By Eli Kazin
The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the National Football League’s most
storied franchises, having been under the same ownership group, the Rooney family,
since the franchise’s inception as the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933 (they
became the Steelers in 1941). In their first 72 seasons, the Steelers have been
champions of the NFL four times, winning Super Bowls after the 1974, 1975, 1978,
and 1979 seasons. With the release of Pittsburgh Steelers – The
Complete History, NFL Films and Warner Home Video have provided
Steelers fans with a strong look into the history of the franchise, and the
players that have been the face of the franchise through the years.
THE HISTORY
Pittsburgh Steelers – The Complete History is a two-disc
set, although the complete history production is contained entirely on disc
one. The approximately 2-hour long documentary, broken into 20 chapters, covers
the complete history of the franchise, from 1933 to 2004, although it does spend
a considerable amount of time on the championship teams from the 1970s. About
forty minutes are spent on the years prior to Chuck Noll’s hiring in 1969,
which is oddly enough the exact middle point of the franchise’s history.
Before the 1969 season, the Steelers had only 7 winning seasons; since 1969,
the Steelers have had 25 winning seasons.
The opening sequence is perfectly done, leading with the famous “Here
We Go, Steelers, Here We Go” chant before running through a montage of
famous moments in franchise history. The first few chapters focus on the early
years of the franchise, highlighting how the franchise was founded and the struggles
of the franchise to field a winning team. The quantity and quality of video
used to illustrate these chapters is abundant and well maintained; Archived
interviews with Art Rooney, the founder of the Steelers, are mixed in at appropriate
times. While the Steelers were perennially one of the worst franchises in the
league until the early 1970s, the futility of the team is not focused on heavily,
allowing for the coaches and star players during this period to be the focus.
There are seven chapters devoted to the championship teams of the 1970s, although
not all of them focus on the football games themselves. One chapter is devoted
to the relationship between the city of Pittsburgh and the Steelers, and how
the team, in both character and on-field play, epitomized the working-class
mentality of its fans. Another chapter is devoted to the hiring of Chuck Noll
and the opening of Three Rivers Stadium, which would become one of the most
intimidating venues for opposing teams in the 1970s, especially after Myron
Cope, the Steelers’ longtime radio commentator, introduced the Terrible
Towel in 1975.
The remaining chapters, excluding the conclusion, focus on the years since
the last Super Bowl triumph. This includes two chapters that focus on the inevitable
dismantling of the dynasty from the 1970s, which slowly transferred into a team
of mediocrity in the 1980s. There are also a few chapters on the Bill Cowher
led teams of the 1990s, which brought back memories of the 1970s teams for Steelers
fans, as well as a chapter on the Steelers teams since 2000, including the 2004
team that went 15-1, enjoying the most successful regular season in franchise
history.
SOUND AND VISUALS
Pittsburgh Steelers – The Complete History is presented
in 1.33:1 full screen video with Dolby Digital Surround Stereo. English subtitles
are available for both the documentary and the bonus features. The audio throughout
the set is crisp and allows for the viewer to feel as if they are on the field
for the plays, and many of the game highlights since 1970 feature the radio
play-by-play of Cope. The visuals are strong, many of them pulled from the expansive
library of NFL Films footage – even most of the footage from before 1960
has a clear resolution. The video used to show the “Immaculate Reception”
includes numerous angles of the play and provides a comprehensive review of
the play, but still does not include a wide-angle replay that focuses on the
ball the entire time.
PACKAGING AND LAYOUT
Pittsburgh Steelers – The Complete History is stored
in a five-sided black slipcase that features the Steelers logo on the front
and a summary of the DVD contents on the back. The two discs are stored in a
tri-fold digipak which when opened up fully, includes a timeline of important
moments in Steelers history. When opened halfway, a flap lists the contents
of each of the two discs. The front of the digipak mirrors the front of the
slipcase, while the back features images of the championship rings for each
of the four Steelers Super Bowl winning teams. The menu screens for the history
documentary allow for the option of viewing the production from the beginning
or jumping to a specific chapter, with the chapter selection screens featuring
small boxes containing video clips from each chapter.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The special features are split between the two discs. Disc one contains the
NFL Films “NFL’s Greatest Games” presentation of Super Bowl
XIII, a 35-31 Steelers triumph over the Dallas Cowboys from January 1979. The
feature is abridged, so only certain drives and plays are shown, but interviews
with players are mixed in to provide insight into what is actually happening
on the field. The length of this feature is about 45 minutes, which to many
will feel a little too short for what was one of the better Super Bowls of all
time.
Disc two includes two sets of features, Steelers Immortals and The Pride of
Pittsburgh:
• Steelers Immortals contains three 45 minute long profiles on Bill Cowher,
Jerome Bettis and Terry Bradshaw. Each profile examines the careers of Cowher,
Bettis and Bradshaw, focusing on their years with the Steelers. The profile
on Cowher briefly discusses his playing career in the NFL, the profile on Bettis
briefly discusses his upbringing and his career at Notre Dame, and the profile
on Bradshaw briefly discusses the perception of him as a dumb Southerner.
• The Pride of Pittsburgh features five short vignettes of about 10 minutes
each, focusing on Franco’s Italian Army, Rocky Bleier, Myron Cope, Dick
Hoak and Bill Saul. The vignette on Bill Saul features NFL Films’ first
ever sound wiring, which eventually led the way for many of the wired for sound
features commonly seen on Monday Night Football or other NFL broadcasts today.
The vignette on Rocky Bleier discusses his recovery from a leg injury during
the Vietnam War to play for 10 more years.
CIRCLING THE WAGONS
Pittsburgh Steelers – The Complete History provides a
very detailed retelling of the history of the Steelers, from their founding
by Art Rooney in 1933 to the present day. One constant theme is the connection
between the Steelers fans and the team, which is strengthened by the fact that
the ownership has not changed since the team’s inception in 1933. The
amount of information contained in this set is plentiful and should provide
even the most devoted Steelers fans with some new tidbits that they were previously
unaware of. For casual fans, this set allows for them to be able to gain a strong
knowledge into the history of one of the NFL’s most respected franchises.
DVD Set History Score: A-
DVD Set Sounds and Visuals Score: A-
DVD Set Packaging and Layout Score: A-
DVD Set Extras Score: B+
DVD Set Overall Score: A-
