Buftex Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I picked up the new "History Of the Buffalo Bills" dvd that came out this past Tuesday. Although I own most of the stuff on this disc already, in some fashion or another, I must say, the NFL Network, and Steve Sabol did an excellent job on this...if you have HD tv, it is amazing to see clean footage of the 1960's Bills... the main feature of the set (it is two DVD's) is documentary that is about 1hr 40 minutes. Some of the stuff is from previously released NFL Films highlights, but some of the interviews are more current...for instance, I have never seen a well aged Chuck Knox (still my favorite Bills coach of all time) talk about his days with the Bills...very well done. They spend lots of time on things like the Flutie/Johnson battle...all the way up to signing TO and Ralph and Bruce going into the Hall of Fame...one noticeable thing though, all of about 7 minutes of the documentary are spent on the last decade...most of that revolves around Bledsoe. One shot of Jimbo hugging JP Losman...and a few highlights of Trent, Evans, Roscoe and Marshawn... The second disc is the Bills/Oilers comeback game. However, this is not the full game DVD release, but, rather, a 90 minute NFL Films style version, which breaks down the game, initerspliced with interviews from key players on each team. This one has been run on ESPN Classic before, so it is not new. ONE COMPLAINT: the packaging for the disc, boasts "extras" on the first disc: profiles of Jack Kemp, Cookie Gilchrist, Joe D, Marv Levy, Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly. Instead, there are profiles of Marv, Joe D, Bob Kalsu and Scott Norwood. Disc Two: packaging claims it contains the Comeback Game(which it does) and the Bonus feature is the 1963 Bills Highlight film. I must say, this 1963 film was the main reason I wanted this set. It isn't anywhere on the disc. Instead, we get an NFL Network special, rerun numerous times, "The Missing Rings: The 1990 Buffalo Bills", narrated by the always smarmy Alec Baldwin.... All in all, an excellent set, just wanted to give everyone the notice though, what is inside does not match the content list on the package. The documentary alone, is worth the price, very well done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Mine arrived the other day, but haven't seen it yet. Was hoping that A Town, A Team, A Dream w/Tim Russert would be somewhere on the two discs but I guess it's not? Does anyone (Fezzer?) have this on DVD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Thanks buftex. Good review and warning. Enjoy the All-Bills weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted August 8, 2009 Author Share Posted August 8, 2009 Mine arrived the other day, but haven't seen it yet. Was hoping that A Town, A Team, A Dream w/Tim Russert would be somewhere on the two discs but I guess it's not? Does anyone (Fezzer?) have this on DVD? That is not included, but there are lots of interview pieces with Russert in the documentary (some from that special, and others which were recorded at the same time, but didn't make the cut, originally, I am guessing)...in fact, the documentary opens up with Vincent Gallos' description of being at a Bills game in the cold.. btw- pm me...I can send you a copy of "A Team A Town A Dream"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMan Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 It's a nice compilation, though it's mostly stuff we've seen before. The best parts for me was the AFL footage, which is not seen very often in NFL production presentations. Man, seeing image of the facade of War Memorial, with the stands rising up in the background gave me a fanstastic deja vu moment. As great as The Ralph is, I feel bad for those who came up post-rockpile and have never seen a Bills game in as intimate a setting as that old stadium. That old stadium is where I was "baptised". As a young kid with a short attention span, I didn't fully get it, but the seeds had been planted and came to full fruition during the glory days of OJ Simpson. Back to the 50th Anniversay DVD... It's real enjoyable and all, but there are some glaring inconsistencies and errors in the production. In the sequence featuring the Bills 1980 victory over the Dolphins after 20 straight losses, in addition to the actual gameday footage, they show film from the Orange Bowl. I guess since the Bills wore their blues in the Orange Bowl, and they needed a good defensive sack highlight, NFL films figured they could get away with it and nobody would notice. Nice try. There's a part showing Bills defensive coach Walt Corey, complete with the graphic under his headshot, showing his name, Defensive Coordinator, and years of service. Only problem is it's actually Chuck Dickerson, and not Walt Corey in the frame. There was a mention of newly drafted Jim Kelly not wanting to come to the lowly Bills on the heels of their dismal 1983 season. Of course, we all know he was actually drafted before the 1983 season began. In another part featuring old War Memorial, they inexplicably have a shot of the outside of the Chiefs stadium which didn't fit well in the narrative. It made no sense. Again, I suppose the fellas in the editing room figured, "old stadium shot, whatever, just stick it in there". I'm nitpicking, but damn, how do I get a job as a fact-checker/film editor for NFL films? Edit: Just went over Bills Daily site. Nice site, but like the NFL films guys, have a tendencey to stray from facts and spelling fairly often. Check it out. According to the site, Bills are now playing the Texans Sunday night! Good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I am excited that such a DVD exists now, but can only sigh my old complaint: why oh why is it not possible to get full game tapes of older games? I know there are plenty of practical reasons why, of course, but sometimes you just need to ask rhetorical questions... Thank goodness for BillCody1960 on YouTube, whoever and wherever he may be, for his efforts to post at least the good parts of past games.