Hey folks, Harry here... I was sent the following DVD from a fella that thought it'd interest me, however, I wasn't too interested and gave it to Massawyrm to watch and write about. I like watching Basketball as a live game, not taped... takes a certain amount of the thrill out of it for me. So here's Massawyrm's take on it....
Hola all. Everyone's favorite Chain-smoking, Dr. Pepper swilling, indie schilling, toga wearing bastard here with a look at the new Ultimate Jordan DVD. No, no, no, calm down girls...not that Jordan. Not the one from The New Kids on the Block either. No, this is Michael Jordan, the man, the myth, the legend himself, brought to you on glorious DVD for count 'em 5 and 1/2 hours of Jordany goodness.
Now, this is one of those things you kind of have to be a fan to appreciate, and well, I'm kind of a fan. I know, I know. "What??? Just kind of a fan???" Yeah, well you see, I'm a San Antonio boy and I'm just waiting for a 5 and 1/2 hour, 2 disc set of Sean Elliot highlights (oooh oooh oooh, with a top 10 injuries list! Yeah!). For years I watched Jordan score all over my boys, and well, of course, just like everyone else, I learned to love him. And this disc lays it all down about his Airness.
This DVD sports 5 full on documentaries, tracing his career from high school (complete with some game footage) on up through college all the way to his last proffessional game (well, his last pro game in a Bulls jersey. Which leads me to wonder...are the Wizards really to be considered pro?) Then, as if five documentaries about the man weren't enough, theres a slew of special features including his 10 greatest dunks, 10 greatest assists, 10 greatest clutch shots (game winning baskets), and many more. There's small mini documentaries on the 8 most important games in his career. And there's also a few more specialized docs that really sold me on this disc. 2 shorts in particular caught my attention. First and foremost was one called "It's gotta be the shoes" which tracks behind the scenes footage of Jordan on many of his ad campaigns. What really got me about this was there was a large focus on the old "Morris Blackman" ads, which of course starred and were shot by a promising young director named Spike Lee. Watching young Spike at work was really kinda cool. I remember those ads vividly. They inspired a catch phrase. I remember being 14 and writing "It's gotta be the boots" across my old H&H's. Those ads kicked ass and now you can see the highlights of them.
The second feature that I thought was really cool was a series of interviews with other NBA players about Jordan. Of course, none of these were fellow Bulls, they were the players he schooled on a regular basis. And that's where you really get a sense of how great a player this man is. People he's been personally responsible for denying a chance at the trophy talk about him and his moves with such reverance and at times a bit of bitterness, and you really get the feeling of the love within the NBA for this man. There's a few really great memories in this section that no Jordan fan should miss.
This 2 disc set also has a huge chunk of DVD-ROM features, including a one on one video game featuring the man himself, a trivia game (what DVD-ROM would be complete without the obligatory trivia game) and several other features with stats, photos, and a gallery of his trading cards.
This is one of those discs that only fans can appreciate. But true fans will adore this, as there's so much stuff to sift through you can't really do it in one sitting. Maybe two if you're a die hard.
Well, until next time friends, smoke 'em if ya got 'em. I know I will.
