In the early 2000’s, Disney had a series of sports themed hit movies. Remember the Titans, The Rookie and Miracle were all inspirational films about sports players overcoming the odds to beat their respective games. Each film made touchdowns, home runs, goals ( or whatever sports metaphor you want to ad) at the box office, grossing at least twice their production costs. It came as a surprise to many that after the poor performance of The Greatest Game Ever Played in 2005, the studio seemed to give up on the genre.
Ten years after Miracle, new studio president Alan Horn sought to rejuvenate the genre which seems to have died out. This year Lionsgate had Draft Day ($28 million), Sony had When the Game Stands Tall ($29 million) and Disney had Million Dollar Arm ($36 million), the most successful sports film of the year… What happened? Of the three, the only one I saw was Million Dollar Arm. I really enjoyed it, giving it 4 out of 5 baseball bats in my review (and I give Jon Hamm 5 out of 5 five-o’clock shadows).
Based on a true story, Million Dollar Arm tells the story of J. B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm), an out-of-luck sports agent who gets inspiration to find the next big baseball star by holding a contest in India under the assumption that cricket is similar to baseball. The contest is an overwhelming success, but J. B. brings in a famous talent scout (Alan Arkin) to help him make a selection. They end up picking two contestants and take them back to Los Angeles to train for a major leagues tryout. Training proves to be tougher than any of them thought. It’s a fish-out-of-water story about an out-of-touch man discovering himself through these boys with a message that anything is possible with hard work.
In a recent trend to ween consumers off DVD, Disney’s typical live action releases no longer include the disc format that Hollywood seems destined to ditch. Million Dollar Arm is offered in a Blu-Ray/HD Digital combo pack, a standalone DVD, and digitally through all major providers. The Blu-Ray/HD Digital combo pack is the source of this review.
Video
The video presentation of Million Dollar Arm looks perfect, but you wouldn’t expect anything less from a movie that was made in 2014. The film has a soft color palette, but detail is crisp. You can see every pore on Jon Hamm’s face, it’s like he’s in the room with you. The film is offered in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1.
Audio
The default audio option on the Blu-Ray is an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. I was surprised that they didn’t do a 7.1 mix, which has become the Blu-Ray standard. The mix occasionally packs a punch, thanks to an interesting soundtrack that includes hip-hop inspired Indian music. Other audio options are a stereo descriptive audio English track, French 5.1 and Spanish 5.1.
Bonus Features
Disney put very little effort into the bonus features for this film. A mere 16 minutes of content is presented and you won’t find a single piece about why the film was made or how it came about.
- Training Camp (6 mins) – Actor Suraj Sharma, who plays Rinku, learns how to play baseball from the real Dinesh Patel.
- Their Story (3 mins) – The real J. B. Bernstein talks about the real competition, The Million Dollar Arm, and the first winners Rinku and Dinesh talk about how it changed their lives.
- Million Dollar Music by A. R. Rahman (2 mins) – The composer of the songs in Million Dollar Arm talks about the fusion between American hip-hop music and traditional Indian instruments. It’s mostly a glorified ad for the soundtrack.
- Deleted Scenes (2 mins) – Three scenes (JB’s Problem, Sold, and I’d Take Ten Dollars) are presented, with an optional “Play All” feature.
- Alternate Ending (1 min) – This alternate conclusion to the film lacks heart and it’s easy to see why they chose the final ending.
- Outtakes (2 mins) – This blooper reel isn’t particularly funny and mostly consists of Jon Hamm looking at the camera… which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The only bonus feature found on the standalone DVD release is Training Camp.
Packaging & Design
Million Dollar Arm is presented in a standard Blu-Ray case. Inserts include a Disney Movie Rewards code that uses most of the space to advertise Disney Movies Anywhere and an ad for Disney Movie Club. The case is housed inside a flat slipcover (it’s not embossed).
The digital copy code can be redeemed on digitalcopyplus.com, where options include iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Target Ticket and Google Play. Redeeming your code on Disney Movie Rewards unlocks a streaming copy through your linked Disney Movies Anywhere account. I redeemed my code through iTunes, which does not include any bonus features.
The disc opens with ads for Disney Movie Rewards, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and 101 Dalmatians Diamond Edition. Selecting “Sneak Peeks” plays ads for Disney Movie Rewards, Aulani, The Fosters, Maleficent, Star Wars Rebels, and Sleeping Beauty Diamond Edition.
Final Thoughts
Million Dollar Arm is a great sports movie. If you enjoyed movies like The Rookie and Miracle, you need to see it. If you own both of those movies, this probably belongs in your collection as well. The film looks great on Blu-Ray, but very little effort was put into adding value with worthwhile bonus features.