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I am excited that such a DVD exists now, but can only sigh my old complaint: why oh why is it not possible to get full game tapes of older games? Not enough money to be made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Not enough money to be made. Too true, Ken. That is of course the answer. The time it would take to copy and upload the old games alone would make it prohibitive. Too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobruhhh Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 where can i find the vincent gallo footage of him talkin about the bills? and his mom. rules. saw it on tv a couple years back, but cant find it. hope its on the dvd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No QB - No Bueno Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Too true, Ken. That is of course the answer. The time it would take to copy and upload the old games alone would make it prohibitive. Too bad. I seem to remember an IBM commercial a few years back that touted their partnership with the NFL with reference to the digitizing and storing game film (one implication was that historic film was being preserved). I have no idea if the NFL is digitally preserving their archive, but if the heavy lifting is in progress, I can't see why they wouldn't exploit fan interest and make downloads available for a fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Nice review, thanks buftex. I got mine on Tuesday but haven't had a chance to check it out. one noticeable thing though, all of about 7 minutes of the documentary are spent on the last decade...most of that revolves around Bledsoe. One shot of Jimbo hugging JP Losman...and a few highlights of Trent, Evans, Roscoe and Marshawn... This whole decade really would've best served as a special feature & not part of the documentary IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I seem to remember an IBM commercial a few years back that touted their partnership with the NFL with reference to the digitizing and storing game film (one implication was that historic film was being preserved). I have no idea if the NFL is digitally preserving their archive, but if the heavy lifting is in progress, I can't see why they wouldn't exploit fan interest and make downloads available for a fee. That has always been my hope, but there seems to be little movement on that front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 This may sound sacrilegious, but I've just about had enough with the Houston game. The Bills played so many wild games from '89-93 that have been all but forgotten. I'm glad Bills_Cody on youtube has posted some of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Not enough money to be made. I don't know about games, but when I looked into getting a copy of Town/Team/Dream, they said it would be $50 for their time and trouble since they would have to pull the master off the shelf to make one copy. And this was back when VHS was king. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I seem to remember an IBM commercial a few years back that touted their partnership with the NFL with reference to the digitizing and storing game film (one implication was that historic film was being preserved). I have no idea if the NFL is digitally preserving their archive, but if the heavy lifting is in progress, I can't see why they wouldn't exploit fan interest and make downloads available for a fee. Yes, they are digitizing all of their films. I am not sure if it is complete, but I think that a lot of it is digitized. I will hopefully be meeting with a guy this week who could answer that question. I will let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I don't know about games, but when I looked into getting a copy of Town/Team/Dream, they said it would be $50 for their time and trouble since they would have to pull the master off the shelf to make one copy. And this was back when VHS was king. The rates are much different now. I tried to get a game film from them. Since I wasn't going to re-use the film in the public domain and they couldn't get a licensing fee from me, then they were going to charge $150 for the copy. It would have been a "rental," since they were going to put an expiration date on the DVD, where I would no longer be allowed to watch it after a certain number of days. I told them to go themselves. The licensing fee would have been much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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