United

A sombre drama unlikely to see service as an in-flight movie for any airline carrying fans to Quatar to see the current World Cup. Containing remarkably little footage of football itself, it instead concentrates on the office politics that culminated in Busby's Babes taking that ill-fated flight in 1958. As manager Jimmy Murphy David Tennant's eyes are ablaze with both the fire of fanatical passion for the game and wide with grief in the aftermath of the Munich air crash. An interesting use of colour is the use of the bright red of the Man United strip against the otherwise drab depiction of fifties Britain.

Simply put, I like this movie because it really, really does give one a feel for the 'old time' game... and in fact, showing actual games might have taken away from the story line. I know we get that in movies like Goal but in one of the best Soccer/Football movies ever, The Damned United, it is kept at a minimum. Besides that, a lot of people praise The Damned United but that movie in the end is based very loosely on the David Peace book, a work of fiction to begin with, the movie was a great improvement on the book.

Those who enjoy reading about soccer/football in the old days like the William Hill sports book of the year; "My father and other working class heroes" or books on Sirs Tom Finney or Stanley Matthews most likely will find this movie very entertaining. And I have to say, it is a quite moving and introspective motion picture as well, a bit more of a somber movie. Perhaps a parallel to an American sports movie might be to compare it to the great "Fear strikes out" where the sport itself is a bit secondary to the plot. I'm not a Manchester United fan at all, but with this movie, I could envision other soccer/football movies that might not always be following the "Team overcomes great odds and wins" i.e. "Rocky" formula.

Truthful and conscientious rendition of The Busby Babes' infamous Munich disaster, seen through the eyes of assistant manager Jimmy Murphy (wonderfully played by David Tennant). The film's great production values bring this TV movie on par with high-quality cinematic experiences; it is filmed with a wonderful set of lenses which capture the time in question in a wondrous, almost mythical way. Of the many possible character relations the focus is on a handful few (notably Murphy and Bobby Charlton), something which works quite well for this format. Covering more ground could have become messy and would arguably have required a different format. As it is now, however, United is an informative and artistically accomplished film, albeit with a few factual errors and shortcomings, but that seems almost inevitable when filming an incident as well-known, discussed and documented as this one.

Just finished watching it. Let me admit, I'm a huge United fan. That might have biased my approach to this 90 minute gem, but nevertheless I'll try and keep it as neutral as I can possibly be. Its touching, and really well made. Even a non-United fan will second my opinion of this movie. Been a long time any movie could get me this emotional. The acting and the music to go with all the different stages of it, pure brilliance. Won't want to ruin a perfect 90 minutes for ya, so won't get into the details. To keep it simple, for a football fan, its a must watch, even if thats the last thing you ever do. For a United fan, this will be the first of the many times you're gonna watch it. Masterpiece.

United is a docu-drama about the infamous 1958 Munich air disaster which claimed the lives of many of the Busby Babes and how the Manchester United team marched on from that dark day and rebuilt.

The focus is less on Matt Busby played by Dougray Scott in a stoic manner because he is sidelined after the crash as Busby was seriously injured and hospitalised for some time.

The focus is on David Tennant as Jimmy Murphy who has to cope with the aftermath, get a side together some from the lower leagues and get them to play. There is also the issue of some of the survivors being emotionally damaged from the incident such as Bobby Charlton who feels unable to play. Then there are the injuries to Duncan Edwards widely regarded as one of the best young players of his generation who survived the crash but later died.

As someone who knew little but the basics of this disaster I found the film informative and emotional. I would acknowledge the film had to condense the story which means some of the characters are sidelined or ignored but it is an affirming story of overcoming the odds that should get even non soccer fans involved.