Customer Reviews

NFL Films - The Oakland Raiders - The Complete History

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a Raider Fan's "Must Have" DVD! From the history to the memorable moments, it's all here. For the younger Raider Fans, this also shows the history of the Raiders and you'll see why Raider Fans are notorious for being the most loyal. As a 30+ year fan, it brought back many memories for me and to have it on DVD and not wait for it on ESPN Classics or NFL Network is a real treat. I definitely loved the "Old School" Raiders where crying was not allowed the rules allowed football to be played the way is was meant to be...."Man to Man".

This is two DVD's packed full of Raider highlights starting from the first year in the American Football League up to their last Super Bowl appearance two seasons ago. Special features include pieces on John Madden, Lyle Alzado and George Blanda. Disc 2 has the 1997 playoff game against the Baltimore Colts in Baltimore along with features with rivals like Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Denver. This DVD you will never get tired of watching.

I've been attracted to the smiling pirate image (he is smiling?) of the Silver & Black ever since I was a little kid. I love EVERYTHING here: *especially* the '70s, '80s & L.A Raiders...
*Mentioned on these discs- (usually very briefly)*: early '60s players; Jim Otto; quarterback Tom Flores; Clem Daniels; Art Powell; miserable beginnings; Al Davis' vision of excellence; dramatic turnaround 1-13 to 10-4; AFL-NFL merger; coach John Rauch; Gene Upshaw; Willie Brown; Daryle "Mad Bomber" Lamonica; Warren Wells; Fred Biletnikoff; Super Bowl II loss to Green Bay; infamous "Heidi Game" vs Jets in '68; coach John Madden's incredible 10+year career; George Blanda's miracle season; great games & plays in the '70s; Pittsburgh & "Immaculate Reception"; Miami & "Sea of Hands"; tackle Art Shell; Cliff Branch; Kenny "The Snake" Stabler; Super Bowl XI victory over Minnesota; Dave Casper; in-depth playoff game coverage against Colts in '77 "Ghost to the Post"; infamous Denver non-fumble; San Diego & "Holy Roller"; coach Tom Flores; Lester Hayes' 13 interceptions in '80; Jim Plunkett leads 1st-ever WildCard team to Super Bowl; Super Bowl XV victory over Philidelphia; banning of Stick 'em; Super Bowl XVIII victory over Washington; Tiger Woods= Raiders fan; '80s L.A. Raiders; Howie Long's 8 Pro-Bowls; Mike Haynes= hall-of-fame corner; Marcus Allen's *many* accomplishments; Bo Jackson- 2 sport Pro-Bowl/All-Star athlete; Art Shell- 1st black headcoach of modern era; Willie Gault & James Jett speedsters; Tim Brown; Ronnie Lott; Eric Dickerson; '90s drought; coach John Gruden & team resurgence; Rich Gannon; Rod Woodson; Jerry Rice; 5 Super Bowls/ 3 victories in 4 different decades; Raider Nation; Raiderettes; and more!
Today the team is now rebuilding. The Raiders will climb again to greatness- it'll be exciting to see a new era begin!

I am in no way a Raiders fan (go Ravens!), but this is an excellent DVD! Disc number one has a nice history covering the first forty some years of Raiders football. The features are worth a look too (with many classic games [Heidi, Holly Roller, Immaculate Reception, "Sea of Hands"]). My favorite disc is disc number two. It contains a wonderfully put together sixty some minute long feature on the 1977 AFC Divisional playoff between the Oakland Raiders and the Baltimore Colts. This double-OT classic (which is mostly overlooked) took place on December 24, 1977 in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. A surprising amount of attention is cast on the Colts rather than the Raiders! I say this because the Raiders ended up winning on a seventy-sixth minute TD pass to Dave Casper (hence the Ghost to the Post). NFL Films, like always, did a fantastic job with this piece considering that they had to find a complete game WCBM radio broadcast (WHICH IS NOT EASY TO DO!) and sync it with game footage. Chuck Thompson and Vince Bagli call a wonderfull game coupled with present day interviews of the players and coaches who were a part of it. This very classy representation of the mostly ignored BALTIMORE COLTS does the game some well deserved justice. Maybe some of you Indianapolis fans will be able to see the genesis of your CHOKING ways in the playoffs.

If you guessed that I'm from Baltimore... (ringy dingy dingy!)

NFL Films is amazing. Ed Sabol is the ultimate pioneer. This is the ultimate buy!

I have been a Raiders fan since 1973 (I was in 6th grade), although I didn't really start following them until the 1975 season. I just purchased this DVD last month. I found it to be both thrilling and annoying. In short - a missed opportunity!

I was thrilled that, for the first time on DVD, we can see highlights of some of the greatest moments in Raider history! I was annoyed, as I have been by all of the NFL DVD releases, because great football (even games that took place decades before) is NOT just about the highlights.

Imagine, if you will, if all you could buy or rent was the highlights of the James Bond movies. Sure, we've seen the featurettes that show us clips of the great moments in history by Sean Connery, Roger Moore and company. But WHAT IF THAT WAS ALL THAT WAS OFFERED ?!!

What if, instead of being able to buy/rent a DVD of "Goldfinger" or "The Spy Who Loved Me" and watch the entire film, unedited, uninterrupted, in stereo sound, wide-screen (and someday, high-definition!), we had to settle on just a few highlights, (with not even the original audio, but rather the voice-over of some generic commentator), in some made-for-cable compilation ?!

It would be UNACCEPTABLE !

