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We Are Marshall | 
| Director: Mcg
Actors: Matthew Mcconaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie, David Strathairn, Ian Mcshane
Studio: Warner Bros.
This item is no longer available
Rating:  112 reviews
Sales Rank: 3774
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 132 Minutes
ASIN: B000W43FM4
Theatrical Release Date: December 22, 2006
Release Date: October 1, 2008
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| Synopsis:
Football is a game that knocks you down, then expects you to get back up. Life hit the West Virginia town of Huntington and its Marshall University even harder. When it did, Jack Lengyel came by to help pull them onto their feet by taking the job no one wanted: rebuilding the Marshall football program only months after a plane crash wiped out Marshall?s beloved Thundering Herd. Matthew McConaughey portrays Lengyel, the energetic, compassionate coach of inexperienced players whose chances of victory are slim and none. They?ll go with the slim. And as they do, their true-life story of heart, healing, and football will thrill and inspire you. It?s game day. Time to play till the whistle blows! |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 107 more reviews...
 True Story of America's Greatest Sports Tragedy January 2, 2007
Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA)
54 out of 59 found this review helpful
On November 14, 1970, an airplane carrying the Marshall University football team, coaches, and many prominent supporters crashed with all aboard killed. This movie portrays what happened to those left behind and how they rose from the ashes of this disaster and resurrected the football team.
Since everyone knows what is in store, the first part of the movie is especially poignant as you meet the players and know their lives are destined to end far too early. What a typical moviegoer might not be familiar with is the character of Jack Lengyel, a man who was the only one willing to come forward and try to salvage the football program. Matthew McMcConaughey gives a stirring performance as Coach Lengyel as does Matthew Fox as Red Dawson, the assistant coach who gives up his seat at the last minute to another person. The guilt of being a survivor eats at him and nearly destroys his life.
Emotional, uplifting, and enjoyable....this movie manages to honor those who died and those who picked up the pieces and restored pride to Marshall.
 Highest Recommendation December 28, 2006
Monty Rainey (New Braunfels, TX)
35 out of 51 found this review helpful
When the Marshall plane crashed killing 75 people, including 39 members of the Marshall football team, on November 14, 1970, I had been in country for a month and a few days, so even though I heard of the tragedy, I was a bit pre-occupied at the time to give it much thought. Now, 36 years later, I've been able to catch up on this piece of history.
WE ARE MARSHALL is a poignant story of the tragedy and how it affected so many lives. The most glaring thing that this movie accomplishes is to portray how the event was not limited to the families of those who perished, but stirred a whole campus, a whole community, and even a whole country, and how that same tragedy even touches the lives of people today through the Marshall University legacy.
The movie itself is very well cast and historically accurate. I believe the profound, underlying message here, as displayed over and over in life, is that humanity is at it's best when situations are at their worst. That same holds true whether facing battle situations, terrorists attacks, or the loss of a college football team. Unlike so many events that Hollywood feels the need to add its own brand of romance, drama or heroics, the producers were able to present the story accurately without the need for embellishment.
This is not an easy movie to watch and will send the viewer on an emotional roller-coaster, but is definitely worth the ride. The acting is good, the soundtrack is good, the script is good, even the wardrobe is good, although McConaughey and Fox should have shaved. In 1970, men either had beards or they were clean shaven. The three-day stubble look didn't come along until a decade later. But if that's the only thing I can find wrong with this film, then I have to give it my highest recommendation.
Stunning, simplistic, rewarding! September 16, 2007
L. Quido (Tampa, FL United States)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
I remember clearly, as a high school junior, the shock and loss that the crash of the aircraft carrying the Marshall University football team invested on a nation. The town, the college, and those left behind must have suffered so. It has taken 25 years to portray that loss on film, and the December film, "We Are Marshall", while not living up to its promise as one of the years "awardable" movies, was nevertheless a moving film experience.
