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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Brand: Team Marketing EAN: 9780783117539 Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC ISBN: 0783117531 Item Dimensions: Label: Hbo Home Video Languages: Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video MPN: TM3043 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Hbo Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: April 18, 2000 Running Time: 57 minutes Studio: Hbo Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 1991 Features:
Editorial Review: Product Description: These are the greats of baseball history, legends in their lifetime legends today. It's baseball as you've never seen it before the way you always imagined the way it was. When It Was a Game is composed entirely of 8 and 16 mm home movie footage taken by fans and the players themselves between 1934 and 1957. For the first time, star players and their stadiums step out of the black and white newsreel footage, and appear in living, breathing color. Players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio. Ballparks like Ebbets Field, Briggs Stadium, Crosley Field and Griffith Stadium. As time passed, baseball changed, some of the clubs, the parks, the players are no longer with us. But their memory is and the magic of those memories is brought vividly to life, in When It Was a Game. Amazon.com essential video: The HBO documentary When It Was a Game (slightly shortened on DVD from the two-part VHS release) is based on a highly original idea: tell the story of baseball from the Great Depression era through the late 1950s using footage from home-movie cameras shot by fans and players. The result is a marvelous retelling of baseball in America as seen from the ground--the culture of stadiums, the ritual of afternoon games, the spiritually sustaining rivalries. Somewhat enthralled by the images at its disposal, the film has a way of almost stepping back from itself, waxing poetic at a sighting of the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang," or a glimpse of Bogart and Bacall in the stands, or the legendary contests between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Among the truly unexpected sights is color footage of the 1938 World Series (Cubs versus Yanks), not only from inside the stadium walls but from the street as traffic cops, crowds, and vehicles amassed. Of course, there are the heroes, too, often caught in relaxed, unselfconscious moments through the lens of a teammate or a true believer in the bleachers. A great experience all around. Arguably more defined and even more lyrical than its predecessor, the second installment of When It Was a Game moves from a general celebration of baseball culture in America to a specific focus on various facets of the game's history. Once again using footage compiled from the 8mm and 16mm collections that players and fans shot over decades, this sequel follows, among other things, the special relationship between game announcers and fans and takes a fascinating trip through the story of the farm-team system during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s (particularly the near-alternate world of the Coast League). The working-class commonality of players and fans is examined, too. Imagine taking the subway home from Ebbets Field and finding yourself looking back on the day's game with a Dodger outfielder. (It could, and often did, happen.) Brooklyn's assimilation of the Dodgers into their community identity, a story often told, is covered quite winningly here, as is the heartbreak of the team's desertion to sunny California. Closing in on its final minutes, the film takes us on a tour of some of the game's legends and presents a touching tribute to the extraordinary Babe Ruth. --Tom Keogh Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Baseball FanThis is a collection of movies shot by the players themselves. It's a great look at baseball past....however, I'm not old enough to know who a lot of the players are and it would have more enoyable had the producers added the names of the players. Rating:  - Baseball historyThis is the best of the thre series. It has great footage and insightful perspective on the early game. A must have! Rating:  - baseball very very good to meIt's a must. great piece of work. Home videos are the worlds best as for true americana Rating:  - What a marvelous way...to make money off of 8mm home movie films! You know, back in the day people used to laugh at how bad home movies were. And they really were pretty bad. Well, these home movies really aren't much better. And the total package is really raunchy. It's sorta neat to see some of the old ballparks and players. For about five minutes. Then the narrator starts to become mega-annoying, and you're wondering just where the heck this stuff is happening and who these people dressed in ... Read More Rating: - Wow. Color film footage of Lou Gehrig and much, much more"When It Was a Game" is composed entirely of 8mm and 16mm home movie footage that was taken by players and fans between 1934 and 1957. What this means for every baseball fan who has seen nothing but black & white newsreel footage of the good old days is the opportunity to see great players and the old ballparks where they played in living color. As soon as your see Lou Gehrig in color your heart just about skips a beat. Every spring right before Opening Day I watch the Ken Burns 9-inning documentary ... Read More |
