An intimate and revealing portrait of a largely misunderstood American icon, this emotional and engaging documentary about Yogi Berra takes us beyond the caricatures and “Yogisms,” and into the heart of a sports legend whose unparalleled accomplishments on the baseball diamond were often overshadowed by his off-the-field persona.

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[youtube https://youtu.be/tgmHjkh1298?si=mpVqn6ZX5Rnp5fkk&t=2370]

Video Quality

It Ain’t Over comes to Blu-Ray in its original aspect ratio from a stellar high definition master. The film balances new interviews with a significant amount of archival footage and photos. All of the footage looks as technically excellent as it can look in high definition, but when dealing with a player from so many decades ago things can get pretty rough and gritty. The transfer at least appears to have plenty of room to breathe with no evidence of compression artifacts, banding or other digital nuisances.

The footage of the older material looks pretty good with the high definition sheen over it, as long as you give the film some grace and understand the limitations. New talking head interview segments look perfectly clear with natural skin tones and detailed facial features. The colors featured in the film are natural and vibrant as they provide welcome visual flair on screen. Black levels are deep and allow for a nice amount of detail in shadows. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has done nice work with this one.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a flawless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track which brings this material to life well. Dialogue comes through crisp and clear without being overshadowed by any competing sounds. The filmmakers do a really great job of capturing their subjects in these controlled environments and making sure all this information comes through with grand clarity. The gentle score radiates with unimpeachable fidelity as it sleeks through the room. Environmental sounds are mostly fleshed out through the use of archival footage. You could not have asked for a better audio presentation for this one. There are optional English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles included for those who desire them.

Special Features

Opening Day with Fans: A nearly nine-minute featurette which feels almost like an extended trailer at first as it features a ton of footage from the film, but it moves into some unique moments in which the creatives discuss the drive to make this documentary, coordinating interviews with other legends in the industry and more.

Previews: There is a two-minute trailer provided for It Ain’t Over. There are also trailers provided for Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, 12 Mighty Orphans, Julia, Turn Every Page and Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song.

Final Thoughts

It Ain’t Over is a welcome look at a sports legend whose post-athletic personality has often overshadowed his incredible accomplishments on the field. The subjects of the film successfully argue why Yogi Berra should be given his proper spotlight for everything he has accomplished both before and after his time as a player. The documentary is pretty straightforward in its execution, but it does a nice job of showing newcomers why this man is so special to so many. The interview subjects sharing their memories of Berra are wonderful, but it is hearing from the man himself which makes the biggest impression. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a stellar A/V presentation but a brief couple of special features. If you have even a fleeting interest in the subject, this is worth a watch. Recommended

It Ain’t Over can be purchased on Blu-Ray directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

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

Disclaimer: Sony 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.