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Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos
R1 - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Shane Roberts & Noor Razzak (25th October 2006). |
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The Film
 Between 1967 and 1984, Head of Warner Communications and Multi-millionaire Steve Ross attempted to boost the profile of football (soccer) in the US by starting a professional league and bankrolling the New York Cosmos Team. After importing legendary superstars such as Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer the North American Soccer League (NASL) achieved a quick but brief success. It's an old sports cliché but "Once In A Lifetime" really is a game of two halves. The first is a history of football in the US from its underground introduction by immigrants who formed local leagues in their segregate communities as early as 1912, through to a famous match at the 1950 World Cup, the founding of the NASL in '67 and up to the takeover of the Cosmos. The second half shows how the Cosmos sparked the birth of celebrity and franchise football, starting with the arrival of Pelé, billed as 'the greatest player of all time' and followed by the arrogant but high scoring Italian Giorgio Chinaglia. Next were Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto, captains and stars of the World Cup winning German and Brazilian teams of 1974 and 1970 respectively. Steve Ross built the first team with players of multiple nationalities (14 of them). 30 years later the corporate owned, star studded likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and, mostly recently, Chelsea are now the norm. This is bad for the game. Smaller teams can't compete with the buying power of the bigger teams and even though they do well in the beginning winning championships and easy fans, the one-sidedness of the competition can lead to it all collapsing which is exactly what happened with the Cosmos and the NASL. Using tons of fantastic vintage football footage, in-depth and often really funny interviews with ex-Cosmos players and personnel, topped off with a funky soul and disco soundtrack co-Directors Paul Crowder and John Dower have compiled together not just a great film for football and sports fans, but anyone just after a very interesting documentary. My only disappointment was the absence of Pelé from the new interviews - it's hinted at that he asked for too much money.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.78:1 this anamorphic transfer is quite good considering it's a mix of new interviews and archival vintage footage. I was pleased to see that the interviews were nicely lit and beautifully presented, the image is sharp and clean. Skin tones are natural and colors are nice and vivid. The vintage footage is as expected, faded and damaged but that is part of its charm.
Audio
A single English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, as far as it goes it does its job, after all this is a documentary and it's mainly talking heads with the occasional bit of vintage footage. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, the music track kicks in also on occasion and does a decent job of using the sound space. Overall this track won't impress anyone but it certainly won't disappoint either. Optional subtitles are also included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Buena Vista Home Entertainment has included a featurette, some Vintage highlights, a deleted scene plus a series of bonus trailers for this release. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is "Stories of Pelé" a featurette which runs for 11 minutes 3 seconds and features some players who have played against him, with him, biographer and friends as they share stories of the man who has become a soccer legend. They talk about his game, his media presence, their relationships among other things that shed light on the type of man he is. These interview segments make for interesting viewing in anyone that would like to know more about this phenomenal player. A series of 3 soccer highlights are included, these are taken from the original vintage footage from ABC's Wide World of Sports coverage of the actual games and includes pre-game commentary, highlights from the game's exciting moments. These clips provide a time capsule back to the late 70's and early 80's, it's fascinating viewing for anyone of interest. The clips included are: - "Pelé's Farewell Game, October 1, 1977" which runs for 22 minutes 31 seconds. - "1980 Soccer Bowl: New York Cosmos Vs. Ft. Lauderdale Strikers" which runs for 18 minutes 55 seconds. - "1981 Soccer Bowl: New York Cosmos Vs. Chicago Sting" which runs for 24 minutes 14 seconds. Next up is a deleted scene entitled "Haitian Divorce" which runs for 4 minutes 10 seconds, this sequence is about a series of exhibition matches that were organized with the Haitian National team, but before the game could be played the Haitians jumped immigration and went AWOL. But the game had to go on, so a team sponsor went and found a bunch of guys that looked Haitian , suited them up in uniforms and had them play the Cosmos. Rounding out the extras are a series of bonus trailers for: - "Apocalypto" which runs for 1 minute 54 seconds and plays out like a mini-featurette. - "Keeping Up With The Steins" which runs for 2 minutes 31 seconds. - "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" which runs for 2 minutes 10 seconds. - "The Heart of the Game" which runs for 2 minutes 18 seconds. - "Anti-Piracy" spot which runs for 47 seconds. - "Home Improvement: Season 5" which runs for 1 minute 26 seconds. - "Goal! The Dream Begins" which runs for 2 minutes 21 seconds. - "Stick It" which runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds. - "Kinky Boots" which runs for 2 minutes 1 second. - "The Miracle Match" which runs for 37 seconds. The first 5 bonus trailers listed are start up previews and can be skipped. I was a little disappointed that the filmmakers did not participate in an audio commentary, but the vintage footage of the games makes up for that and is an interesting look at the days when soccer was the flavor of the month in the U.S.
Overall
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