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The Movie:
It's been a while since there's been a major sports drama. More often than not, sports movies today are comedies about goofy players who come together and by some sort of luck, are able to win the championship, world series, etc. "North Dallas 40" is a rather "old-school" look at professional football, where Nolte plays a star wide reciever for a pro team who witnesses the actions of the players around him while at the same time trying to make sense of his own life.
In a way, "ND40" reminds me of an earlier version of Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday"; a portrait of players who are afraid to lose and push themselves beyond what they're physically capable of, ending up damaging themselves and often those around them. Nolte's dramatic performance is not one of his very best, but I think he does the best he can with the material. Supporting performances are limited by the material as well, as many of the other players come across as rather one-dimensional.
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "North Dallas Forty" in the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and it is anamorphic. Unfortunately, it's also about 21 years old now and at times, it begins to show. Sharpness and detail are passable; a slight softness creeps into quite a few scenes throughout the movie.
The main problem that takes away from the look of the movie besides the soft look is some noticable print flaws - although they are not consistently visible throughout the entire movie, quite a few appear at times. I didn't notice anything in the way of pixelation, but there was a few light instances of edge enhancement.
Colors seem rather drab for the most part, with a somewhat uninteresting and dated color palette. Simply, I think Paramount probably did what they could with what they had and the fact that this isn't particularly the best looking movie to begin with.
SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and restored mono. The 5.1 presentation is decent, but contains some problems that I noticed throughout the movie. Mainly, dialogue sounds rather poor at times, with a sharp, slightly harsh character that became tiring to listen to. The only thing that the surrounds are called upon to do is slightly offer the score. Although the mono soundtrack does fold everything up, it seemed slightly less harsh and easier to listen to, although not by a great deal.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: Nothing.
Final Thoughts:
Positive: It's an enjoyable movie; flawed, but with a good performance from Nick Nolte.
Negative: Picture and sound quality are very average, and there's no supplements to speak of. Fans of the movie may be happy to be able to own the film, but that's about it. Fans of sports movies who haven't seen it may want to check it out as a rental, but likely won't be pleased with the presentation.
Film Grade
The Film B-
DVD Grades
Video 79/C+ = (316/400 possible points)
Audio: 79/C+ = (316/400 possible points)
Extras: -/F = (0/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 79/C+ = (237/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1009/1600
DVD GRADE:D/63%
FILM GRADE: B-
DVD GRADE: D
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