History of Notre Dame Football

That's my disclaimer for the review i'm about to write. Being a big college football fan and a Notre Dame fan in particular, i found this dvd to be an exceptional purchase, esp at the introductory price of $15. It is mainly a 2-hr long documentary on the history of the school's football program(produced and directed by Roger Springfield/narrated by Roy Scheider). It includes some nice modern shots of the school(for those who've never been there), has lots of interviews with people associated with the school(though some big-names never appear like Joe Montana), and lots of b&w/color highlight footage(some great stuff here including stuff from the 2005 season!!!).

Again, i'm not a Fighting Irish expert, but the info and footage seems pretty good and thorough. It goes through all the coaches but only the major ones get a recap of their tenure at Notre Dame. In other words, if you're a fan of coach Davie or Willingham, don't expect much, they're barely mentioned at all. Some things you might want to know specifically:

+ the dvd looks sharp and sounds really good off my big-screen and basic stereo hook-up(standard version/dolby surround stereo)
+ the dvd has chapter stops so you can jump to your favorite area which is good since some of the material repeats itself.(like highlights of a certain Notre Dame vs USC game can be found in 2 or 3 different chapters that pertain to it)
+ chapter stops include subjects like the ND vs USC rivalry, ND vs Army rivalry, Big Ten rivalries, classic bowl games, etc.
+ interviews are kept short, or if long, are interspersed with footage(in other words, it's not a long boring shot of the speaker. it shows who they are for a few seconds then cuts to footage/highlights to keep things interesting)
+ bonus features are:
Heisman Heroes
The Marching Band
"Here Come the Irish"
Knute Rockne Speeches
coming attractions: "We Are Marshall"(an ad basically for the film)

Overall, great stuff, highly recommended. Btw, for those who were disappointed at the very brief clips of great games during the Holtz era in this documentary, be sure to check out that Notre Dame box set comin out in oct. with the full games(available for pre-order at amazon.com as well for a very cheap price).

This is a fine program from the opening montage, which includes the great song "Here Come the Irish", to the end. I'm not sure that non-Notre Dame fans would get a lot out of this though.

The DVD covers all the eras, including the game in 1913 against Army that helped inaugurate a different kind of passing game. Much is covered on Rockne, Leahy, and Parsegian-as well it should. My only complaint would be what was NOT covered in this program. I would have liked to see more on the Holtz era though. They showed Tim Brown's two punt returns against MSU, but there was no mention of Ismail's kickoff returns at the Big House in Michigan. Actually anything after 1980 feels like an after thought. Three games come immediately to mind during Holtz' era that should have gotten more attention: Miami in 1988, Florida State in 1993, and Boston College in 1993. Even though the B.C. game was gut-wrenching for ND fans, it should have gotten more coverage. Aside from those quibbles I have no complaints about what WAS included.

This really could have been a three hour program given some of the stuff that was left out. Even if that extra hour was added in, I would not have lost the least bit of interest.

This was the best $17 I ever spent. I'll be watching it once a year. Notre Dame is such a special place. I highly recommended this history lesson to all Notre Dame fans.