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North Dallas Forty (1979)
Released By: Paramount Home Video   Rating: R   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Paramount Home Video
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Bo Svenson, Brian Dennehy, Charles Durning, Dabney Coleman, Mac Davis, Nick Nolte
Published ID: 1763
UPC: 097360877342, 097360877328,
Plot: In a society in which major league sporting events have replaced Sunday worship as the religion of choice, North Dallas Forty appears like a desecration at the altar. In this film, directed by Ted Kotcheff (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz), the National Football League is revealed to be more about the money than the game. Nick Nolte is North Dallas Bulls pass-catcher Phillip Elliott, whose cynicism and independent spirit is looked upon as troublesome by team coaches Johnson (Charles Durning) and Strothers (G.D. Spradlin) and team owner Conrad Hunter (Steve Forrest). Elliot, at the end of his career and wise to the way players are bought and sold like cattle, goes through the games pumped up on painkillers conveniently provided by the management. His teammates include savvy quarterback Maxwell (Mac Davis) and lunk-headed defensive lineman Jo Bob Priddy (Bo Svenson), who deal with the impersonality and back-biting of the game through off-field diversions. When the Bulls management benches Elliot after manipulating him to help train a fellow teammate, Elliot has to decide whether there is more to life than the game that he loves. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
good service
Added 6/22/2009

seller was on time with shipment and product arrived in condition as stated. I would use this seller again

0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Great item, great price, great seller!
Added 1/6/2009

I bought and received the DVD the same week. Great packaging and service. I would definitely buy from this seller again. Thanks!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Pro football exposed
Added 11/9/2008

Phillip Elliot (Nick Nolte), an aging wide receiver who must be injected with pain-killers in order to perform, faces the end of the life he loves as he sees his career slipping away. Aware of his position in a fundamentally corrupt system that demands everything of the players, then discards them when they are used up, he nevertheless puts up with it for the sake of the thrill he gets on the football field every Sunday and the joy of doing what comes naturally to him.

If you're looking for an uplifting sports film with a rousing last minute win against overwhelming odds, look elsewhere. This movie is an expose of pro football as big business in which the players are expendable commodities. There is scarcely any game footage in the film until the very end, and even then it subverts sports movie conventions. Unfortunately, the love story in the film is unconvincing, even though it is intended to serve as a dramatic foil to the dishonesty and manipulation Elliot faces in his professional life. It's not surprising that Dayle Haddon didn't go on to much of a film career following this performance. However, it is surprising that singer Mac Davis didn't make more of a splash on the big screen, since he is so good here.

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
1970s tale with heavy resonance for today
Added 2/3/2008

This might be considered the perfect teammate for "The Longest Yard" but it stands on its' own. A big reason for that is the startling performance of singwriter-singer Mac Davis. He got his character *down* - not too deep of a dude, but deep enough to step to Nolte at the end and say that he knew that his buddy was under surveillance and that suspension was next. He proved to be a buddy on the field but not "off the field".
The athletes must work with those who they dislike and distrust. As in any occupation involving more than one individual.
Nolte is no road scholar but is a little older, wiser, roadweary enought to be tired of the detached powers-that-be and their strategy meetings with tired motivational techniques and condescention. Not exactly tired of illegal substances to keep on keel, however. He meets a somewhat enigmatic, free spirit at a typical brawling, baudy pre-big game bash - I'm not clear on how she knew about it or why she would want to attend. She is the absolute perfect balance to all the rough dudes he has to live and perform with and her peaceful demeanor starts to work on him. In the end, shell-shocked over his own decision to chuck-it, he turns to her for...regrouping. Davis will continue playing football - and have no Love in his Life. Nolte will do the converse.
The writing, directing, and cutting here is of a very high order, the attention to detail amazing. I am no fan of this sport but I had no desire to break it up in quarters - the picture flows.
Other performances of note are by Charles Durning, the old-timer trying to keep the young guys focysed and the front office smiling. But he doesn't seem to buy his own exhortations, and he delivers some interesting facial expressions to support that. Dayle Hadden is the understated counterpart to all the riotous action, perhaps a tad too refined and mannered - though that was the '70s. Today she would have been portrayed as the exasperated divorcee who has had it with immature men and masculinity in general.
Some nicely low-lit Love scenes provide peaceful interlude to the mayhem coming in the next frame.

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
North Dallas Forty
Added 7/4/2007

Ted Kotcheff's revealing "North Dallas Forty" uncovers the less heroic aspects of pro football as big business, depicting players as commodities to be replaced when their broken bodies give out, coaches as bullying nursemaids, and owners as greedy, manipulative tyrants. To his credit, Kotcheff isn't heavy-handed in his approach, leavening the film with plenty of wit and warmth. Nolte is superb playing the aching, rebellious Phil, while singer Davis exhibits natural acting chops as Max. Sterling support comes from Steve Forrest and Dabney Coleman (as owners), G.D. Spradlin and Charles Durning (as coaches), and Bo Svenson (hilarious as an unhinged defensive player on the Dallas team).
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
good service
Added 6/22/2009

seller was on time with shipment and product arrived in condition as stated. I would use this seller again

0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Great item, great price, great seller!
Added 1/6/2009

I bought and received the DVD the same week. Great packaging and service. I would definitely buy from this seller again. Thanks!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Pro football exposed
Added 11/9/2008

Phillip Elliot (Nick Nolte), an aging wide receiver who must be injected with pain-killers in order to perform, faces the end of the life he loves as he sees his career slipping away. Aware of his position in a fundamentally corrupt system that demands everything of the players, then discards them when they are used up, he nevertheless puts up with it for the sake of the thrill he gets on the football field every Sunday and the joy of doing what comes naturally to him.

If you're looking for an uplifting sports film with a rousing last minute win against overwhelming odds, look elsewhere. This movie is an expose of pro football as big business in which the players are expendable commodities. There is scarcely any game footage in the film until the very end, and even then it subverts sports movie conventions. Unfortunately, the love story in the film is unconvincing, even though it is intended to serve as a dramatic foil to the dishonesty and manipulation Elliot faces in his professional life. It's not surprising that Dayle Haddon didn't go on to much of a film career following this performance. However, it is surprising that singer Mac Davis didn't make more of a splash on the big screen, since he is so good here.

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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