User reviews

I am a person in a wheelchair as well in a small country of the world. It was quite difficult to find a cinema, where I could finally watch it with my mom. It was a great experience. I found it very useful. I really do think that all person in a wheelchair should see this film once. It helps to process the fact of an accident and live together with it in a normal way.

It also shows great examples of strong, life-affirmation, courage, wisdom and at the same time presents the reality of a handicapped life. I liked the way guys were talking about sex and it was good to see that they found partners even though their state. I also appreciated that the film showed a boy with a fresh motor-accident (Keith Cavill), who had just left the rehabilitation and could not find his place and happiness in his new home. Therefore we could see more stages of "accepting an accident".

Still, what I have also experienced, that it is easier for men (boy) to be wheel-chaired than for women (girls). As we could see from the film, most of the boys have chosen healthy girls for their partners, and they referred to the fact that girls like to take care of them. It works different in the case of girls.

And what is very important: sport is something which heals even very sad lives. It gives aim, happiness and meaning for either a healthy person or for somebody with a missing body part.

I would like to recommend this film to everyone who is interested in a different way of life.

Having seen one of the most brilliant documentaries several years ago called Hoop Dreams, I though there could be nothing that could even come close to its raw passion and emotional power. After witnessing Murderball, I realized I was wrong.

This documentary that follows a select group of quadriplegic athletes provides just the perfect amount of tension and joy, as witnessing the former trials of Arthur Agee, and William Gates and family in Chicago.

Some background is given on the sport as to how it's played (no less ironically on a basketball court), but Murderball's greatest asset is the depth in which it probes the players backgrounds and challenges, and our understanding of what it means to be in a chair (more than likely) the rest of your life.

Like Hoop Dreams, it isn't the games or the run up to the championship that becomes the most exciting part (as great as that may be), but is found in the little moments when a father makes an effort to be at his sons recital, an old friend comes to watch his buddy at the paralympics in Greece, a recent quadriplegic first gets into a "mad chair" for the first time, or a group of players confront a former coach and mention his "treasonous" grounds. It is the access the filmmakers have gotten to not just film games, but to be at the right place at the right time in these players lives. That is what separates a brilliant documentary from just a good one, also the filmmakers and distributors have believed in this film, and it contains some very slick production work to boot.

In the end, the audience for the most part who will be watching this as able bodied people, will come out with a sense of glowing pride for these athletes who play this crazy (perhaps) insane sport. This movie more than anything is about EMPOWERMENT, and the drive that succeeds in us all. When you watch these people in action you suddenly even begin to question how much you shouldn't complain about the everyday nuisances compared to what these players deal with on a regular basis.

It breaks down the barriers we people have towards individuals in wheelchairs to realize, that you know these people aren't always reflecting on what happened in their life as a lost chance, that they are okay, and more importantly you know what.. some of them may dam well be real jerks, but you know what.. that's okay too. But by golly, don't you dare even feel for sorry for them, just be glad that if you have a Zupan, Bob Lujano, or an Andy Cohn in your corner you may just have one of the coolest friends on the planet, and be a lucky person indeed. Cause for the most part they probably stand taller than you in every way.

Rating 9 out of 10

Great movie, and all involved deserve all the awards that I know are coming your way!

As an ex-murderball player of 18 years, I got to see, first hand, how this sport developed and grew internationally, along with those who play, in this huge adrenaline rush of a sport!

This movie provided me with flashbacks to how much I enjoyed playing "murderball" when I first started playing back in 1980 back when we used 55-pound hospital-style wheelchairs and steel-toed work boots to protect our feet!

This sport not only has an awesome set of athletes, but the friends and camaraderie that all develop by playing this true contact sport makes it all worthwhile. It also makes them realize that they all have the potential to go beyond their everyday abilities.

Greets to all you court rats out there and don't let anyone push you, push your freakin' chair and hit 'em if they get in your way... :)

Brian

I saw this documentary at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Michigan. It's a terrific film about quadriplegic athletes and their experience in quad rugby, aka Murderball. Directed by Henry- Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro, it was a lot of fun.

