Awesome Movie!

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2011)

As one of the most talked about films in recent history, Remember the Titans is an engaging movie bringing drama, sports, romance, and historical race issues together in one movie. This film is set in 1971 in a formerly segregated suburban school that recently adopted the idea of integration due to federal law. With the new concept of integration, Coach Herman Boone, a black man, was hired as the head coach onto the football staff at T.C. Williams High School in place of the former head coach Bill Yoast, a white man. Anarchy engulfed the team, white players and white coaches fought this integration begging the change in position to be returned to the way it was. Coach Boone continues to push through and as the football team heads into their preseason training camp, the team finds out race means nothing when it comes to football.
During camp players are pushed to their limits as Coach Boone tries to bring his team together. Through a number of "up-downs" and lots of running and even a history lesson on the struggles in the past between the two races with a visit to a civil war battlefield, the team and coaches learn that the only thing keeping the team from being successful are themselves. Once this is realized and the team comes together, the team shocks the predominately white league. With win after win, the only thing one could expect is a state championship game. The parents and the community remain bitter towards the idea of their son playing with a "negro", but with because of the success of the players and their unity on and off the field they teach the coaches and even the community to remove their thousand year old hierarchy of race. With the team heading on the road to the state championship a tragedy strikes and threatens their undefeated season and possibly the very lives of members of the team.
The director does an amazing job with this film and really brings you into the setting of the actual events. Through the use of common wardrobe of the seventies including chucks, bell bottoms and a hang ten T-shirt and even the props such as the bus they ride in to the cars they drive in really sets you back into the carefree seventies. In scenes such as the state championship game, the director uses a foggy haze over the field that almost emulates the haze and unsettled dust of a Civil War battle trying to cross-reference the battle that the team is facing and the battle the two races faced during the Post Civil War Civil Rights Movement. The old buildings that the director used as the school and the town also added to the seventies feel of the movie.
If the video of the movie doesn't sell you enough to watch the movie, the nondiegetic sound will surely make you watch this movie. With the sounds of Marvin Gaye, James Taylor, Credence Clearwater Revival, The Hollies, and Norman Greenbaum, the director only adds to the movie the feeling of the seventies. Marvin Gaye's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", James Taylor's "Fire and Rain", and Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" all spent time on the Billboard Hot 100 in the number one spot and they will surely have you dancing and singing while watching this movie. Remember the Titans brought songs from the seventies to kids growing up 30 years later and this will only continue on into the future since the popularity of this movie has only continued to expand.
Director Boaz Yakin does a phenomenal job with this movie but it only gets better when consider the cast of the movie. With an award-winning cast of Denzel Washington as coach Boone, Ryan Hurst as Gerry Bertier, the captain of the Titans, Will Patton as coach Yoast, and Wood Harris as Julius Campbell, the only thing that could of come from this movie is success. Denzel Washington really goes all out in this performance giving you a real feel of the emotion that was felt between blacks and whites during such a hard time. From overcoming the suppression of whites to actually learning from them, Denzel seems to easily fall into character playing a key role in setting up the emotion behind the movie.
Not only does this movie provide great acting, directing, and story but it also provides people today with a great message. Though race issues appear to be dwindling from the extent that they were during the time of this movie, a lot can be learned about the history of race issues and how the world has changed from 40 years ago with the help of this movie. The movie also contains a great message about humility. While Boone does have to deal with the problems of being black in a formerly segregated area, he stills manages to learn about hardships beyond race through players and other white coaches through a little bit of humility.
Remember the Titans was released in March of 2001 and made 20 million dollars in its opening weekend and to this date has made over 115 million dollars overall. With an income like that, this film was put up for a number of nominations including best actor, Denzel Washington, best feature film, and best screenplay. It provides an award-winning cast with an award-winning screen write resulting in a award-winning movie. It brings the problems of race in a small high school football team to answer a bigger problem between races in the real world with a compelling heartfelt story as well. This movie is sure to please any movie watcher and as far as I am concerned it is a must watch movie for all.