Disney’s latest sports drama, McFarland, USA, looks like just another in a long line of sports films that have been going since the early 2000’s. But it is so much more than that. It’s a story of how people can change each other’s lives in mutual ways and how predisposed stigmas are often wrong. While treading familiar territory, it manages to break new ground and stay entertaining. In other words, it’s way better than it looks.
Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) is down on his luck and moves his white family to a small impoverished town full of Mexican field pickers. It’s a land of little opportunities and the family has a hard time fitting in at first, but when coach White discovers the potential for a track team, he and his students will change each other’s lives for the better.
McFarland, USA is one of the best sports movies in a long time. It arrives on home video in a Blu-Ray/Digital HD combo pack or as a standalone DVD release. The Blu-Ray is the subject of this review.
Video
McFarland, USA looks great on Blu-Ray. Its muted color palette is expertly recreated on disc and black levels look fine. I didn’t detect any flaws.
Audio
The main audio track is English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Other audio options include English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1, Portuguese 5.1 and one other language written in a script I’m not familiar with.
Bonus Features
- McFarland Reflections (8:29) – This featurette features the real-life athletes depicted on screen and Kevin Costner talking about the story and why it’s important.
- “Juntos” Music Video (3:25) – Juanes’ music video for the end credit song “Juntos” features the singer driving through the town of McFarland as well as some of the stars from the film.
- Inspiring McFarland (2:02) – Director Niki Caro, Kevin Costner, and Jim White talk about the inspiring story in the iflm.
- Deleted & Extended Scenes (8:10) – Six scenes are offered individually or with a “Play All” option. The scenes are “Jim and Jenks Go Toe-to-Toe,” “’Un-Quit’ Extended Scene,” “Coach Motivates Danny and Victor,” “Jose is On His Own,” “Dale Takes in Jose,” and “Thomas Watches His Father Leave.”
Packaging & Design
McFarland, USA is housed in a standard Blu-Ray case with one disc slot. It includes two inserts, one with your Disney Movies Anywhere/Disney Movie Rewards code and the other an ad for Disney Movie Club. The case is housed in a basic slipcover (no embossing).
The digital copy can be redeemed from four different providers: iTunes, Vudu, Google Play or Amazon Instant Video. If you redeem it through Disney Movies Anywhere and have any other services linked, you can unlock it in all three participating providers (iTunes, Vudu and Google Play).
The disc opens with ads for Disney Movies Anywhere, Inside Out and Aladdin Diamond Edition. Selecting “Sneak Peeks” ads Disney Movie Rewards, Fusion network, ESPN Wide World of Sports and Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Lost Missions.
Final Thoughts
McFarland, USA is one of the best sports films Disney has ever made and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys films like Remember the Titans and The Rookie. Disney’s Blu-Ray release features great video and audio and a small sample of bonus features.