Yes, the games are intense, a lot of fun, and shows their courage, but the film isn't just about the tournament, it follows some of the individuals and their stories. Mark Zupan tells the tale of how he became paralyzed and it results in some touching moments throughout the film involving him and his friend. The film also follows Joe Soares, one of the best of the sport, he was cut from the USA team so he heads to Canada to be head coach. It's amazing to see his dedication to both the game and his family.

My personal favorite moment in the film involves one recent quadriplegic who struggles to adapt to his new style of life. It's difficult to watch some of these scenes, but with the dramatic scenes are some very uplifting moments.

This is a great film, I loved they way it was told. I cared for the people, I was really into the games, and they are great to watch. Check this movie out if you can, it's very inspiring.

This was a terrific documentary about the sport of Quad Rugby - Murderball, as it is unofficially known - that is, quadriplegic athletes in tank-like wheelchairs, kicking ass and taking names. The film doesn't show them as saints, just as real people with real stories and almost all fed up with society patronizing them. Ultimately the film packs a real emotional punch and will likely get you wanting to know more about many of the people you meet here and what happens to them after the credits roll. It may even inspire you to watch this sport live if you get a chance to do so or at least follow it. I hope this film gets the release it deserves as I think it has serious breakout potential. Based on its' award at the Sundance Festival in 2005, positive word of mouth could be considerable. 9/10

This recent documentary about quadrapalegics playing a violent form of rugby never found its expected audience. It was expected to be a breakout hit of last summer and was even released under the MTV Films label. It was eclipsed by last summer's surprise hit doc "March of the Penguins." Is it any good? The scenes in which we follow the players in their day to day lives are great. One portion of the film follows a recently paralyzed motorcross racer and his excitement in discovering the sport. These moments are touching, inspiring, and the doc's best moments.

The sport, though, is either filmed poorly by the directors or its just not that exciting. These moments are reminiscent of Oliver Stone's football scenes in "Any Given Sunday"--I can see a lot of bodies of banging together, but don't ask me what the heck is going on. It appears that who ever has possession of the ball is likely to score meaning that winning the game comes down to having the ball in the closing seconds.

As a sports doc, it falls short. It greatly succeeds, though, in exploring the lives of the athletes.

Recommended.

Read more at http://solipsisticblog.blogspot.com/.

I just got back from the screening at the SXSW festival and I want to enthusiastically add my praise. If you have a chance to see this doc, do it. The creators have done a remarkable job in storytelling and capturing the personality and spirit of the athletes. It is very human, genuinely funny, and emotional ride. The well integrated animations and appropriate soundtrack give a nice polish to this outstanding documentary.

The documentary also has the real potential to do good, because it will help transform viewers perceptions of people in wheelchairs. Just see it.

I wasn't expecting much with Murderball but it actually turned out to be a fairly interesting and even humorous documentary. It's about quadriplegics and their sport of quad-rugby, or Murderball. These guys (in wheelchairs that wouldn't look out of place in The Road Warrior) violently slam into each other as they try to get a ball across the goal line. The focus of the movie is on the United States and Canadian teams as they go for the gold at the 2004 Paralympics in Greece. As well as exploring some of the details of the quadriplegic life and telling the personal stories of several individuals, the movie is a testament to the saying "life goes on."

Murderball is a sport otherwise known as Wheelchair / Quad Rugby. Played by quadriplegics, it is a 4 on 4 rugby game on wheels, which requires plenty of strength, speed, and that armoured wheelchair which almost doubles as a kind of bumper car as the sportsmen battle it out for supremacy on a regular basketball court.

This documentary showcases the game from both the points of view of Team USA and Team Canada, highlighting the intense rivalry between them, with Team Canada inheriting a disgruntled ex-Team USA star player Joe Soares, who's now their head coach. Naturally when you have someone who knows your team strategy and know it inside out, is a cause for concern, as Team USA seeks to continue its winning streak, with new star player Mark Zupan in its fold.

But it's not just about the game, or just the preparation for the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004. In its compact 85 minutes, we get introduced to the key players like Zupan, and go behind the scenes to see what makes them tick, as well as their backstories on how they have become confined to a wheelchair. Not everyone is born without limbs, and for most, it's usually an accident, or a disease. Family ties are given equally adequate screen time, as support for these folks, as do any other sporting professional, is as important, especially after facing a huge loss while representing the country.

