Reviews for Remember the Titans
Review - Remember the Titans
It’s 1971, and T.C. Williams High School in Virginia is being desegregated. As part of this policy, Black coach Herman Boone is made the head coach of the football team, even though the coach he’s replacing, Bill Yoast, is successful and up for election to the college football hall of fame. The Whites in the town and the White players on the team are not happy about the situation. At first, Coach Yoast is determined to quit, but after thinking it over, he decides to become the defensive coordinator.
Coach Boone makes it clear from the start that he’s not going to put up with any racial tension on his team. He forces the Black and White players to room together and get to know each other during training camp. By the end of camp, the players have learned to respect and even like each other. This new relationship is most evident between Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell, the star defensive players. At the end of camp, a new hippie quarterback from California, Ronnie “Sunshine” Bass joins the team.
When the season starts, the Titans are thrown back into the racial tension of the town and school. They start to break away from each other, and just barely squeak through their first two victories. The players call their own team meeting and reaffirm the spirit of training camp. From that point on, they surge, winning all their games easily and making the playoffs.
In the first playoff game, some of the league men come up with a scheme to throw the game with the help of the referees and get Coach Boone fired and Coach Yoast reappointed. But when Yoast figures out what’s going on, he confronts the head ref and makes him quit. Just before the championship game, Gerry Bertier is in a car accident and paralyzed from the waist down. The Titans struggle in the game until Coach Yoast admits to Coach Boone that he needs help on defense. With seconds left, and the Titans down 7-3, Yoast give Boone a tip for the offense that results in the winning touchdown. The movie ends with a scene from 10-years later when the coaches and players gather for Gerry’s funeral.
• From IMDB — The actual name of the High School opponent in the championship game was Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, Virginia. The state championship game was played at 12 o'clock noon on Saturday, not at night as portrayed in the movie. The final score in the championship game was 28-0, won by T.C. Williams. Andrew Lewis totaled negative rushing yardage during the game. In the movie Gerry Bertier is paralyzed before the Titans win State. In real life, he actually played in that game and was in the car accident afterward.
One of the all-time great feel-good movies. It was manipulative as all get out, but that’s what makes it so good. I really found myself rooting for the characters, not just as football players but as people. This was lessened somewhat when I read up on the movie and discovered just how much of it was fictionalized, but knowing that Coaches Boone and Yoast, Gerry Bertier and several other players were based on real people added interest for me.
Coach Boone makes it clear from the start that he’s not going to put up with any racial tension on his team. He forces the Black and White players to room together and get to know each other during training camp. By the end of camp, the players have learned to respect and even like each other. This new relationship is most evident between Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell, the star defensive players. At the end of camp, a new hippie quarterback from California, Ronnie “Sunshine” Bass joins the team.
When the season starts, the Titans are thrown back into the racial tension of the town and school. They start to break away from each other, and just barely squeak through their first two victories. The players call their own team meeting and reaffirm the spirit of training camp. From that point on, they surge, winning all their games easily and making the playoffs.
In the first playoff game, some of the league men come up with a scheme to throw the game with the help of the referees and get Coach Boone fired and Coach Yoast reappointed. But when Yoast figures out what’s going on, he confronts the head ref and makes him quit. Just before the championship game, Gerry Bertier is in a car accident and paralyzed from the waist down. The Titans struggle in the game until Coach Yoast admits to Coach Boone that he needs help on defense. With seconds left, and the Titans down 7-3, Yoast give Boone a tip for the offense that results in the winning touchdown. The movie ends with a scene from 10-years later when the coaches and players gather for Gerry’s funeral.
• From IMDB — The actual name of the High School opponent in the championship game was Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, Virginia. The state championship game was played at 12 o'clock noon on Saturday, not at night as portrayed in the movie. The final score in the championship game was 28-0, won by T.C. Williams. Andrew Lewis totaled negative rushing yardage during the game. In the movie Gerry Bertier is paralyzed before the Titans win State. In real life, he actually played in that game and was in the car accident afterward.
One of the all-time great feel-good movies. It was manipulative as all get out, but that’s what makes it so good. I really found myself rooting for the characters, not just as football players but as people. This was lessened somewhat when I read up on the movie and discovered just how much of it was fictionalized, but knowing that Coaches Boone and Yoast, Gerry Bertier and several other players were based on real people added interest for me.
Reviewed by Roger on 2005-03-06 12:49:56