... Any Given Sunday is a perfect example of a director who has been allowed to let his own sense of self-importance go to his head and how left unrestrained this leads to lengthy works of ego-massaging cinematic masturbation. At almost 3 hours long, Any Given Sunday soils the sheets on a number ... Read review
Oliver Stone'sAny Given Sundayis a massive 150-minute American football drama which, for ... more
all its ferocity and cynicism, is as soft-centred and clichéd as anyRocky-style underdogs-make-good crowd-pleaser. The Miami Sharks have lost three games in a row ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Oliver Stone'sAny Given Sundayis a massive 150-minute American football drama which, for ... more
all its ferocity and cynicism, is as soft-centred and clichéd as anyRocky-style underdogs-make-good crowd-pleaser. The Miami Sharks have lost three games in a row ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Life is a contact sport and football is life when three-time Academy Award-winning ... more
filmmaker Oliver Stone and a dynamic acting ensemble explore the fortunes of the Miami Sharks in 'Any Given Sunday'. At the 50-yard line of this gridiron cosmos is Al P...
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Director's Cut, containing previously unseen footage. Life is a contact sport and football ... more
is life when three-time Academy Award winning filmmaker Oliver Stone and a dynamic acting ensemble explore the fortunes of the Miami Sharks in 'Any Given Sunday'...
Put together the grandiose vision of director Oliver Stone (JFK, Natural Born Killers), ... more
the larger-than-life world of professional (American) football, and the over-the-top theatrics of Al Pacino (the Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon), and what do you expect? A quiet little soundtrack of introspective folk songs? No, this is a Wagnerian production in which the pace never lets up. Whether it's the protometal of Godsmack, the petulant whine of Courtney Love fronting the always grungy Hole, or the expletive-laden Kid Rock, the frontal attack is always overkill. Sunday star Jamie Foxx performs the title track, which, while subdued, still moves forth on an ominous note. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's track "Who You Gonna Call" has a sly sense of humour. LL Cool J (who also appears in the film) performs "Shut 'Em Down", sounding like a speed freak spilling the company secrets. Now, if only we could convince Pacino to rap. --Rob O'Connor
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Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Martin Brest - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Marcia Gay Harden, Jake Weber, Claire Forlani, Jeffrey Tambor
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
...these days is another matter. Any Given Sunday is a perfect example of a director who has been allowed to let his own sense of self-importance go to his head and how left unrestrained this leads to lengthy works of ego-massaging cinematic masturbation. At almost 3 hours long, Any Given Sunday soils the sheets on a number of levels and it is only due to the superb cast that it manages to hold our interest for any of its length. Stone has been obviously ... ...to a 2 minutes segment. Any Given Sunday is the same - but longer. Much, much longer. It opens as it means to go on, clenching its message up in a mailed fist and ramming it hard and deep down the audience's throats. a techno rock and hip-hop fusion sound track assaults you as you are presented with the grid-iron in mid game. Football is a battlefield, there is your message and Stone presents the opening scenes like the storming of the beaches at ... more
Oliver Stone is a very intelligent director, you have to give him that much. To say that he is untalented would be a crime, but then to say that he is actually 'watchable' these days is another matter. Any Given Sunday is a perfect example of a director who has been allowed to let his own sense of self-importance go to his head and how left unrestrained this leads to lengthy works of ego-massaging cinematic masturbation. At almost 3 hours long, Any Given Sunday soils the sheets on a number of levels and it is only due to the superb cast that it manages to hold our interest for any of its length. Stone has been obviously been allowed to let his 'creative juices' run wild here and the result ranges from the truly sublime to a noisy chaotic mess of hip-hop metal fusion and overly flash editing. At the end of the day its just a football movie, but Stone obviously had some ideas of a grander plan...and then lost his way and reproduced 'Wildcats' in the final reel...ho hum...
The trailer for this movie is probably the loudest, most gruelling sensory assault effect committed to a 2 minutes segment. Any Given Sunday is the same - but longer. Much, much longer. It opens as it means to go on, clenching its message up in a mailed fist and ramming it hard and deep down the audience's throats. a techno rock and hip-hop fusion sound track assaults you as you are presented with the grid-iron in mid game. Football is a battlefield, there is your message and Stone presents the opening scenes like the storming of the beaches at Normandy. It is no less intense than those scenes in Saving Private Ryan and the parallels are too marked to be accidental - the agenda is set for the rest of the movie. Football IS war, the gridiron IS a battlefield and the audience is in for one hell of a gruelling experience. Al Pacino is Tony D'Amato, the head coach of the Miami Sharks, a US football team competing in a ficticious parallel competition to the Superbowl. When his star quarterback gets injured he is posed with an immediate problem and has to rely upon the skills of a talented but untried rookie to fill the breach he has left. So, out steps the injured Jack Rooney(Dennis Quaid) to be replaced by Willie Beaman(Jamie Foxx)....who turns out to be an unqualified success. He also turns out to be an over-confident, bigheaded young fool who has lets his success fly to his head after a couple of spectacular performances and great wins for the Sharks. He angers pretty much everyone around him including multi-million dollar running back Julian Washington(LL Cool J.) and his coach of course, but D'Amato is refused permission to drop him by the club's owner Christiana Pagniacci(Cameron Diaz). He stays and plays and tensions flair both on and off the pitch in the locker rooms and the boardroom alike.