It's a bit hilarious as they account for the stares and innocent requests of help extended to by strangers, and you've got to salute these guys' strength, independence and confidence that comes with the sport. Besides the game, they do go around the country to inspire others who have recently suffered the same predicament of being in a wheelchair, to advise that it's not a lost cause.

And while they reminisce about how they had to adjust to their condition, I suppose the common question they all had was, does their woody still work. And surprisingly, it's this curiosity amongst chicks that actually assist them in snagging them, ha! But light hearted moments aside, it's almost always never easy in picking life back up again, as everyone harbours the dream that one day, they will walk again.

For those who have followed the team's exploits in the previous Athens Olympic Games, will already know the outcome of the game. Done in MTV styled quick cuts with adrenaline pumping music, the games shown in the documentary don't bore. But as the cliché goes, it's never about the destination, but about the journey. Best wishes to all the athletes competing in Beijing 2008!

"Murderball" was the best documentary I viewed at the recent 2005 Sundance Film Festival. It won the audience award, which is what really counts as opposed to the bogus grand jury prize award (which went to "Why We Fight" - a leftist film).

"Murderball" does an amazing job of juxtaposing scenes of the quadriplegic rugby players documenting their familial environments and dealing with their personal demons, with the fast-paced, adrenaline-packed scenes of rugby. You'd have to be a robot to not be touched by the heartfelt and poignant stories - such as that of the intense Jeff Zupan (who was rendered a quad because at the age of 16 he passed out in his buddys flatbed drunk, and then his buddy went out dwi and crashed, flinging Zupan's body 60 ft. into a nearby stream, where he hung onto a tree branch for 13 hours before help arrived on the scene). The scenes of the abrasive Joe Soares are also great - documenting his family dynamic and his relationship with his bright, effeminate son.

Also included are a series of animation sequences that amazingly capture the character's dreams of flight (with all their limbs).

However, my personal favorite scenes are the rugby sequences, in particular the heated rivalry documented between Team USA and Team Canada. Joe Soares, a former quad-rugby legend for USA, was shunned at a tryout in '96, didn't make the team, and in a brazen act of defiance went to coach Team Canada against the Americans at the quad-Olympics, knowing all their plays. This compelling scenario sets the stage for one of the best documentaries you'll ever see - a triumph of the heart, and human spirit - truly inspirational.

****/****

My vote is AWFUL not so much or the film - which is quite good, but the appalling way the distributor has flushed this film down the toilet. Let's take stock - the film receives 100% rave reviews, plays every major film festival - and then tanks on opening weekend - a misread? I doubt it. ThinkFILM has simply does not have the "Harvey" touch - everything they touch turns to crap - this film was a shoe in - but the marketing and spin was DEAD wrong - you never make the wheelchair the hero in the campaign - WRONG - no one will come see a film about a wheelchair - case in point - BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, COMING HOME - Jesus - how stupid are these think film people - they didn't even show Ironside in a chair in the promo spots. I feel sorry for the director of this solid film - he trusted a company that buried their last ten films - The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Tell Them Who You Are, Being Julia, Going UpRiver, Last Mogul, Kontroll, Festival express, Gospel of John and many others - Sad. Where is Harvey when you need him to save good films from amateurs. This was DOA with ThinkFilm

Yes-absolutely-"Zupan is an asshole, he was before his accident and he is now". This memorable comment early on in this lovable, laugh-a-minute-just kidding-film was made by an old acquaintance of Zupan from high school and it definitely sets the tone of the film. A person can not enjoy Murderball-you can admire it, be interested by it, even respect it but you can not enjoy it-except if you play it.

Rubin's direction was sublime-there was not a minute that I was not glued to all that was on the screen and because he also was the cinematographer, the action on the screen was continuous. The actual action of the game was mesmerizing but the action of the character's minds demanded even closer attention by the viewer.

The nuances of handicapped life were unwrapped before an audience that I would suspect had little encounter with any of the subjects examined by Rubin: attraction, disability cause, sex, public reactions, mundane personal chores and most of all-sporting competition.

