Product Details

• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: PDX
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BJ7BDE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,761 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Murderball (Dvd)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

More than merely a sports documentary or an inspirational profile of triumph over adversity, Murderball offers a refreshing and progressive attitude toward disability while telling unforgettable stories about uniquely admirable people. It's ostensibly a film about quadriplegic rugby (or "Murderball," as it was formerly known), in which players with at least some loss of physical function in all four limbs navigate modified wheelchairs in a hardcore, full-contact sport that takes them all the way to the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004. But as we get to know paralyzed or amputee players on Team USA like Andy Cohn, Scott Hogsett, Bob Lujano and charismatic team spokesman Mark Zupan, we come to understand that quad rugby is a saving grace for these determined competitors, who battle Team Canada coach (and former Team USA superstar) Joe Soares en route to the climactic contest in Athens. Simply put, Murderball is the best film to date about living with a severe disability, but codirectors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro avoid the sappy, inspirational sentiment that hampers nearly all mainstream films involving disability. By the time this blazing 85-minute film reaches its emotional conclusion, the issue of disability is almost irrelevant; these guys are as normal as anyone, and their life stories led to Murderball becoming the most critically acclaimed documentary of 2005. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

2005 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

Featuring fierce rivalry, stopwatch suspense, and larger-than-life personalities, MURDERBALL, Winner of the Documentary Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, is a film about tough, highly competitive rugby players. Quadriplegic rugby players. Whether by car wreck, fist fight, gun shot or rogue bacteria, these men were forced to live life sitting down. In their own version of the full-contact sport, they smash the hell out of each other in custom-made gladiator-like wheelchairs. And no, they don't wear helmets.

From the gyms of middle America to the Olympic arean in Athens, Greece, MURDERBALL tells the story of a group of world-class athletes unlike any ever shown on screen. In addition to smashing chairs, it will smash every sterotype you ever had about the disabled. It is a film about family, revenge, honor, sex (yes, they can) and the triumph of love over loss. But most of all, its is a film about standing up, even after your spirit - and your spine - has been crushed.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easily the best documentary I've ever seen, August 2, 2005

By 

Kristopher Haines (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I've seen my share of documentaries, and I've seen a few that have dealt with disability. "Murderball" easily eclipses them all.
Too often people with disabilites get thrust into the role of flawless inspirations, this principle has held true across both fictional and non-fictional films alike. It was because of this trend that I approached "Murderball" with cautious optimism.
It was very surprising indeed when "Murderball" was in fact a genuinely uplifting and inspiring film,a film that dared to really show its subjects complete with flaws. Two other disability-related documentaries I've seen are "Rolling" and "King Gimp" Both are probably extremely inspiring to an able-bodied audience, but speaking as someone who is in a wheelchair, some of the moments in those films were downright horrifying and depressing. For example in "Rolling", a woman falls out of bed while dressing herself and videotapes her barely censored nude rescue by an able-bodied friend and her husband. Able-bodied audences would say, "what grit and determination" I sat there and prayed that would never happen to me. "King Gimp" profiles a supremely talented artist and parts of his story are inspiring especially to someone like myself who wants to have a career in the arts. Yet, it too depressed me because much of the film concerns the subject's unrequited love for a female caregiver. He laments that he will never find anyone.

"Murderball" on the other hand avoids those pitfalls and showcases some of the nastiest, (...)ever to hit the screen and even though I most certainly do not fit into that category and wouldn't be caught dead playing the titular sport I enjoyed every minute of it. All of the people in this film have a level of independence that for the moment I can only dream of, and they are much more impaired than I am in certain respects. So seeing them doing something they love, and quite a few of them FINDING love is absolutely, unadulteratedly inspiring. It is the first documentary I've seen that left me happy through the end credits.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Unstoppables, July 20, 2005

By 

MICHAEL ACUNA (Southern California United States) - See all my reviews
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"Murderball" is ostensibly about quadriplegic wheelchair rugby and there are some truly thrilling scenes of play between archrivals the USA and Canada...to be sure.
But what "Murderball" is really about is the undeniable, unstoppable, fire-in-the-belly will to live and more specifically the drive to overcome adversity: both of spirit and of body.
Athletes Mark Zupan, Joe Soares, etc. all exhibit, really inhabit such a positive, go-for-broke take on life and living that you cannot help but be embarrassed when you start to think of your piddly problems.
One of the things a Documentary should do is enlighten and inform and "Murderball" has those two topics covered---no problem. But "Murderball" also gives you Hope and that is a quality to which most other films can only aspire.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible sports documentary, February 11, 2006

By 

David Bonesteel (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murderball (DVD)

This powerful documentary should serve as an antidote to anyone who ever felt uncomfortable around a person in a wheelchair. The individuals profiled, all participants in the full-contact sport of wheelchair rugby, are independent and demand to be regarded without pity. They are fierce competitors in a grueling sport, going for the gold in the Paralympics in a 12-country competition.

Although several people are featured, the central figures are Marc Zupan and Joe Soares. Marc is currently among the top players in the sport, a charismatic man whose zest for life will not be diminished. Joe, a former superstar, is at first bitter about the way age has robbed him of his skills; a dramatic and unexpected development midway through the film seems to transform the way he looks at life and his relationship with his son.

Like the best documentaries, "Murderball" offers a glimpse into the lives of people that have much to teach us. Recommended.