| | | From the Producer of 8 Mile.
Features: HD DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Dolby Digital (5.1) Plus; Dobly Surround Sound, English, Spanish, French Subtitled
A genuine stand-up-and-cheer movie about a courageous high school football team's fight to fulfill their destiny and live their dream, Friday Night Lights is "unforgettable and real!" (Larry King, CNN). Billy Bob Thornton stars in a true American story of how one legendary Texas town made hope come alive under the exhilarating glare of Friday Night Lights! "One of the greatest sports stories ever told" (Sports Illustrated) is now "one of the greatest sports movies ever made!" (Larry King, CNN).
"There isn't a bad performance here, but besides Thornton, Luke stands out." Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
"Few films have shown so powerfully the slashing double edge of sports fever." David Ansen, NewsWeek
"Two thumbs way up!" Ebert & Roeper
"The best sports movie for years...an un-American all-American tale that deserves attention." Ian Nathan, Empire
"One of the best football movies ever, Nights in the end celebrates the game." Mike Clark, USA Today
Editor's Note
Based on the best-selling book by H.G. Bissinger, Peter Berg's gritty, powerful drama tells the true story of a small Texas town in which high school football is the only thing that matters. Set in 1988, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS opens on the first day of practice for the Odessa Permian Panthers. Under intense pressure and scrutiny from the town's residents, head coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) nonetheless maintains a calm façade. His star player, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), is a running back with unlimited potential, but the rest of the team is undersized and lacking killer instinct--especially quarterback Mike Winchell (Lucas Black), who's shy and short of confidence, and Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund), who is tormented by his father (Tim McGraw) for being too soft. When Boobie goes down on opening day with a career threatening knee injury, the season appears to be over. But Gaines won't give up, and neither will the rest of his feisty players.Billy Bob Thornton delivers another outstanding performance in Berg's impassioned drama, as do the film's young actors (most notably Luke, Black, and Hedlund). Tobias Schliessler's fuel-injected photography and Explosion in the Sky's electrifying score make FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS an even more spectacular movie-going experience.
| Features | Widescreen Presentation | | Audio: English Dolby Digital (5.1) Plus; Dolby Surround Sound | | Subtitles: English, Spanish, French |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 8/8/2006 |
| Running Time: 118 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2004 | | Catalog ID: 30020 | | UPC: 00025193002020 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Nominee (2005) | | | MTV Award, Tim McGraw, Breakthrough Male |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"[A] stringent, stirring real-life drama....Directed with smart, documentary-style briskness..." 10/15/2004 p.50-1USA Today
"One of the best football movies ever, NIGHTS in the end celebrates the game." 10/08/2004 p.1E New York Times
"FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is uplifting and troubling, partly because it is more honest than most sports movies about the high cost and short life span of high school football glory." 10/08/2004 p.E8 USA Today
"The FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS team has invested a lot of energy in the authenticity of the on-field action that dominates the film." 10/08/2004 p.E1 Rolling Stone
"Thornton gets inside the coach's skin. It's a subtle, soulful performance..." 10/28/2004 p.108 Premiere
"The movie's football scenes are both realistic and exciting, with genuine moments of suspense 03/01/2005 p.106 Sight and Sound
"Imbued with the aching sadness of an end-of-summer's evening, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS has more in common with Peter Bogdanovich's THE LAST PICTURE SHOW...than other American football films..." 06/01/2005 p.53 Uncut
"[With] hard-tackling action, this is a solid effort from actor-turned-director Peter Berg." 10/01/2005 p.150 ReelViews 8 of 10
Like nearly all sports movies, Friday Night Lights is about redemption; however, instead of wallowing in cliches, Peter Berg's film uses them sparingly. This movie is less about what happens on the field than in the hearts of the players. And, while it is ultimately an emotionally fulfilling experience, it doesn't hide the ugliness in an effort to lionize the characters...Friday Night Lights is being hailed by some critics as the best sports movie ever made. While I think that is hyperbole, Berg's picture is certainly an above average effort that provides a solid emotional punch. The difference between this film and many of those that have come before it is one of perspective. In most sports pictures, the big game at the end is the point. It's why we're in the theater and what we have been waiting for. Here, the game is just a means by which what really matters comes into focus. And that's sufficient to set apart Friday Night Lights. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
The movie is based on real life, described the best seller Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream, by H.G. Bissinger. It depicts Odessa as a town consumed by high school football; its stadium is larger than those at many colleges. Local talk radio keeps up a steady drumbeat of criticism against Gaines. "They're doing too much learning in the schools," one caller complains..."Friday Night Lights" reminded me of another movie filmed in West Texas: "The Last Picture Show," set 50 years ago. In that one, after the local team loses another game, the players catch flak everywhere they go. It's gotten worse. I'll bet if you phoned talk radio in Odessa and argued that high school football is only a game, you'd make a lot of people mad at you. The poor kids who play it are under cruel pressure. One of the team members tells a friend, midway through the season: "I just don't feel like I'm 17." - Roger Ebert
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