Because the film was extraordinarily personal, within minutes of watching I took an instant dislike of Zupan and for the remainder of the film nursed an overwhelming desire to hit him head on at full speed on the competition floor.

An excellent door into a little examined facet of life-make an effort to see it.

Most of this crowd has heard by now about "Murderball," the Audience winner at this year's Sundance and the front runner for the documentary Academy Award.

You all know that brilliant and gorgeous co-directors Dana Adam Shapiro and Henry Alex Rubin used Ministry and Ween music to accent their fierce story of betrayal, rivalry, nationalism, and above all, sports.

You probably get that this is an amazingly funny and riveting movie about all the things you never had the balls to ask a handicapped person such as "how's the sex life?" and "do you wish you'd died instead?" What you don't know is that when you walk out of the theater, you're going to want your own tricked out Mad Max quad rugby wheelchair for a mere $3,000. And that if you had one, even you my friend could get laid.

That's right. Instead of making you feel like crappy about your fully capable body, you're going to want to be hanging out with these cool tough guys, cheering them on at their next extreme game (http://www.quadrugby.com), and scoring their women. You might even wish you could play quadriplegic rugby, though I'm not personally that brave.

This film is so tricky that it makes you wish you were the Other. Those people whose eyes you never meet on the street, as if bad luck were viral.

Human beings are a superstitious lot, even the atheists. One trait we've all held in common is the desire to look away from other's misfortune: There but by the grace of God go I.

The habit is so ingrained that even those of us who know better fall prey to it. Case in point: My mother is currently in a wheelchair. We say currently, because she is still actively seeking treatment to walk again, and we have high hopes. The wheelchair has become second nature to me. I even sit in it when there is no room by her hospital bed. But one of the main reasons I am comfortable with it is because I know she doesn't believe she's in it permanently.

I left my mother's hospital room to go down the block to the LA premier of "Murderball." I walked past the red-carpet photographers into the lobby and was confronted by the sight of four cute guys in wheelchairs with gussied up models sitting on their laps posing for "Variety." What did I do? I LOOKED AWAY.

"Murderball" at its most subversive core is about the amazing ability we have to dehumanize those whose only real difference from us is a permanent chair makes them shorter. Not everyone in chairs is retarded, and most weren't born needing one. They hit a spell of bad luck, just like any of us could…just like most of us will love someone who does…and that thought terrifies us into stupidity.

As the movie hilariously documents, the only ones in a room with a wheelchair present acting retarded are the supposedly "normal" people. But that's not the focus of the film…it's just the aftermath. You may not even notice that the candy is nutritional.

"Murderball" is co-sponsored by MTV Films, and they have high hopes that their target audience will want to see these tough athletes fight. And hey, if you're not interested in the sport quad rugby, you're probably going to be pretty interested in the explicit sex training video and the swearing and sh*t-talking.

For those who doubted Team USA is swarmed by women, let me tell you: I personally witnessed a single one score a dozen digits at the LA premier after party at the swanky W in Westwood. These blokes can really pound back the free booze...these are the type of bad asses you want to hang out and drink with if you're a guy, and date if you're a girl. If you're gay, I think you're just out of luck.

Remember, all of the stars were jocks before their accidents, and afterward they were more focused on physical rehab so they could grab their meat instead of their toothbrush. I talked to some of these infatuated women, and they weren't stupid…and they weren't feeling sorry for these studs. If you want to understand more, go see the film.

I could give away the plot, but suffice it to say it's "Friday Night Lights" meets "Word Wars" (which I thought even before realizing it is the actual editor from "Word Wars" and another Think Film).

Expect big things to be coming from these hot-in-every-way co-directors. Henry was the one behind the 1997 doc "Who is Henry Jaglom?" I had the opportunity to speak to first-time director Dana Adam Shapiro at the after-party, and he is down to earth and full of heart. Next up for him is directing his own "The Every Boy," a stunning debut novel that I highly recommend.

I'm going to close with the result of the film: a standing O. And when I walked out into the lobby, this time I had no problem seeing the shorter human beings and grinning broadly into their beautiful eyes. I'm not saying pin a medal on me; obviously I'm messed up. And these guys could give a crap if I smile at them. But this miraculous, intimate and rocking documentary helped to change MY world.

