Product Details

• Actors: Delroy Lindo, Mykelti Williamson, Edward Herrmann, Blair Underwood, R. Lee Ermey
• Directors: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
• Writers: Gary Hoffman, David Himmelstein
• Producers: Gary Hoffman, Kevin Kelly Brown, Mike Medavoy, Robert Papazian
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: January 23, 2001
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000053V7F
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,923 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Soul of the Game" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An aging Satchel Paige wanted to be the first African American baseball player to integrate the major leagues after World War II. Of course, things didn't work out that way: the visibly dignified and younger Jackie Robinson got the nod, while the Negro Leagues he left behind carried on with such brilliant talents as Josh Gibson segregated from deserving opportunities. This HBO movie concerns the period just before Robinson was pressed into a difficult role breaking the color barrier, and the rich script by David Himmelstein and Gary Hoffman concerns his aspirations as well as those of the frustrated Paige and the deteriorating Gibson. Blair Underwood plays Robinson with an expected nobility, while Delroy Lindo is superb as Paige as is Mykelti Williamson as Gibson. Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan, the film really does fill a gap in a viewer's imagination about what these three legendary men must have been going through--and much of it is painful to witness. With Edward Herrmann as Branch Rickey. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

In 1945, the world of baseball was divided between the Majors and the Negro Leagues - but the time has come for change. Will Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson or Jackie Robinson be the first to take the field in the Majors?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Characters, not accuracy make this movie wonderful, April 29, 2005

By 

Douglas B. Rubin (Princeton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soul of the Game (DVD)

Sticklers for accuracy will find this movie lacking as the paths of Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige weren't as well intertwined as the movie suggests. The connection with Willie Mays is an interesting, meaningful plot connection . . . and extremely hard to believe.

Still, the acting and film/myth making is perfect for this most important story of "America growing up." The pace of the film, keyed by a jumpy-jazz soundtrack fits with exuberance of the post-war, "time to get moving" era. A cross-country automobile trip juxtaposes the new (a new class of prosperous African-Americans with their shiny automobile) with the old (not able to use a toilet in a small town).

The many changes of the era are used to tell the story -- the challenge of professional baseball to stay profitable, what to do about "negros" (who had just fought with distinction for world democracy) made something, somehow inevitable.

Josh Gibson was the great slugger (the "Negro Babe Ruth" he was called), although by 1946 was fading due to age and a brain tumor. Satchel Paige was (one of?) the greatest pitcher ever and was a great box office draw.

The story turns on Branch Rickey's selfish, sneaky, and noble plan to integrate baseball. The City was right (Brooklyn - the melting pot); the politics were right (Fiorella LaGuardia appealed to minorities and Happy Chandler, the new baseball commissioner, had stated his openness to integration); the ownership was right (Rickey had played baseball on an integrated team in college); and of course, Jackie Robinson was the right man.

Rickey is portrayed by the statesman-like Ed Hermann. The famous meeting where he explains to Jackie Robinson that he requires his pioneer to be strong enough to "not fight back" is portrayed with the subdued importance that's required. Robinson's background (an officer in the Army, a star halfback with UCLA) is portrayed convincingly by Blair Underwood.

Delroy Lindo is a bit too serious, and too devoted to his wife, not to mention possessing too broad a body, to make me believe that he's Satchel Paige. Still, he plays the part of the superstar pitcher with the big ego that's required.

I have no idea if Mykelti Williamson's portrayal of Josh Gibson is realistic, but it's delightful, poignant and ultimately tragic.

Rickwood Field (Birmingham) and League Stadium (built for "Field of their Own" in Indiana) add another touch of colorful, enjoyable non-realism to the story.

Enjoy the myth, but don't make any bar bets based on this film.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well acted, wholly inaccurate., April 4, 2002

By 

"bigd911" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul of the Game (DVD)

This movie was very well acted and very entertaining. However, being a huge baseball fan who has done extensive research and is very interested in Negro League history, this movie is very inaccurate. The portrayal of jackie Robinson is closest, but Josh and Satch are way off, even if you go by their legends rather than accounts. Satch was a renowned carouser and was not close friends with Jackie or Josh. Also, they don't even mention Larry Doby (the first black player in the American League, a couple months after Jackie). All in all, an entertaining movie, unless, like me, you're interested in learning about Jackie breaking the famed "color barrier" and what the Negro Leagues were really like.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great baseball movies ever, January 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Soul of the Game (DVD)

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. One of the only movies that give recognition to Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. As well, as cover the lives of the player in the Negro Baseball League. I feel this is a must see movie.