.

Please, please, if you like the film, buy the book on Amazon, as well. It is even better to read and savor. I will be reviewing the book as well. Read more ›