Manchester United - Beyond the Promised Land DVD

It may be stating the obvious, but if you are a fan or in any way interested in Manchester United the football team or global brand then you will love this video and any critical appraisal is largely an irrelevance. If, however, you share the antipathy of most other football fans and see them only through a red mist, it is unlikely to bring much joy. After an opening celebration of the last-minute treble-winning triumph in the Champions League and a brief tribute to the victims of the Munich air crash, the film settles into a fairly sedate account of the 1999/2000... championship season. Scenes from the United backroom are interspersed with various supporters providing a more passionate perspective on following the team for whom success has become almost a given in recent years. These include the bartenders who travel all the way from New York to attend the game in which Real Madrid ended United's hopes of successive European titles (which is not in the least bit hilarious).Among the more corporate elements of the club's set-up on display are a forum encouraging sponsors to develop traditional and new markets (China will be huge) and various meetings with Vodafone to explore their newly agreed partnership (look out for ringing tones based on your favourite terrace chants). Given the inherent excitement usually generated by what happens on the pitch, the overall tone of the film is surprisingly flat with what little action that remains being reduced to very brief goal highlights and largely divested of its significance. Such episodes as Beckham's supposed fracas with the manager, the mysterious disappearance of Mark Bosnich, and the press conference fiasco that marked the non-arrival of Ruud Van Nistelroy are touched upon, but potential controversy is subsumed into the general glorification of the club's march for glory. One memorable scene where successive players' teams fail to answer any questions correctly at a pub-style quiz and are trounced by the management, will not do anything to reverse the common perception of footballers' acumen off the pitch. Bitter and twisted? Not this reviewer: altogether now "1-0 to the Arsenal, 1-0 to the Arsenal". --Steve Napleton [show more]

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