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Click above to purchase "Michael Jordan To The Max" at
amazon.com
Michael Jordan To The Max
review by Zach B.
Not Rated
Studio: Fox
Running Time: 46 minutes
Starring Michael Jordan
Narrated by Laurence Fishburne
Directed by James D. Stern and Don Kempf
Retail Price: $19.98
Features: Commentary With Co-Director/Producer James
D. Stern, Co-Director/Producer Don Kempf and Producer Steve
Kempf, Michael Jordan Stats, Crew Biographies, Reviews, 21
Minute Behind The Scenes Featurette, 2 Minute Michael Jordan
Bullet Time Featurette, Trailers, TV Spot
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, French Dolby Surround 5.1, English Dolby
Surround, English Subtitles, Chapter Search (12
Chapters)
It's not hard to babble about Michael Jordan, there is no
doubt he is one of the most influential sports figures of
all time. He's a living legend who's simply one of the
greatest, if not the greatest, basketball players ever. He
has a ton of merchandise. He's made a mint off product
placements. He has his own shoes. Simply put, Jordan is and
forever will be in the history books.
"Michael Jordan To The Max" is a 46 minute documentary
about the great, originally shown in IMAX theaters. I had
some desire to see it, but I will admit the lukewarm reviews
I read turned me off. I have to say this documentary isn't
bad, but it could have been better. Like many of you, I
hoped this documentary would have been larger than life,
just like Mister Jordan himself. It's not. It's really a
small chunk of Jordan, and the film jumps around from topic
to topic.
The documentary pretty much follows Jordan and the Bulls
through his final season during the playoffs and
championships. In between match clips, there are interviews
with people who have known Jordan, former coaches,
teammates, his mother, others (BOB COSTAS!!!) and of course,
Jordan himself. During the interviews we learn about Michael
and his past a tiny bit, a sappy segment on the unfortuante
death of his father, a good bit on when he played baseball
and a tiny bit on parts of his career. And it's all narrated
by that mighty voice of Laurence Fishburne, who has such a
great and elegant voice. He does a fantastic job.
This documentary is well done, but again, you'll probably
expect a lot more. It just takes little things and throws
them together. There's a lot of excellent shots though, and
good (but nothing new) information, and the editing is done
really well. I don't think the filmmakers really knew what
they wanted to make or where they were going with this. It's
not bad, but I know it could have been a lot better. It
could have been a hell lot longer too. Basically, when
you're done watching, there's a lot to be desired.
Though presented in IMAX originally, the film, I guess,
was filmed in 1.85:1 and then converted and everything. Of
course, I could be wrong. Anyhow, this anamorphic widescreen
transfer is pretty good. Colors are very bold and fleshtones
are dead-on. There's some blemishes and pieces of grain,
plus some shimmering. The image can be pretty soft at times,
but some scenes are pretty sharp. I also thought exterior
shots could have looked a lot better. An interesting thing
to note is that during some of Jordan's speaking time, the
aspect ratio becomes larger. But it's all basically in
1.85:1. A very good transfer, despite some flaws that get in
the way.
A decent Dolby Digital 5.1 track is included, in addition
to a 5.1 French track and a Dolby Surround track. I expected
more out of this track. I felt there could have been a lot
more surround use, and this track could have been louder and
a lot more active, especially during the basketball scenes.
The music uses the channels, but that could have been
better. Still, there are some good surrounds, but I felt
this could have been a more aggressive. English subtitles
are also included.
I was surprised how packed this disc was. There's a great
amount of features. The first is a Commentary With James
D. Stern, Don Kempf and Steve Kempf. It's a pretty
straight foward track. There's a little bit of silence here
and there, but nothing major. Things aren't always so screen
specific, and most of the track praises Jordan. Still, they
are well prepared, talk about making it in general (and they
claim they knew what they were doing with the movie) and
seemed to have a good time making it.
Behind The Scenes is a twenty one minture
featurette with interviews from the production team and
others, as well as some footage of him shooting on a green
screen. This production refers a lot to IMAX presentation.
It's nothing special, but it's a decent diversion. It's in
non-anamorphic widescreen.
Michael Jordan Bullet Time basically shows the
opening "Matrix" like shot. There's no narration or
anything, and is just live action footage, green screen
shots, cgi and storyboards in a one minute and forty five
second featurette.
Rounding the disc out are three Trailers (a 30
second IMAX one, a 30 second one for movie theaters and the
theatrical trailer) and a 30 second TV Spot. Didn't
like my review? Read one of three Reviews. See
reviews from the "Calagary Sun", "New York Post" and
"Chicago Sun-Times". They don't give you their ratings in
stars were (I do recall the NY Post gave it two and a half
out of four), but they do praise the movie... and some of
the reviews mention the film and its flaws.
While I wish there was more to the movie, but this DVD
has a decent presentation and a good array of extras. Sports
fans, basektball fans and Jordan fans, be sure to check it
out if you enjoyed the movie. If you have not seen it, I'd
suggest you rent it first.
 (3/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (3.5/5)
(3.5/5)
 (2.5/5)
(3.5/5, NOT an average)
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