The Film
English football is different from American football (they actually use their feet), and clearly English movies about football are different from American movies about football. This is obvious in The Damned United, which chronicles Brian Clough's (Michael Sheen) "doomed 44 day tenure" as manager of the Leeds United football club. The story contrasts his fall with his rise, while focusing on his rivalry with Leeds' prior manager Don Revie (Colm Meaney), and is more about the war of egos than the battle on the pitch. And while the emphasis is clearly on those 44 dark days, the irony is that so much the rest of Clough's career is unexplored that this one feels like only half the match.
The Picture
It appears that it rains a lot in Derby and Leeds - the two principal cities featured in The Damned United. But this also makes for rather lush greenery at times. Both the gray skies, and rather bleak settings of these industrial northern towns, as well as the countryside are brought to life with vivid results in this 1080p 1.85:1 presentation. There is a slight haziness at times but this seems to convey the fact that this is a period film, set in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s - not exactly an era that was filled with Technicolor scenery.
The Sound
While the muted colors evoke the look of the 1970s, the sound in this one at times is a bit too authentic - and by that I mean it has a flat sound that never really transports you to the action. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio just doesn't surround you, nor does it make you really feel the intensity of the crowd. For a sports film, the sound is underwhelming, and at times the dialog is even hard to hear clearly, making the whole presentation seem a bit dis-united.
The Extras
Consider the bonus features to be worthy of overtime, complete with a look at how the game of football has evolved from the 1970s. Additionally, the making of the film is chronicled in the disc's many extras, as is how Michael Sheen prepared for the role of the controversial Brian Clough. More important to note is that there is a bonus feature that looks at how the story was brought to the big screen - yet for anyone who has followed some of the actual history, this featurette is interesting in that it doesn't note that some (including Clough's widow) wish that the film were never made!
Final Thoughts
While the real Clough's family claim much of the events depicted on screen never really happened, and the fact that the story seems incomplete, The Damned United does offer insight into the game the Brits called football. Likewise the disc is a time machine back to the 1970s, as it captures the look of the era - and in a strange way the flat (almost mono it seems) sound, this one is best for the hardcore sports fan that wants to explore another kind of football through film.
Product Details
- Actors: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney and Jim Broadbent
- Director: Tom Hooper
- Audio Languages: English, French, Portuguese Dolby True HD 5.1, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Dutch
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Number of Discs: 1
- Rating: R
- Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
- Release Date: February 23, 2010
- Run Time: 98 minutes
- List Price: $34.95
- Extras:
- Commentary by Director Tom Hooper, Michael Sheen, and Producer Andy Harris
- "Cloughism" featurette with footage shot with Michael Sheen
- "Creating Clough: Michael Sheen Takes on the Old Big 'Ead'" - on-set interview
- "Perfect Pitch: The Making of The Damned United" featurette
- "Remembering Brian" featurette
- "The Changing Game: Football in the Seventies" featurette
- BD-Live
