Soccer Store - History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game

History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game

List Price: $99.98
Our Price: $79.99
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Rated 4.0/5
Manufacturer: Shout Factory

Comments
How ironic the subtitle! "The Beautiful Game." Beauty? Game? Where? If you consider high production values, a slowly building symphonic sound track, repeated close-ups of late afternoon sun-dappled water, or long shots of British dock yards beautiful, then perhaps there is "beauty" in this video. If a few select shots of crucial world cup and European championship goals, after lengthy commentary by ex-players and coaches, is your idea of "game," then perhaps there is game as well. But if one is looking for a video that actually SHOWS the beautiful game, this is definitely not it. And what about the "History" part? Even for the academic with a high tolerance for boredom this video falls short. Its history and analysis is superficial for anyone with much knowledge of the game. So much superficial discussion of historic teams, so much slow-building pseudo-dramatic music, so little real analysis off the field, so little sustained footage of action on the field. Ultimately, the video fails to be either a history of soccer (too superficial) or a depiction of "the beautiful game" (no sustained footage). Perhaps the video's most embarrassing moment comes in the analysis that one interviewee provides of the failures of soccer in the United States. The game, he argues, will never catch on in the U.S. because it is too low scoring, because American audiences, who only understand goals, will never learn to appreciate the nuances of the game. Bitter irony. The viewer watches in disbelief as the producers of the video then go on to show us nothing BUT the scores of Pele, George Best, and the rest of the NASL stars of the 1970s! And so it goes throughout the series. Only goals. So much celebration of Hungary's passing attack but only goals. So much discussion of Holland's total game, but no footage of it in action. So much talk about France's 1998 World Cup winner, but not a single shot of Zidane so much as passing the ball, let alone dribbling. If the game is beautiful for reasons other than scoring, where is the footage of that beauty? Of course, the irony (favorite word for this review) is that most soccer highlight shows are exactly the same. Talk, talk, talk about the beautiful game, but if you actually wish to illustrate the concept to the skeptical and undereducated North American masses, there seems to be nowhere to turn. Unfortunately, this dreadfully slow video, for all its high production values, is not the answer. Check it out from your local library. Don't spend the money. And please tell me where the video that actually illustrates and analyzes the "beautiful game" is to be found.

The History of Soccer (Football); The Beautiful Game, is a wonderful set. Its cinematography is outstanding and the narration is very good. The extras are very cool as well (my one complaint is that the type on the bios is a bit small. I liken it to a survey course at university such as a History 101 or 102 course. It is not overall comprehensive but is comprehensive in giving us an understanding of the game from its earliest origins to the modern game all the way up to the 2002 World Cup. Each DVD contains two one hour segments on a different historical theme of the history of soccer, and some extras. So much is covered hear, from the early origins, a Greek game that the romans adapted to a sort of ruby game that was preserved by both the Italians and the English to the modern games of Rugby and Football. In Soccer cultures the USA (a nice segment on the NASL is included) and Iran are covered as well as Asia and more. From the European superpowers (Italy, France, Germany, Holland, etc.,) to the South American Superpowers, with a whole segment featured on Brazil as well. From Clubs teams to the fans. From Superstars to the Media. And finally the growth in Africa. We get a pretty comprehensive look at the World Cup and good locks at the Europeans championships. All the superstars are hear, the great coaches, the great teams and the scandals are covered too. The different strategies and how they developed are discussed, as well as how the game spread to the fans. And how are why its so important to the fans. Also the political climates are discussed, as pertaining to the development of Soccer, in each country, in which politics has effected the game. Such as Fascism in Europe and a Dictatorship in Brazil. This is a great set and a great starting place for the novice fan and long time fan of Soccer (Football).

As a soccer player myself and having seen countless amounts of footage and soccer videos, History of Soccer was a major let down. It plays like a monotone history lesson and fails to communicate the passion of the game. It contains far too much footage of landscapes, statutes and buildings than of beautiful plays. The interviews are nice, but they far too long and tedius: they should have played most of the interview as a background talk, while showing the actual footage of the beautiful plays being talked about. It missed a lot of great available footage of crack players (Maradona, Pele, Garrincha, Zico, the Kaiser, Johann Kruif, Higuita, Valderama, Ronaldo, etc.) instead, it shows the players walking about, kissing their girlfriends or travelling around... If you are an academic, or a fan, you may like it. If you are a player, you'll find the DVDs interesting but rather boring. If you don't know the game, you will learn about it (after enduring HOURS of monotone talk), but you will not fall in love with the game. Pele himself did something similar back in the 80s or early 90s: a series which aired in TV that gave a full background of the game, all of its aspects, presented all of its stars and taught one how to play it. Such program was of better quality, with great insight into the game and leaved the audience with a desire to pick up a ball and start kicking it! Not only did he talk about the game but most importantly, he SHOWED what he was talking about. Such series had all of the footage shown in this DVD series and much more. I sure wish I could get a hold of it on DVD and I was wishing this DVD series would be sort of an update to that program, but was quite disappointed.