Even better, when I crawled into Mom's hospital bed the next day to snuggle and tell her about the night before, she informed me she was going to get out of her wheelchair soon. I told her it was okay if she didn't, and that if that happened, we'd get her a cool roller-derby chair so she could hit crap. For the first time in a long time, I saw that evil glint in her eyes of naughty, childish joy.

Quad means FOUR. These are Paraplegics (paralysis of legs and lower body). The web site and press for this movie constantly repeats this falsehood.

Christopher Reeve was a Quadriplegic. Watching quadriplegics plan rugby would really be something. Think of a group of men (or women) controlling their chairs a la Christopher Walken in "Suicide Kings" by blowing on a tube.

Watching paraplegics was interesting. But it is fundamentally wrong for this film to be marketed as "Quadriplegic rugby players".

I think the story is an arresting one, but I am astonished that such an obvious falsehood could be repeated over and over without challenge.

If, like the rest of us, you spend most of your time pissing and moaning over the seeming unfairness and petty inconveniences of everyday life, I suggest you check out "Murderball" for an immediate attitude readjustment. This fascinating documentary will put all of that stuff into perspective for you, while entertaining the hell out of you at the same time.

Played on a regulation-sized basketball court (minus the baskets), Murderball is actually a slang name for Wheelchair Rugby, an international sport in which quadriplegics use their specially armored wheelchairs almost like souped-up bumper cars to score goals for their team. The film concentrates, primarily, on the intense and sometimes downright vicious rivalry between the team from the United States and the team from Canada. The movie makers introduce us to about a half dozen players, each of whom, even in the few moments afforded him on screen, becomes a distinct personality with a history to relate and a story to tell. The two main focal points are the charismatic and muscular Mark Zupan, and Joe Soares, one of the legendary pioneers of the sport who left to coach for Canada after he was cut from the American team. Many of the most incisive scenes deal with the ribbing, some of it good-natured, some of it not so good-natured, that Soares has had to endure over his decision to defect to the opposing side.

Although the rugby scenes themselves are gripping and thrilling, the real drama occurs off the court in the men's personal lives, as we see the struggle and heartbreak the men go through, the strength and inspiration they exhibit for the rest of us, and, most especially, the camaraderie and team spirit that comes with working together to achieve a common goal. As the film-making crew follows the men around through the course of their daily lives, we get to know them as complex individuals, finding out how they ended up in a wheelchair and seeing how each was able to rise above the experience to get to where he is today. The film neither sugarcoats the difficulties of their lives nor asks for our pity. It simply presents the men to us, in all their virtues and flaws, and asks that we listen in on their stories. Some of the most poignant moments involve Soares having to come to terms with having a son who has little or no interest in sports, preferring the violin instead.

Kudos to directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro for their fine work on this film, especially Rubin, who also provided the stunning camera-work for the scenes on the court. But most of our thanks should go to the men of the film and their loved ones who were willing to open up their lives to us in so vivid and honest a way. This is an inspiring and heartwarming film - the final scene is of some of the men introducing the sport to a number of injured Iraq War veterans - that will stick with you long after the closing credits.

In Alan Clarke's memorable movie SCUM (1979), the inmates of a young person offender's prison play Murderball on a basketball court. A game sans any real rules, it provides the chance for them to vent their frustrations through legitimized violence: anything goes, apparently.

Filmed in the early years of this century, Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's documentary makes similar claims for the game of wheelchair rugby. Also played on a basketball, the game offers the chance for young quadriplegics to express their aggressive instincts in a sport that might have its own set of rules but seems extremely violent, much more so than rugby for able-bodied players.

The action follows the fortunes of the American team, which had won most of the major tournaments prior to the film's beginning, but failed to win the World Championship held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2002. The film examines the team's preparations for the Athens Paralympics two years later, while profiling the struggles of many team members to deal with their disability as well as learn how to become successful members of a match-winning unit.

