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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Brand: Team Marketing EAN: 9780783118437 Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC ISBN: 0783118430 Label: Hbo Home Video Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Hbo Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: September 11, 2001 Running Time: 129 minutes Studio: Hbo Home Video Theatrical Release Date: April 28, 2001 Sales Rank: 4231 MPN: TM2502
Product Description: Summer, 1961: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle are on pace to break the most hallowed record in U.S. sports, Babe Ruth's single-season 60 home runs. It's a big story, and the intense, plain-spoken Maris is the bad guy: sports writers bait him and minimize hi
Amazon.com: 61* is an endearing ode to the baseball days of yore when the press was the enemy, salaries were in check, and breaking records with bat and glove took on Ruthian proportions. In 1961 baseball expanded its season from 154 games to 162, allowing weaker pitching into the major leagues and two New York Yankees teammates--the colorless Roger Maris and golden boy Mickey Mantle--to make an assault on the sport's ultimate record: Babe Ruth's 60 home runs. To add to the stew, baseball commissioner Ford Frick announced any record set in the last eight games of the season wouldn't count toward the official record; records had to be achieved in 154 games.
Director Billy Crystal guarantees success for his movie in the perfect casting of the leads. Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan's religious sniper) is deft as Maris, and Thomas Jane is a perfect Mantle, a superman in a Yankee uniform. Despite the differences between family man Maris and hard-living Mantle, they form a rewarding friendship amid the media and fan frenzy. The shy Maris took the brunt of the storm, even facing boo-birds in his home stadium. Crystal and first-time writer Hank Steinberg keep the pace moving quickly between the field, the locker room, the press box, and the home front. The film never tries to dazzle with more than the facts (and it softens Mantle up a bit), yet it belongs on the short list of grand baseball movies. --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - 61-The best insiders view of the life and times of two of the NY Yankees Best
When I first saw this autobiography of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris stars, it was like being there with them.
Growing up in Brooklyn, NY, and Joe Pepitone (another Yankee local scouted and signed ... Read More
Rating: - Maris!!!!
The greatest Baseball film ever made. Maris should be in the Hall of Fame!!!!
Rating: - Baseball as I remember it
I don't usually write reviews about movies, but I was overwhelmed by this movie. As a kid, I loved baseball, but now I couldn't tell you 10 players in the major leagues. The game is no longer the game ... Read More
Rating: - Great movie, but if you are buying for kids, BE WARNED!!
I am always looking for sports-themed movies for my young son, and he is especially interested in non-fiction movies. ("Miracle" and "Rudy" are two great examples.)
I read the reviews, and thought ... Read More
Rating: - Don't really enjoy baseball
Got this for my husband, a baseball fan, but think I enjoyed it more then he did.Very interesting story.
- 61-The best insiders view of the life and times of two of the NY Yankees Best
- Great movie, but if you are buying for kids, BE WARNED!!