42 (Blu-ray)

I'm not a SJW by any stretch or a baseball fanatic. This is just a great movie about the challenges a man faced, and overcame, with the support of his wife and friends along the way. Great job by the cast. Very sad the star is no longer with us. A truly talented man. I recommend this movie to anyone.

Great movie was blurry in multiple scenes but once paused stopped then replayed it stopped

I was a kid playing baseball on a sand lot in Minnesota when this icon of the game, Jackie Robinson, began playing. We did not have a television but I can remember listening to some games on the radio. When we got this video I knew we had winner and we have watched it several times. Well done and an excellent portrayal of Jackie Robinson. We really appreciate this story.

A wonderfully made movie. A great glimpse in Jackie Robinson’s life as a baseball player.

We often associate the Civil Rights Movement in the United States with events such as the Montgomery, Alabama, Bus Boycott of the 1950's, and the marches on Washington D.C. of Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960's. However, ten years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in the segregated south, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers had to endure the kind of abuse and cruelty most of us today regard as vicious, unconscionable, and even unforgivable. The heroism of Robinson is summed up by the film "42" which is also credits the man who decided to allow the first African-American baseball player to don a uniform of a team in the White Major Leagues, Branch Ricky. (The so-called Negro Leagues were as professional and quite profitable prior to Robinson's crossing the racial barrier.)In the words of George Will as stated in Ken Burns' documentary "Baseball" Jackie Robinson, played by Chadwick Boseman in an academy-award caliber performance, was the first heroic figure of what will become the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Robinson, according to Will, was nearly as important to the movement as Dr. King. This outstanding biopic chronicles the man who challenged current status quo while playing highly competitive athletic competitions amidst jibes, curses, and epithets. To understand what Robinson endured and still be able to compete in professional baseball at the highest levels, is no less than an extraordinary achievement in the human drama of any age of history, according to Wills.The story is presented from three perspectives: mostly from Jackie Robinson's eyes, occasionally from his wife's (played by Nicole Beharie), and from the perspective of the man who made the controversial move, Branch Rickie, played by Harrison Ford in possibly the finest performance of his career. (My hope is both Boseman and Ford will be nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars, respectively.) According to the film, Robinson had two gifts, his ability as an outstanding athlete by any standard, and his ability to take the blows of hatred without retaliation. In Ricky's words, Robinson had to be man enough and big enough to turn the other cheek, as Gandhi did in South Africa and India, and as Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights protesters did shortly thereafter.On one level the film is a triumph of the human spirit but also a sobering indictment of what America had been prior to the Civil Rights Movement: a racially intolerant nation. Some of the most heroic moments are when Robinson is the target of such vitriolic abuse that he nearly breaks down but finds the courage to rise and take the field again amidst the mockery of opponents and spectators. Nearly as compelling are when his teammates begin to stand up for him and point out the cowardice of his abusers. Even Branch Ricky in one memorable scene, acknowledges that he doesn't know the pain of the abuse thrown at Robinson, and he supports Robinson as if they are both enduring these tests of character together to some degree. In a poignant moment, Ricky reveals why he made the first step towards integrating White Major League Baseball. "42" is without question the best offering in film thus far in 2013. Hopefully, the Academy of Motion Pictures will bring deserved nominations to all the leads, and hopefully the film will garner a few wins. Robinson deserves another home run because he made American Baseball truly the "national" pastime rather than the segregated sport it had been.

I have been a passionate fan of baseball virtually my whole life. As a child I used to devour tales of the great baseball players of the past and the history of the game. It goes without saying that I'm well versed in the story of Jackie Robinson's integration of major league baseball in 1947. The significance of this event is so apparent to me that in 1997 I went to the game where my beloved Phillies retired his number with his widow Rachel in attendance. Those who view this film won't miss the irony because the Phillies may have been Robinson's worst tormentors when he first started playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Writer-director Brian Helgeland, who won an Oscar for co-scripting "L.A. Confidential" with Curtis Hansen, is fully aware that hardcore baseball fans and students of history know the intricacies of Robinson's ordeal and is at pains to give an accurate portrait. The film follows Robinson from his time in the Negro Leagues until the end of the Dodgers 1947 season when they won the National League pennant. Helgeland gets all the arcana correct but he's careful not to give us a dry history lesson. Chadwick Boseman is fine as Robinson and he is supported magnificently by Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, general manager of the Dodgers. Ford's turn as the curmudgeonly Rickey is so good it would be an injustice if he weren't nominated for an Oscar. A testament as to what a good film this is that you want more. The running time is 128 minutes and you probably could add 20 more minutes to flesh out Robinson's story to better know this incredible man. As a sidebar I'd like to digress and relate my reminisces when Hank Aaron was challenging Babe Ruth's homerun record in 1974. It was an exciting time for me as a young baseball fan. It wasn't until years later that I found out that Aaron was receiving death threats for being an African American challenging the Great Bambino's record. This was a little less than thirty years after Robinson broke the color barrier but it demonstrated how little progress was made in a relatively lengthy stretch of time.

