Sie waren Helden

Wow...I just got back from a preview showing of "We Are Marshall," and I am still in shock I'll admit it, I originally only went to see this movie to see Matthew Fox. I mean I like football, but normally I wouldn't go to the theaters to see a movie on it. I expected it to be like a lot of sports movies--good, but repetitive and forgettable. However, I was completely wrong. The movie is excellent on so many levels. The acting is extremely good. Matthew Mcconaughey is extremely likable as the head coach, Matthew Fox is incredible as the assistant coach (especially his emotional scenes), and so is the supporting cast. The film itself is just extremely well-made as a whole, and extremely touching and moving.

Right now, I feel really bad that the movie hasn't gotten more buzz than it has. It was one of the best movies i've seen in a long time. I am surprised that it didn't get nominated for any Golden Globes because it really is probably better than a lot of the movies that got nominated. But really, it is an extremely good movie, and not just your typical, cliché, sports movie. It was such a nice surprise, and I am really glad i decided to see it.

As sick as I am of football flicks this year I must admit I rather enjoyed this film. Mainly because of the great performance of its lead. He does a great job as the weird coach that is so offbeat and positive that this town that is healing from the biggest tragedy it has ever known,just does not know have to take him. Mcg also proves he can direct something that is not flashy and slick. It will be a great film for families to see together and it does a good job pulling on the old heartstrings. Matthew Fox also does great as the assistant coach who lived through it all and has many demons to face. WE ARE MARSHELL is the best film of its kind since Remember the Titans.

This one blindsided me. With some of the worst reviews of the Christmas season I thought that this was going to be time wasted, instead I found one of the more enjoyable movies I've seen in along while. The first half hour of this film is a great capsule of the events leading to and aftermath of the plane crash that wiped out the 1970 Marshall football team. At that point the film shifts gears as Matthew McConaughey is brought in to rebuild the team and be its coach. A feel good movie thats more about rebuilding the cracked soul of a community than football (though football is front and center) this is a movie that works because of the characters, we care about them so we care about the story. Its also got a great pop score. Though far from perfect, and probably not "great", its a better than really good movie that the critics completely missed the boat on.

I hate football, but I loved this movie! I went to see it because Nate Ruffin was my Supervisor for several years and was the most supportive, understanding human being I've ever known. He often told anyone who would listen how his life took a downward spiral after the crash because he felt so guilty for surviving. But he got his life together and decided the best way he could honor his former teammates was to be an inspiration to others, and he was more than that! Anthony Mackie portrayed Nate wonderfully and caught his spirit of leadership and caring! Nate knew from experience what hardship could do to a person's life and used his story to help many of us through major upheavals in our lives.

The movie matched much of what Nate told us throughout the years, and I think he would be ecstatic that the story was finally told and told this well!

My family and I saw We Are Marshall Christmas night. I grew up in a Marshall family (Mom & Dad, M.U. grads; my oldest sister was in school at M.U. at the time of the plane crash, as well as her future husband). Dad worked in the newspaper business at the time; and my mom's father passed away the night of the crash (while we were glued to radio and T.V. reports from Huntington.)

A year later, I was fortunate enough to see the Xavier game portrayed in the film at Fairfield Stadium in person. It is still the single most heart-stirring moment in sports I've ever been around.

Attending Marshall myself just a few short years after the tragedy, we cheered for first downs by the Thundering Herd and agonized through fighting to be just competitive. Not all were mindful of the journey.

The film seems to capture the shock of the crash on the school and the community and the hopelessness both experienced in the times immediately following the crash. Due to time restrictions and to keep the story moving, the struggle to come up with representative football players was kind of oversimplified in the film, but the men who did play in those years are just as important as the heroes of the winning era at Marshall decades later. Not sure if the real Jack Lengyel was as tongue in cheek as portrayed in the movie, but it seems to work.

I think the movie will grow on people across the country not familiar with the story or who had no ties to Marshall/Huntington, in the vein of Hoosiers or Remember The Titans. My wife and sons have heard about it for years...that's why we wanted to experience the movie together.

The most incredible sports story I'll ever witness. I thought about the 75 when Marshall played in Detroit in the Motor City Bowl in 1999 and finished in the top 10 in the country. I think about them every time I visit the Marshall Student Center and see the 1970 team picture on the wall. I knew their names from the newspaper stories and the radio coverage of the era. It is quite a personal memory for me, and one I know I share with thousands, and now, many, many more.