Hanging entirely on Denzel Washington's inherent integrity, Remember the Titans is about as generic as a message movie can be, a blatantly manipulative feel-good flick that is a virtual encyclopedia of racial strife clichés, sports clichés and unforgivably shopworn warm-fuzzy moments such as the ubiquitous Motown-sing-a-long scene in which characters line dance and croon into hairbrushes or other substitute microphones. But mostly thanks to Washington, this "true story" of the man who coached the first integrated high school football team in Virginia, circa 1971, is entertaining, stirring and gratifying. Yes, it plays like it was written by a computer and directed by someone consulting an instruction manual before every take; yet, in spite of its cookie-cutter formulation and direction, it's a complete success as a stand-up-and-cheer crowd-pleaser. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review—Mar. 21, 2006—Walt Disney, 120 min., not rated, $19.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 2000's Remember the Titans (Director's Cut) sports a nice transfer with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. DVD extras on this release include seven additional minutes, the 21-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “An Inspirational Journey,” a seven-minute “Denzel Becomes Boone” featurette, the seven-minute production featurette “Beating the Odds,” four deleted scenes (6 min), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.]
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