Despite coming in at a hefty 3 hours long, Any Given Sunday is a pretty simplistic tale pointing out the obvious once more - how money has ruined professional football. Or at least thats what the first 2 hours seems to be about before it turns into a rehash of just about every other football movie which has preceded it. Big speeches, testosterone and a grand-slam ending mark the inexplicable final hour which pretty much undermines that which as come before - and makes the interesting point of how big bucks has ruined movie making perhaps and Stone tries to line his pockets by giving the cinema audience what they want rather than sticking to the art...
Its hardly a criticism but its like watching two movies here, the first a verfy hard hitting cynical look at pro football and the second Wildcats done by a director who knows what he is doing. Its not that it doesn't work, but rather that the two do not sit particularly comfortable together. The first half of the movie is however excellent, with the typically hard-bitten craggy performance from Pacino which we ahve all come to expect. This guy eats this kind of role for breakfast and whilst it may not be upto the best of his career, it is certainly a fine performance. So too is that of Cameron Diaz, who play his ball-breaking super-bitch boss here. We get to see a new dimension to her acting abilities here and the best scenes in the movie are when these two go toe-to-toe in a slanging match. Pacino is though the scene stealer here as always, turning up the gas on every scene he is in. Everyone else is good, including comedian Foxx who manages to hold his own admirably here faced with some of Hollywood's big guns, as does rapper LL Cool J.
No one could ever dismiss this as just another football movie but at the same time you have to wonder why it took 3 hours to tell such a simple tale. In fact, the first two hours are pretty much all said and done in one scene, Pacino shaking his head at what football has become...nuff said. The rest of the movie feels like an ego trip by a director who is obviously out of control but then at the same time you would have to argue that this is certainly his most accessible and universally enjoyable movie for a long time, if not ever. Don't be put off by the fact that its American Football, and therefore not something you can relate to or understand, because that really doesn't matter too much, it is the confrontations between the stars and the adrenaline packed 'battlefield' scenes which make this movie rather than the sport behind it. The message here is true for our own football so there is no huge mental leap to be made either. Its difficult to recommend though...I liked it and at the same time I had this nagging urge for it to finish and to stop battering me with constant over-indulgent photography and loud music. I have to admit too that I lost interest in the actual plot by around halfway as well and hence I would have to rate it as a wavering 3/5...although subsequent viewings may change that, one way or another.
Advantages: Great performances, good look at American football Disadvantages: Inconsistent Script
...it seems very familiar. Any Given Sunday is Oliver Stone's 1999 take on the ruthless, dog eat dog world of American professional football. The title is taken from the blurb " Any Given Sunday, a legend will fall, and a hero will rise".
The movie centers on the rivalry between two fictional teams the Miami Sharks and Dallas Knights, two fictitious American football teams located in Miami and Dallas. Tony D' Amato( Al Pacino) , is the coach of the ... ...his views which say
On any given Sunday you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. The point is - can you win or lose like a man?
At the same time his unhappy personal life is reflected in this where he says
Now I can't do it for ya, I'm too old. I look around, I see these young faces and I think, I mean, I've made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I've pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who's ever loved ...
scorpionkingindia 12.12.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Any Given Sunday (Director's Cut) (DVD)
Advantages: Well filmed with tight plot and good performances - plenty of DVD extras too Disadvantages: Subject matter might not appeal to all
...the box! I reasoned that any film featuring Al Pacino, James Woods, Charlton Heston, Dennis Quaid, Matthew Modine and the delights of Cameron Diaz had to be pretty good, even though American Football held no particular attraction for me – and I wasn’t disappointed! The story centres on several figures, all of whom are involved with the Miami Sharks gridiron team: Pacino plays Tony D’Amato who has been head coach since time immemorial, ... ...owner of the team’s franchise, played by Cameron Diaz. He had enjoyed a special relationship when her father was in charge of the club but she is not as willing to tolerate his foibles, or the losing streak the team is on as the film gets underway... D’Amato pins his hopes squarely on the shoulders of star quarterback ‘Cap’ Rooney (Dennis Quaid), but he suffers a severe back injury in a crucial game, swiftly followed by his ...