great film

Great movie. I love fact based sports stories.

Amazing,Powerful film.

Habe mir den Film bei Lovefilm geliehen und werde ihn sofort kaufen. Ein Stück Geschichte, von Männern, die Mut gegenüber dem täglichen Rassismus und den Vorurteilen (auch teilweise gebildeter) Mitmenschen gezeigt haben.Der Film an sich ist schön und gut gemacht, sehr authenthisch aus der Zeit, aber was mich so jede Minute berühert hat ist, dass es wahr ist, dass jemand tatsächlich soviel Mut gezeigt hat, soviel Beherrschung und soviel Mitgefühl.Jemand hat sich ohne Not (der GM der Dodgers) aus einer komfortablen Position als Präsident eines erfolgreichen Baseballteams aufgemacht, seines eigenen Gewissens wegen, um das ungeschrieben Gesetz der damaligen weißen Major League zu brechen. Weil er sich vor sich selbst und vor Gott verantworten möchte.Die unglaubliche Beherrschung von Jacki Robinson, sich den täglichen großen und kleinen Anfeindungen zu stellen - ohne sich zu wehren, weil es ungerechterweise eben immer er sein würde, der dann in der Öffentlichkeit gekreuzigt werden würde und das ganze Experiment scheitern lassen hätte (sehr schön und klar dargestellt in verschiedenen Szenen im Film mit Harrison Ford, wo diese Ungerechtigkeit ganz klar bestätigt wird, dass immer der Schwarze der Schuldige gewesen wäre).Und sehr berührend der Wandel seiner eigenen Teamkameraden, von einer Petition gegen ihn am Anfang bis hin zum Anerkennen als Teamkollege, der für sie kämpft und dem das Team zu einem großen Teil den Sieg der Series verdankt.Ganz stark die Endszene mit dem Captain Pe Wee -ä um nicht zu spoilern, verrate ich nichts, aber mir standen heute alleine beim erzählen die Tränen in den Augen.Habe sofort im Internet recherchiert, auch das Retirement der 42, den 15.4. als Jacky Rabonson Tag usw.Wer nicht nur einfach Filme liebt, sondern sich für Mut und Courage interessiert, der sollte sich den Film gerne ansehen.Ähnliche Filme aus meiner Sicht sind:"Gegen jede Regel / Against all rules""Men of Honour"Spielen ähnlich im USA während der Rassentrennung / Aufhebung bzw eben in der Zeit, in der die ersten Afro-Amerikaner sich Positionen erkämpfen und haben mich ähnlich sprachlos zurückgelassen. Ebenfalls authenthische Geschichten.Falls jemand weitere Tipps hätte - gerne ;-)!

Man vergisst oder verdrängt es, aber es gab eine Zeit in Amerika, als die Weissen und Farbigen selbst beim Sport getrennt waren.Das ist noch garnicht solange her.In 42 geht es um die wahre Geschichte des Jackie Robinson, der als erster Farbiger es von der Negro League in die Major League Baseball es schaffte. 42 war seine Rückennummer. Er wurde diskriminiert, angefeindet und bedroht nur aufgrund seiner Hautfarbe.Er wollte nur Baseball spielen.. Zu seinem 90igsten Geburtstag ( 2009 ) wurden viele Artikel veröffentlich und Lobeshymnen auf ihn angestimmt. Am besten fand ich die Aussage: Obama des Baseballs. Bis heute ist die Rückennummer 42 nicht wieder vergeben worden, aus Respekt. Der Film erzählt seinen Werdegang, er verzettelt sich nicht in Heroismus, sondern wird sehr sachlich und straight erzählt. Absolut sehenswert ist Harrison Ford !