And I feel the same way about this DVD. These classic games simply loose all of their original excitement and energy in these lifeless compilations. It is time to bring these games back, in their original splendor. With the original network commentaries. JUST AS THEY WERE ORIGINALLY AIRED (minus the commercials, of course). No present day commentary or highlights (except, perhaps, as separate special features menue items, if there is room on the DVD). No interruptions. No editing. Just as it was originally aired. Isn't that, after all, the goal when we watch "Goldfinger", for example, on our home theatre system? To recreate the way it felt (or must have felt) when it was first viewed years ago?!

And the way the so-called "Greatest Game" was presented on Disc 2 was little better than the highlights of disc 1. It feels more like I'm watching a high school game that some parent filmed on their home movie camera. Where is the original network broadcast?!!! And put the current-day commentary WHERE IT BELONGS, on a separate special features menu item (or separate audio track that can be disabled, if one so chooses). A game looses the momentum and feeling of live action when they cut out the suspense-building intervals in between the plays and interrupt with present-day commentary. I want to see EVERYTHING! The huddles. The side-lines moments. The penalties. Just as it was. UNINTERRUPTED!

In short, come on NFL. GET WITH IT! Use some common sense. When I set down to watch a classic game, I don't want an asinine and tedious history lesson. I want to re-live that game, all of the original energy and excitement, just as it was when it was originally aired! If you want to include some featurettes with highlights and commentary, that's fine. I am as big a fan of special features as the next guy. However, if your going to include irritating commentary by the opposition players, please include it on a separate menu item from the Raiders' commentaries, so I can ignore it, if I so choose. (By the way, one special feature that would be welcome would be an interactive menu of team and player statistics for the games on the DVD.)

Let me finish by giving my plug for the games that I believe should be FIRST in a new DVD series of COMPLETE GAMES.

I vote for box sets with COMPLETE, UNEDITED, games from the team that put the Raiders on the road to its first World Championship - the Madden and Stabler team of the 70's. Personally, I would like to see a box set including any and all Raider playoff and championship games of 1972 thru 1975 (including the ones that they lost). Then a box set of the best games of the 1976 season (arguably the best Raiders season ever), (or better yet, 2 or 3 box sets of ALL of the games of the 1976 season), including, of course the classic September 12, 1976 game* against the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the playoff and championship games that led to Oakland's Super Bowl IX appearance. (The actual Raiders Super Bowl victory over the Vikings would be included in one of a new series of COMPLETE Super Bowl games box sets).


* I consider this to be the greatest Raider comeback (and one of the greatest GAMES) of all-time, where Stabler led the raiders to a 31 to 28 come from behind victory, including 17 unanswered points in the last 2:38 of the game. This game is great not just because of the dramatic come-from-behind victory, but because it was the first victory over the Steelers since the Steelers began their Super Bowl dynasty of the 70's, defeating the Steeler team that had kept the Raiders from going to the Super Bowl two years in a row. And it was the game that started the 1976 Raiders team on their way to their best record ever (16-1-0) and their first Super Bowl Championship ever! See [...] for as more complete description of this game.

"and upside down, and laugh till they've conquered and won..." John Facenda's line epitomizes the Oakland Raider DVD collection. Recalling many famous moments in team history, I was most intrigued by their exhibitions of resilency, as they lost so many AFL/AFC Championships before actually winning one in 1976 (Steelers were shorthanded in that game, but it wouldn't have mattered.). My only comlaint is that I wish the second DVD was the 1974 Divisional playoff game versus the Miami Dolphins, the general public opinion of their greatest game. Still, it was fun reviewing all the raider greats from Art Powell to Tim Brown. AL DAVIS is an incredible man!!!

A must view!!!

This is a reward for going into my 35th year as a Raider fan. This showcase highlights the true history of the Raiders and the real Raider Nation. The only "Raider King" is Al Davis and we accept NO imposters. From the glory days of the 70's starting with the Mad Bomber and George Blanda to The Snake and Freddie B. to the Superbowl teams of the 80's with Plunkett, Branch, Rod Martin, the Stork and Howie Long this is Raider heaven. Whether you love or loathe the Silver & Black, this is a must for every football fan and collectors everywhere.

I agree that just watching highlights of classic games does the game no justice at all. You need to see the entire game, the ebb and flow, the momentum changes, the crowd, the blocks, the power run on 3rd and 2 that kept a touchdown driving going, etc. to fully appreciate the game. I have just about every classic Raiders game in its entirety. The Ghost to the Post game, the Holy Roller, the Super Bowl wins, classic games against the Dolphins and Steelers. Email me for more information.

I first became aware of the Oakland Raiders of the AFL while watching Superbowll II on NBC Television. I think they broadcast the games on both CBS and NBC at the time as each league had it's own feed and broadcast. I recall seeing the huge papermache images of a Packer and Raider meeting in mid-field. Something about the color scheme and logo of the Raiders caught my eye, and thus a little poor kid, in the Housing Projects of New York City became a life long Raider fan. It has never, EVER been easy to be a part of Raider Nation on the east coast. Jet fans are cool, Giants fans are ambivilant and Patriot pukes just plain suck!!!! This DVD set is marvelous. It hits the highs, glosses the lows and has enough of the history and lore of the Raiders to warm any barbaians heart. As my son, the Eagles fan, derides me for Al's decline and the Raiders current ineptitude I like to remind him that for all their current troubles, the Raiders have 3 times as many Super Bowl wins as do the Eagles. I love the Raiders and will bleed Silver and Black till I die.

Da Worfster

Remember when the Raiders were actually good, and Al Davis was a genius? No, too bad, because this collection will help you understand why this once proud franchise used to be in the top five in the NFL decade in and out until about 7 years ago.

I loved this, not only as a fan of the Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Rod Woodson, Charlie Garner and Rich Gannon "current" Super Bowl team they featured, but because of all the games in the 60s and 70s I was too young to either remember or was not alive for.

If you are a die hard Silver and Black fan, this is a MUST HAVE!