We have to admire the sheer dogged persistence of many of the young men featured in the documentary, as they negotiate the almost daily struggles to maintain their self-esteem, as well as improving their rugby abilities through training. Success is essential for any team; but perhaps more so for the wheelchair rugby unit. What the players achieve over the time-period covered by the film is, quite simply, wonderful.

And yet, and yet ... The film also shows the subjects trying to conform to the aggressively masculine identities associated with rugby players: tough, uncompromising, sexist. Anyone who has played the game to any standard knows that such stereotypes are found everywhere. Yet rugby has evolved a lot over the last two decades: sophisticated training methods have discovered the importance of less aggressive behavioral forms, for example, trying to understand the opposition's psychology without trying to bash the living daylights out of them. Players have now been encouraged to look into themselves and admit their shortcomings in public, or (better still) acknowledge their sexualities. That does not make them any less brilliant on the field; in fact, such strategies can even improve their performance.

What spoils MURDERBALL is the directors' reluctance to think of rugby as anything else other than a violent, aggressively male sport. It isn't; women's rugby is as popular both for able-bodied as well as disabled players. As Clint Eastwood's film INVICTUS (2009) has also shown, it is a game whose significance extends far beyond the field, as it becomes a means by which individuals can deal with trauma. Would that MURDERBALL had taken a little time out from its obsession with violence and examined that aspect of the game.

Quadriplegia proves only a limited challenge to the subjects of this documentary who compete in a version of rugby modified to suit wheelchair-bound players. The film offers an informative look into different types of quadriplegia and it is fascinating just how much the subjects are able to accomplish without full use of their limbs. The quadriplegics interviewed are generally upbeat individuals, happy to make light of their condition (one comments that another could fit into a box like Shaobo Qin in 'Ocean's Eleven' and then tests out the theory) while having the same basic dreams and aspirations as persons with full body control. Curious as all this is, the film never strikes a satisfying balance between being about quadriplegia, being about the sport and being about the therapeutic effect of playing sport. There is also a lot of US vs Canadian tension thrown in as the Canadian team's coach was formerly a US player, and this whole angle presents an unwelcome distraction from the overcoming adversity general theme of the movie. The aspects of the documentary that work well though linger in the mind long afterwards. The segments in which the quads talk about dating women who are too nervous to ask about their bodily functions are great and all the scenes showing the quads moving about independently are engaging as the film potently reminds one that life does always go on no matter what happens.

this movie does what the best documentaries can. it gives us access to a part of our world that we do not see enough or do not look at or for enough.

and our world is full of people like us, mostly good people doing our best and trying, always trying and never giving up. and this is a movie that celebrates us while it celebrates the people in it and what they have done against really tough odds.

the guys in the movie are just like us they, just trying a little harder and they could have given up long ago but didn't.

and this film helps me a little bit. it gives us a perspective which we would not otherwise have. it seeks truth as good art must and it finds little shreds of it which i, for one, am always hungry for.

i highly recommend this movie. i may only watch documentaries from now on. well, anyway, i may try to watch less crap.

Having been in the hospital and seeing some of these athletes,I'm not too sure that they didn't put on an act for the camera. I enjoyed the humor but some of it is really a lot of hype. I think it was amazing when it showed the guy from Texas giving a chair to the young guy.That was really very cool. I think some of it was realistic and important for people to see some of what life in a chair is about,at the same time I think it puts all people in a chair in the same class,and were not.Overall I felt it was a good movie,but perhaps could have done without the jackass stunts. Just my opinion. Great athletes!and obviously a great group of guys who share a zest for life. I think they could have shown more in detail of what life is like when you go home from the hospital. I hope some of them get their medals.

While the movie was supposed to focus on the game of Murderball it totally missed the boat as far as the reaction to the devastating aspects of waking up to discover that you suddenly are a totally helpless quad. I would like to hear what people who work in the rehab field have to say about the movie. I feel that it only exacerbates a violent approach to living life. Moving from being a football player, a hockey player or a motor cycle racer; all sports that require a high level of violence with the message kill your opponent.

We are at war because our leaders are convinced that we must win at all costs in Iraq and Afghanistan when there is absolutely no way that we can. If we continue with that philosophy we will be there forever and the terrorism will only increase.