'Dare To Dream'
(Liev Schreiber, Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, et al / DVD / NR / (2005) 2007 / HBO Pictures)
Overview: From their meager beginning in the 1980s as "the red headed stepchild" of sports through four World Cups and three Olympic games, Dare to Dream examines how Mia Hamm broke through as a media phenomenon, why Brandi Chastain's celebratory moment stirred so much controversy, and how Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers, and Joy Fawcett overcame daunting obstacles to help the team step into history, and in the process lift the aspirations of all young women.
DVD Verdict: Last year, I began coaching my daughter's U-8 team. The girls knew nothing about the glories of the USWNT. I told them about Mia Hamm and got them to read a brief bio on her, but this HBO documentary was the best teaching tool ever.
It is a great story that uses the retirement game for Hamm, Fawcett and Foudy to lok back at the history of the WNT from the first WC in 1991 through the 2004 Olympics.
This movie can't help but increase the self esteem of any young girl just starting the sport to see how good the Americans can be at soccer. Because the Men's World Cup gets more publicity, my girls all thought that Americans just weren't very good at soccer and that it was dominated by a half dozen European and So. American countries. This video points out that historically the US WNT is the best. It really got my daughter interested in the current WNT and we even went to see a game in San Jose last month.
The release is being timed to come just after the beginning of this year's Women's World Cup in China. (The first game for the US team, who are #1 ranked again, is Sept. 11th. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs, but does not come with any Special Features.
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