Any Given Sunday

With the best real on-field football action since Varsity Blues, Any Given Sunday stars Al Pacino as Tony D'Amato, long-time coach for the Miami Sharks facing personal problems, recent losing seasons, injuries, primadonna athletes, a team doctor (Woods) with questionable ethics, and a profit-minded owner (Diaz) who inherited the team from her daddy. You know, typical professional sports team troubles. (Laurie Sevano)

Special features include audio commentary by Director and Co-Writer Oliver Stone and audio commentary by Jamie Foxx; three Jamie Foxx audition tapes and screen tests (SD 06:40); "Full Contact: The Making Of Any Given Sunday," an excellent HBO making-of documentary written and directed by Dave & Scott McVeigh (SD 27:07); 13 deleted/extended scenes (SD 32:39); 16 extra music-only tracks (HD 30:45); 10 instant replays of the film's hard-hitting football plays (HD 15:42); a stills gallery; three music videos: LL Cool J "Shut 'Em Down,"Jamie Foxx "My Name Is Willie," and "Any Given Sunday" (SD 08:50); the theatrical trailer; an up-front promo; plus a digital copy of the film.

This Blu-ray Disc™ 2.40:1 1080p VC-1 edition heightens the distracting exaggeration of hues that is a major element in the visual stylization. The previously reviewed anamorphically enhanced DVD exhibited incredible clarity throughout, as does this picture. The color scheme reflects the stylized vision of Director Oliver Stone and Director of Photography Salvatore Totino. Fleshtones can appear quite orange at times. The locker room scenes seem plugged-up and pasty under initial evaluation, but the soft, warm lighting during the filming of these scenes lends to the intended, heavy ambience. Other times, chromatic realism is absolutely stunning, enhanced with the high-definition transfer. Contrast and shadow delineation are nicely rendered. Taking the color stylization into consideration, the picture exhibits beautiful quality with no major distractions of any kind. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby® TrueHD 5.1-soundtrack refines further the DVD's Dolby Digital version, which is an absolute sonic standout in terms of its sound design and spatial attributes. Fidelity is truly remarkable, and the audio is characterized by impeccable clarity. This is one of the few film soundtracks that offer a completely satisfying experience with a downright engrossing sonic image across the screen, and prominent split surround engagement to pull you right into the intensity and momentum of the football games. The dialogue is an exemplary production, with natural-sounding voices and spatial integration that is noteworthy and downright convincing, even though dialogue is not spread to the stereo front channels. The sound effects for the hits and tackles are rendered with effective visceral effect, often accompanied by pulses of deep bass. The crowd ambience is the production of creative multichannel recordings of live football games. The very well-recorded music impressively energizes the listening space, with an involving, aggressive presence and expansive imaging. The low end is impressively deep, with honest-to-goodness solid bass that is clean and occasionally powerful with extension to below 25 Hz in all channels, along with punctuated .1 LFE engagement. "Any Given Sunday" doesn't deliver any given soundtrack—this is excellent film sound that is creatively produced and delivers a wholly exciting and energetic presentation! (Gary Reber)