[VIDEO ONLINE]

[HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]


[SOUNDSTAGE!]

June 1999

Slap Shot
Reviewed by Ian White
DVD Format

Overall Enjoyment: *****
Picture Quality: ***
Sound Quality: **1/2
Packaged Extras: **

Starring Paul Newman, Jerry Houser, Michael Ontkean, Strother Martin, Lindsay Crouse, Dave Hanson, Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson

Directed by George Roy Hill

Theatrical Release: 1977
DVD Release: 1999
Dolby Digital Mono
Widescreen


The fans are standing up to them, the security guards are standing up to them, the peanut vendors are standing up to them, and by God, if I could get down there, I’d be standing up to them.

Almost every film genre has a few masterpieces that stand out from the crowd. While there are a number of really excellent sports films (Hoosiers, The Natural, Breaking Away, Rocky), there are very few special films that truly capture the essence of a sport and its personalities. Some might argue that Bull Durham captures baseball, and that North Dallas Forty does a terrific job of showing the ugly side of football. But I would have to contend that Slap Shot is far and away the best satire and parody of a professional sport in modern film. For those of us who have spent most of our lives (I was born wearing a Leafs jersey) playing hockey, Slap Shot is our holy grail of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The religious attachment aside, this is one fine film.

What are you guys doing? Putting on the foil, every game, want some?

The absolutely dead-on screenplay by Nancy Dowd, a woman who clearly understands the sport better than most men, satirizes hockey through the exploits of the Charlestown Chiefs (based on the Johnstown Jets), a last-place team in the fictional Federal League. Led by player/coach Reg Dunlop (played by Paul Newman in one of his finest roles), the bungling Chiefs resort to goon hockey in an attempt to win back fans and solidify a fictional deal to move the soon-to-be folded team to Florida. Slap Shot is rife with profanity, violence, nudity, and the most accurate portrayal of professional hockey to date. Unlike the overtly commercial Mighty Ducks, which portrayed hockey as a kiddie ride at Disneyland, Slap Shot exposes the violence, grueling travel, marital problems, alcoholism, and financial woes that have plagued hockey since the early 1920s. Aside from Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean (Twin Peaks), and Strother Martin (The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid), the real-life Hanson brothers (Dave Hanson, Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson) shine in their roles. Ontkean’s strip-tease during the championship game is unforgettable, as is the Hansons’ bone-crunching physical play.

The DVD is dramatically better than the VHS tape -- I wore out two copies through excessive play -- in a number of areas. The picture is much sharper, and I found that the DVD was free of any noticeable artifacts or pixelization. The sound of the DVD version is so superior to that of the tape that I thought I was watching a completely remastered version of the film. If you want the best-looking and -sounding version of this film, I enthusiastically recommend the DVD. The packaged extras are nothing special (biographies, trailer, production notes), and I was quite disappointed that no personal information was included about the Hanson brothers, who continue to appear at charity functions throughout North America.

Slap Shot has become a cult classic, and quite deservedly, it is the only film about hockey that deserves any recognition.

You know Rene, I like to skate too, but da hair here is terrible -- da hair!


GO TO
[ Current Video Online Issue ] [ Video Review Archives ]

Copyright © 1999
SoundStage!
All Rights Reserved
[SOUNDSTAGE!]