Flodum 16.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Any Given Sunday (Director's Cut) (DVD)
Advantages: Storming cinematography, strong pace, great acting Disadvantages: might not like it as its about American Football, script a littel lacking compared to the other parts of the film
I was actually on holiday in Thailand when this first came out, there had been very little publicity in the UK so I hadn't heard anything about it. I saw that some of my favourite actors were involved, Pacino, Woods, Modine and it was about American Football so I thought why not. Was I disappointed ? No way.
Al Pacino is the intense and stressed out coach of this fictional Miami team. He's got the character nailed to a T as the divorced, old school ... ...ALOT especially in his final “feet and inches” pep speech in the playoffs. Not as memorable or as deep a character as we are used to seeing Pacino play but he still gives his all.
Dennis Quaid underplays his role as the All American veteran quarterback who gradually accepts that his body has betrayed him after suffering injury after injury during his career. But this works as he is not supposed to be a leading character.
Cameron Diaz ...
ultras67 02.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Any Given Sunday (Director's Cut) (DVD)
Advantages: Al Pacino Disadvantages: Too long; dubious soundtrack
...*** What was wrong with Any Given Sunday? ***
At 150 minutes, it’s too long. I think that it would have been possible to make a great movie with about 30 minutes lopped off it.
The soundtrack. To start with, it works well, tracks from people like Gary Glitter, Moby and FatBoy Slim complement the football action. But there are simply too many songs, most of which serve no real purpose – except perhaps to foster the audience’s interest ... ...What did I like about Any Given Sunday”? ***
The characterisation of the players, mostly black, is very good, and you get to understand what it is that drives them (off pitch as well as on). Also, the portrayal of race issues, even within the team, where there are some white guys who make the BNP look like pussycats, is realistic. This kind of conflict is presented as merely something that’s there, not a subplot that’s there to ...
rsmith 11.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Any Given Sunday (Director's Cut) (DVD)
Advantages: good plot, great acting, fab ending Disadvantages: not enough on field action, have to endure Willies vommiting
...neck!"
Conclusion
I think Any Given Sunday is won of the all-time greatest sports movies. Not only does it have a genuinely great cast and the acting is fantastic, but it explores some sides of American Football that not many people would know about, like illegal drug taking to enhance performance, physiotherapists who push players to play when perhaps they shouldn't because the pressure to win is so great and the ego's of some players. As I said ... ...gives is very memorable. Well worth purchasing on DVD. Director - Oliver Stone (Platoon, 1986, Natural Born Killers 1994 & World Trade Center 2006)
Producers - Richard Donner (The Goonies 1985, Conspiracy Theory 1997, )& Oliver Stone
Released - December 22nd 1999 (DVD 1st September 2000)
Runtime - 150 minutes
Thanks for reading. (also posted on Dooyoo under the same name) ...
beanie8844 27.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Any Given Sunday (Director's Cut) (DVD)
A hard knock in a game of professional football puts Cap Rooney out of the game. He is replaced by an unknown whose subsequent performances transform the team making the ageing coach re-evaluate his own life and plans...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
20/11/2000
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
D 018821
Editor
Thomas J. Nordberg, Michael Mees, Keith Salmon, Stuart Levy
Interactive Menus, Scene Access, Trailer, Director Cast And Crew Commentary, Music Only Track, Deleted And Extended Scenes, Documentaries, 3 Music Videos, Jamie Foxx Audition Tape And Screen Test, Stills Gallery, Out Takes, Gag Reel, Web Site Links
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French
Professional reviews
Review
"...Stone brands ANY GIVEN SUNDAY with his trademark extreme close-ups and disorienting handheld camerawork, creating a position for the audience right on the field where it can hear every call and feel every hit..." (Box Office, p.57, 01/02/2000)
"...As exhausting as it is exciting....Jagged and alive..." -- Rating: B (Entertainment Weekly, p.64, 18/02/2000)
" Stone once again brilliantly captures the intensity of combat " -- 3 out of 5 stars - A Satisfying Rental (Premiere, p.90, 01/10/2000)
"A rambunctious, hyperkinetic, testosterone-and-adrenaline-drenched look at that obsession known as pro football..." (Variety, pp.56-61, 20/12/1999)
DVD Description
Oliver Stone's hard-hitting look at the adrenaline-fueled world of pro football stars Al Pacino as Miama Sharks coach Tony D'Amato. Having just lost his star quarterback, Jack Rooney (Dennis Quaid), he's forced to use the erratic Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) off the bench, hoping he can resuscitate his team, which is floundering on the field and in attendance figures. If not, Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), the team's new owner, may be drop-kicking him to a new destination.
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