Features:

• Officially Licensed
• Highest Quality Recording

Editor Reviews:

Description:
INVINCIBLE is the inspiring true story of Vince Papale, an ordinary guy who, against extraordinary odds, gets a one-in-a-gazillion shot at living every sports fan’s wildest fantasy. Like the city he lives in and his beloved hometown NFL team, the down-an-out Vince (Mark Wahlberg, THE ITALIAN JOB) has seen better days. But then the Philadelphia Eagles’ new coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) calls an unprecedented open tryout, and the 30-year-old bartender who never played college ball makes the cut. Now Vince needs every bit of his gritty, never-say-die attitude and enormous heart to survive in the high-stakes world of professional football. Heartfelt and triumphant, and filled with body-slamming NFL football action, INVINCIBLE will have you on your feet cheering for the scrappy underdog who helped his team rediscover its winning spirits, and in the process rallied a city when it needed it most.

Amazon.com:
Walt Disney Pictures scored a surprise box-office hit with Invincible, and the movie deserved its good reviews as a fine example of how above-average writing, direction, and casting can turn formulaic material into something special. And make no mistake, this is a formulaic movie, with its real-life story embellished with Rocky-like enthusiasm, and lovingly crafted with the same quality of working-class humanism that made The Rookie a similarly popular Disney hit. This time, the inspirational true story is that of Vince Papale, a down-on-his-luck substitute teacher in Philadelphia (played by Mark Wahlberg in a nicely understated performance) who was 30 years old, out of work, abandoned by his wife, and biding time as a bartender when he answered an open call for tryouts on the Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team in 1976. Going with his gut instinct, new coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear) rewards Papale's diligent efforts with a place on the team, and Invincible combines gridiron guts, low-key romance (as Papale meets his future wife-to-be, played by Elizabeth Banks) and blue-collar friendship in an underdog story that moves, with casual charm and abundant appeal, toward a rousing feel-good finish. Making good use of digital visual effects to recreate Philly's now-demolished Veterans Stadium, director Erickson Core (also serving as his own cinematographer) tackles this heartwarming assignment with intelligence and flair, spinning gold from what could have been just another routine sports movie. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - Massive Disconnect
As a huge football fan--and because I very much remember, and watched, Vince Papale play--I so wanted to like INVINCIBLE. And what's not to like? A hometown, down-on-his-luck, thirtysomething ex-jock getting a shot to play in the NFL is mega-inspiring. . .or should be. But this film misses the mark, and fails to connect. Why?

Mark Wahlberg plays Papale as a silent, brooding man; when his wife leaves him, he sits in his empty apartment and broods; when the pressures of making the Philadelphia Eagles' roster mount, he sits in the stands and broods; he broods in the bar where he works; he broods on the stoops of his father's flat; he broods in his dorm room at training camp. Problem is, he's so aloof--to all the other characters, and to the audience--we never get to meet Vince Papale. Who is this guy? Why is he so emotion-less? Why won't he engage with. . .anyone? And then, during the film's closing credits, when we watch clips of the real Vince Papale playing football--an animated, engaging, enthusiastic Papale--we feel a massive disconnect between the real man and Wahlberg's portrayal. I sure wanted to get to know the guy in those clips; it definitely didn't seem like the same person who was sleepwalking through the film.

Speaking of animation, Coach Dick Vermeil was one of the most fired-up, enthusiastic coaches to ever roam an NFL sideline; yet even here the filmmakers give us a very somber, subdued portrayal (Greg Kinnear). And Elizabeth Banks, the mandatory romantic interest, is often downright obnoxious as an in-your-face New York Giant fan in Eagle-crazed Philadelphia. There was so much to like--and so much squandered--with the premise of INVINCIBLE. Huge cinematic disappointment.
--D. Mikels, Author, Walk-On