The U (2009)
Throughout the 1980s, Miami, Florida, was at the center of a racial and cultural shift taking place throughout the country. Overwhelmed by riots and tensions, Miami was a city in flux, and the University of Miami football team served as a microcosm for this evolution. The image of the predominantly white university was forever changed when coach Howard Schnellenberger scoured some of the toughest ghettos in Florida to recruit mostly black players for his team. With a newly branded swagger, inspired and fueled by the quickly growing local Miami hip hop culture, these Hurricanes took on larger-than-life personalities and won four national titles between 1983 and 1991. Filmmaker Billy Corben, a Miami native and University of Miami alum, will tell the story of how these “Bad Boys” of football changed the attitude of the game they played, and how this serene campus was transformed into “The U.”
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Good movie but grossly overrated
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Wow, are these the most despicable college athletes ever? It sure looks it. I've talked to a half-dozen people who watched this episode and all of them wanted to put their hand through the TV and slap some of these arrogant punks, which includes coach Jimmy Johnson. "Swagger" is okay, but this is way too much.One thing I'll say is the players and coaches sure put the U. of Miami football program on the map, and it was an exciting brand of football to watch. However, when you watch this show of non-stop in-your-face arrogance by those involved you'll be anything but a fan of the "U." Have any of these thugs heard of the word "humility?" I think not.
When I first saw the preview on ESPN 'what if i told you...college football was hit by a decade long hurricane?' and from that moment I was psyched seeing how I'm a huge football fan, NFL and college. I love football history and I've always wanted to hear about 'The U' in the 1980's. It didn't disappoint. This is the best documentary I have ever seen. In the 1970's Miami Football was a doormat for everyone else, but when Howard Schnellenberger arrived, he turned the team around by recruiting in the toughest ghettos of South Florida. The talent level was off the charts and they had a coach that knew how to control it. Interviews from the players and coaches tell how they transformed Miami into The U and a powerhouse that gave out beatings on the field while taunting and dancing in front of live television. They were labeled the villains of college football. But its a rise and fall story. At the high point of their dominance, the walls start to come down
This was an absolutely superb documentary about the rise of a the crummy University of Miami. What was most interesting to me was that I had no idea that they were considered a joke pre-1980 something. As long as I knew of the U I always knew of them as being one of the best colleges to go to for any player that possibly had a chance of going into Pro Football, whether it was to play for the USFL or the NFL. In fact if they just went through how many players have turned Pro in the last 30 years I bet it's almost 100 or more. That is extremely impressive & I very much doubt there are any other schools that can claim that. It was nice to see interviews from all sorts of the players, Jimmy Johnson, & the coach that came before him. This was an excellent documentary & any true college or Pro Football fan will be glad they saw this. I hope this gets a DVD release so that it can gain an even bigger audience. My only complaint was I felt this could have been longer & even more in depth especially in the later years.
30 for 30: The U (2009)*** 1/2 (out of 4)Extremely entertaining documentary taking a look at the Miami Hurricanes and their powerful run throughout the 1980s and early 90s. The school started off as nothing in a town full of racial violence but soon Howard Schnellenberger decided to go into the ghettos of the city and bring those men to the school. This here would continue with Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson coaching but soon the media and other schools started having second thoughts about what was really going on at the school. This is a rather extraordinary documentary that manages to do quite a few things. It does a lot but the one thing it forgets to do is to look at the program on a level playing field. Instead, Corben, a Miami native, has the players and coaches telling all of their stories about how great the program was and we never get to hear from other schools, players or coaches. To me this paints a rather unfair portrait where many of the controversial moments are either looked at and praised or glossed over all together. Towards the end of the film there's someone bragging about Miami players going out and robbing stereos!!! With that said, if you want a history lesson on what was going on during this period then you're going to have a hard time topping this. The film does a very good job at showing the "hurricane" coming through and destroying everything in its way. I thought the film did a wonderful job at explaining why Miami took off the way it did and how it eventually all came to an end. I'm sure a group of people could watch this film and debate on whether this school was good or bad for football but in my opinion it's great when a documentary can make you debate what it shows you. Again, for a history lesson this is great but I would have given it more credit had the other side been shown as well.