Once in a Lifetime - The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos
by Paul Crowder, John Dower
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DVD details
Actor: Ahmet Ertegun, Clive Toye, Marv Albert, Matt Dillon, Steve HuntDirector: John Dower, Paul Crowder
Brand: Team Marketing
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-10-03
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax
Product features:
- Run Time 97mins
- Highest Quality Recording
DVD Reviews of Once in a Lifetime - The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos
DVD Review: Great for all soccer fans, us or international
Summary: 4 Stars
Now we finally know the truth behind what went wrong with the first football organization that had great potential back in the early days. We now know who destroyed this beautiful team. Anyways, I give it 4 stars only because there were no Pele interviews! Albeit after watching this documentary, you will know why he may not have wanted any part in it. I showed this film to a few current and retired professional football players from south america and they loved it! It is a great history lesson and it is well filmed. DVD Review: New York Sports Story
Summary: 3 Stars
It is a doco of a New York football team and world stars having made it popular Pele among them.
It is interesting for funs especially.
DVD Review: Item being reviewed
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are a fan of the Cosmos, this is a must have documentary. I love how it shows the legacy of what this team left for American youth programs. Thanks Pele'!DVD Review: Great documentary for sports fans
Summary: 5 Stars
Even for fans who remember watching the New York Cosmos, it is hard to imagine that at one time the best soccer players in the world were not on Manchester United or Real Madrid but in America playing in New York every week. This documentary tells an amazing story that has a Cinderella begining and a Hamlet ending, but during the journey it was something to see.
I enjoyed seeing the interviews with the players and the owners. I was especially moved by the videos of Pele and hearing more of his story. Watching his goodbye game in which he played a half for the Cosmos and for the Brazilian team Boca Juniors (I think that's the name) was inspiring. It is Pele's goodbye speech that literally serves as a climax to this documentary.
What comes through most in this documentary is a shared love for soccer. Even though the league was mismanaged and out of control, it brought a love of the game to many in the USA. For that we can ever be thankful.
DVD Review: Bombastic, inaccurate and, like the NASL, almost but not quite
Summary: 4 Stars
The movie itself is highly entertaining and much better than the book. It still paints a picture as if the league never took off until Pele came along. Yes and no. Portland became "Soccer City" prior to Pele's arrival and Seattle and Tampa were certainly on their way.
I also think they overplay the Cosmos ruling NY angle (the NY Yankees were a pretty big story during the '70s when Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson ruled the roost) and the impact soccer had. The TV ratings nationally were abysmal even during the 1977-80 heyday.
That said, get the DVD! It has so many fascinating background takes on all that went on with the Cosmos and the NASL, it is both a fun ride and a cautionary tale of what excess can do ultimately to your "product."
The extras are not all that great. You get the 1980 and 1981 Soccer Bowls and the Pele Farewell Game vs. his old club team Santos (Brazil). They are basically 20-min. condensed extendo hilites and just emphasize how bad Jim "Village of Vancouver" McKay's toupe and play-by-play commentary was. Also, it seems the copies they got of the original tapes lacked lighting. I was constantly cranking up the brightness on my TV to "see" the action better.
And of all the Soccer Bowls, why 1981? That was a dull (and I'm not spoiling it really) 0-0 affair in which the Chicago Sting won in a shootout in rainy boring Toronto. Put the 1977 Soccer Bowl vs. Seattle on there as that was Pele's lone NASL championship (that I have on excellent quality video bought off some firm that did NASL game tapes in the '80s out of Natchez, MS, so it is out there available from collectors). Or throw on one of the many thrilling matches the Cosmos had vs. either the Vancouver Whitecaps or the Tampa Bay Rowdies to show the "real" NASL.
The Farewell Game is dull beyond belief. It's typical of friendlies (exhibition matches) so I was not expecting much. Other than seeing Frank Gifford as emcee in his ultrayellow Monday Night Football ABC blazer, it's really not worth adding here other than for historians.
If they ever re-release this DVD, whack on some better extras.
Description of Once in a Lifetime - The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos
Glory, glamour, debauchery, controversy. It's all here in ONCE IN A LIFETIME: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE NEW YORK COSMOS. This untold tale of America's first great soccer team and its larger-than-life superstar reveals how a scrappy team of ragtag athletes rose from total anonymity to stratospheric celebrity only to flame out in a New York minute. From the makers of the award-winning ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER and DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS, this hugely entertaining and humorous film has everything -- heroes and villains, egos and excess, wild partying and exciting sports action. Adding to all the drama are candid -- and often juicy - interviews with former players, coaches, newsmakers, and journalists. It's a once-in-a-lifetime story you just can't miss.The 2006 World Cup brought a plethora of soccer films (OK, three) to the cineplex. The most entertaining is this '70s-infused documentary of the New York Cosmos and the brief life of the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Cosmos rose to the pinnacle of success in the league, bringing in many famous players from around the globe including German Franz Beckenbauer, Italian Giorgio Chinaglia, and most notably, Brazilian Pele, the most famous athlete in the world. For a brief, shining moment, these players and the league made soccer hip and viable to a country who hardly embraced the sport beyond pre-teens kicking the funny ball around. The film delves in those who knew Warner Brothers honcho Steve Ross, who funded his passion and lingered in the spotlight. The fast and breezy doc has a great array of music to power through the talking heads, including players, commissioners, agents, coaches, and even Henry Kissinger. The high-scoring Chinaglia is painted as a villain type, who charmed Ross and--now on camera--some of us as he recounts the days. Other players, like Cosmos goalie Shep Messing, recall wonderful stories about being a hack one week to playing with the greatest ever the next. The yarn of brining Pele to America is nearly half the film; an incredible story of dreams, egos, and dollars. The fact he is not interviewed for this film is inconsequential. He's better received as a legend, and deservedly so. --Doug Thomas
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