The film deals briefly with the events leading up to the crash, and then in depth with the different ways that those affiliated with the school grieve and start over again. Star athlete Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie) is stunned at the fact that he wasn't on the plane, due to injury, and that his legacy is to pick up where the team left off and start over again. His faith in that new start never waivers. Unlike Ruffin, the school's administration and its president Donald Dedmon (the always excellent David Strathairn)
are more realistic. They can't recruit, can't play freshman, can't rebuild right away. The school is small and although "The Thundering Herd" were important to students, alumni and faculty alike, the task is insurmountable. They will suspend the program for a few years to give everyone a chance to recover.
The student body has a different plan, and their outrage presents Dedmon with the need to try. He can't find a coach and has to settle for a virtual unknown from the College of Wooster. Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey, complete with greasy hair in an unlikely length and clothes of plaid polyester) accepts the challenge He's just savvy and stubborn enough to make it work, to reformat and refashion a team of sorts, and even to talk former recruiting scout, Red Dawson (Matthew Fox) into returning as an assistant coach.
The remainder of the film deals with both the practical matter of building the team, the difficulty in winning, and the way those in the town and at the school deal with the grief of what might have been.
Director McG, not a favorite of mine (he brought us BOTH Charlie's Angel's films) surprises with his light touch with the story and his ability to let the film find its own legs. It is a poignant tale. It bogs down between the decision to move forward with the team and the actual first game. The game sequences have an authentic feel, and the score moves well with the film. The film feels like authentic West Virginia and authentic 70's. It never attempts to be something it isn't; it's a sports film that treats the sport within the greater landscape of what was happening in the times and how emotions sometimes get in the way of moving on with your life. It deeply affected the crowd in the theater on the day I saw it.
McConaughey is goofy, offbeat and believable as Lengyel. Aside from his performance, everyone else in the film works well together as an ensemble, with few false notes but not much to remember about their contributions. There's no cliche here, just a simple story that will make you both sad and hopeful. Forget what the critics say, "We Are Marshall" will touch you.
We Are...Marshall! December 25, 2006
Tony Milam (Cleveland, OH)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
Marshall football made the biggest comeback in sports history...from ashes to glory. The storyline is predictable because its a true story...and its respectful to share both the hardship and the tremendous heart of those who were able to carry on and take the field the next season. Players, coaches & a whole town had to come together to save this program and honor those who perished. It was a quest that proved successful in the long run, as Marshall football went on to be the most winning NCAA Division I football program of the 1990's. Imagine a story about a athlete program, a town, a university...that had to rebound from the nation's worst sports tragedy. It's a great story and a powerful movie. It's one of the most inspiring movies you will ever see. Enjoy! We are...
Yes, We are Marshall!! June 2, 2007
L. Forshee (WV)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I have lived in Huntington, WV almost my entire life and attended Marshall University. I was a small child when the plane crashed in 1970. I remember, first hand, what our town and community went through after the tragic loss of so many lives. When I first heard that the movie was going to be made, I was both thrilled and trepidatious. Could a big time Hollywood movie capture the real event with integrity, honesty and respect? The answer is a resounding Yes!
McG, McConaughey, Fox and the rest of the cast and crew treated our story with all of that and more. The movie is historically accurate, (thanks to a great script by Jamie Linden) the acting is excellent, the soundtrack is fabulous, and McG - thank you for filming a good portion of this movie in Huntington!
This movie was not only "necessary" but a story that applies to so many other "rise from the ashes" events in our world today. I know it would seem easy for me to love this movie because I lived it, but my adoration for this film actually comes from the efforts and dedication that the film makers put into this project. They took a true story and made it into a movie that can touch the heart of anyone who sees it.
For those critics who spend too much time focusing on the "pacing," and "spirituality" or other minutia, you're missing the point. This isn't a film for pretentious, overly analytical critics or Sunday School debate. Enjoy this film for what it is. It was intended to share an uplifting and heart-warming true story and to evoke understanding, empathy, courage and determination. If you have any humanity in you, you will like this movie! GO HERD! WE ARE MARSHALL!!
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