Seabiscuit has everything you could want in a movie. It’s got drama. It’s got action. It’s got intensity. It makes you laugh, and it makes you cry. And Blu-ray is exactly how it was meant to be enjoyed. This beautifully crafted film takes viewers right onto the track in epic fashion.
Set in depression-era United States, this true story (based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand) blends the tale of several down-on-their-luck men who quickly taste fame when fate joins them together around a less-than-desirable racehorse, Seabiscuit. The odds are against them as they attempt to ultimately battle the legendary War Admiral.
Director Gary Ross beautifully tells the story by establishing the era’s context. Howard (Jeff Bridges) makes his fortune pre-depression by selling some of America’s first automobiles. With help from trainer Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) he purchases the “fixer-upper” racehorse Seabiscuit. When Seabiscuit seems to be a nobody, the odds of winning against current race champ War Admiral are unlikely at best. “At least he wasn’t expensive,” remarks Howard’s wife, Marcela (Elizabeth Banks.) Smith and Howard eventually meet Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire). Smith immediately makes the connection that both his feisty horse and this beat-up jockey would make a good match, and he’s exactly right. The two understand each other, and immediately hit it off.
After Red takes Seabiscuit on the ride of his life through gorgeous New York countryside, the trio realize they may have a formidable racehorse on their hands.
The true story continues in epic sports movie fashion: the underdogs win race after race, and eventually defeat the unstoppable War Admiral. Yet, they face staggering setbacks threatening to prevent them from winning Red’s dream race: The Santa Anita. After Red severely injures his leg, it looks like he may never even walk again, let alone race. So crushed by this, Red builds a makeshift leather cast and insists that he can race in the Santa Anita.
In stirring discourse, Howard reluctantly agrees to let him race when Red’s friend and jockey, Woolf, tells him, “it’s better to break a man’s leg than his heart.”
The final race begins with Woolf and Red side by side, and our hearts sink as Seabiscuit falls behind by one length. Then two. Then three. It looks pretty bleak, and pretty hopeless. Eventually Woolf falls back in support of his friend. Almost immediately, Seabiscuit realizes he has a foe, and his fighting spirit is restored. He gains on the pack by one length. And another. He’s tearing up lengths of track. In a staggering comeback, Seabiscuit wins by a long shot, and Red’s moving monologue at the end is quite the tearjerker.
Special Features on the disc are also very full-featured. Several of the behind-the-scenes features truly give you a glimpse behind the magic of bringing this film to life. Screenwriter/Director Gary Ross provides an in-depth analysis of how one scene in particular was written, planned and shot in the feature “Anatomy of a Movie Moment.” The features even include Jeff Bridges’ personal photos from on-set. Production value and story were top notch in the features as well as the film itself.
Other features include:
-Bring the Legend to Life: The Making of Seabiscuit
-Anatomy of a Movie Moment
-Seabiscuit: Racing Thorugh History
-Photo Finish: Jeff Bridges’ On-Set Photographs
-Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral, the 1938 Match Race
-Winners’ Circle: The Heroes Behind the Legend
-The True Story of Seabiscuit
-HBO First Look
-The Longshot: A Special Message From Buick
-Feature Commentary with Director Gary Ross and Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh