Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The People vs Larry Flynt), stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined. Harrelson stars alongside Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie, Nice Dreams), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, Miss Congeniality), and Kaitlin Olson (Hacks, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia).

For thoughts on Champions, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/Yu2JUdAc27w?t=1241]

Video Quality

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment brings Champions to Blu-Ray with a top notch 1080p video presentation. The transfer provides a notable amount of depth on display, especially in the interior shots of the gym. When this film goes into more dimly lit areas or explores outside of the city, the details present as impressively sharp in all lighting conditions. The image is clean with the natural color palette shining off the screen. The film employs splashes of colors within the clothing and production design, which can make the aesthetic a little more striking. The black levels are deep and detailed, but digital noise does prove to be a very slight issue at certain moments in the film. The flesh tones are natural with gentle nuances showcased well in close-ups and medium shots. Universal provided a really good transfer for this one.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that offers a perfectly balanced listening experience. Dialogue comes through clearly without ever succumbing to overlapping voices or other overbearing noises. Everything is mixed favorably with directional accuracy across all channels. The sounds of the practices in the gym provide a good amount of activity in the rear channels, and music stirs up some decent activity in the low end. The soundtrack complements the mood of the narrative, and this track does a great job of permeating the room with the cues. This track handles everything that is thrown at it without issue. There are English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director Bobby Farrelly provides a low-key commentary track in which he generally comments on what is happening on screen with some motivations given for most scenes, memories of working the performers, the challenges of the production and more.

Deleted Scenes: There are 12 scenes of unused material totaling 18 minutes provided here which gives a bit more background on Sonny, interactions between Marcus and Coach Perretti, more moments with the Friends and more. There is some good material in here, but the movie was already too long so it makes sense why these moments were cut.

Keeping It Friendly: A five-minute featurette with Director Bobby Farrelly, Woody Harrelson, and the rest of the cast in which they discuss what drew them to the project, finding the right performers to play the Friends, the process of working with one another on set and more.

Woody and the Team: A nearly three-minute look at the work of Harrelson in the lead role, the qualities he brings to the character, his collaborations with Kaitlin Olson and the Friends, and much more.

Casting The Friends: A five-minute look at some of the audition tapes, reaction videos to learning they landed their roles, behind-the-scenes clips and more.

Final Thoughts

Champions is the type of film that gives you pause when you first hear about it because you never know if you can trust Hollywood to deliver something that is respectful. While there are some moments that do not quite hit the mark, the film holds up much better than you might anticipate. There is an obvious love for these characters and the community of individuals with intellectual disabilities. The film can be very funny and heartwarming, and it does an admirable job of trying to give every character some semblance of character development. The film does not quite justify its substantial runtime, and it could benefit from a tighter edit, but by and large this film strikes the right balance to make the story succeed. Universal Picture Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray that sports fantastic A/V presentation and some good special features. Recommended

Champions is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.