Mantle - The Definitive Story of Mickey Mantle (2005)

Mickey Mantle DVD

I am very pleased with my purchase of this DVD and have added it to my Yankee DVD collection. Thanks! July 21, 2008

A role model is not necessarily perfect.

Mickey was far from perfect, but he was a role model for many baseball fans in the 50's and 60's, a day when stars were shown without their warts and blemishes. This is a greatly painted portrait of a real American hero, warts and all. He seemed to be a simple midwestern boy with great athletic ability, but in reality, he was a driven man, driven by his father and later his father's memory. His heroism really didn't start until he recognized his faults and did his best to overcome them. Unfortunately, he couldn't save himself, but he did show his fans what a hero he was. March 23, 2008

dvd review

The Mickey Mantle dvd showed up on time for Christmas. It was well priced and is a wonderful movie. January 13, 2008

Greatness is not perfection.

What a terrific and poignant insight into the man every boy hoped to be, the man who never was, and the man he became. It reaffirmed, and even further defined, his greatness on the field, and cast a light on the sad, tragic, wasted, and ultimately redemptive path he traveled. Viewers will be moved anew by their childhood memories and this hero of every boy, and again by their adult realiziation of "the man behind the myth", and the tragic irony that ultimately led to his greatest contributions to society and himself as told by his family, teammates, friends, and fans. September 9, 2007

The boy with a man's back!

This is as good a video on Mick as you will find ... every true fan of The Mick should own it. But ... due to its time limitations for obvious reasons (made for TV), there was much left out that I would like to have seen.

Surely there is more video footage somewhere showing him hitting a few of his trademark/monstrous home runs ... or least the ball parks where he hit them and the places where the ball landed, or how about letting us listen to several radio broadcast clips by Mel Allen when The Mick "came to bat"? That would let us again enjoy the true excitement of those times.

Also, I would like to hear someone's thoughts on why Mick, not a huge guy at 5'11 1/2" and 195 lbs, had so much power "for distance", which was his distinction, heck, anyone can plink balls out there that just clear the fence ...

I personally think his power was a combination of two things, a) his quick twitch muscles (they had to be "quick twitch" because he also was the fastest guy around) combined with his b) early and extensive practice at swinging a bat ... nothing technical, he just put everything into every swing ... he just had that little something extra ... even today, no home run hitters can hit for distance like The Mick, certainly not consistently or even once in a while. I'd take The Mick over Bonds any day! Mick could hit the ball "over buildings"!

Otherwise, it's a fairly comprehensive look at Mick's life from his early days right up through the very sobering and sad ending ... it covers Mick's start in baseball beginning with the everyday practices by the barn with his Dad from his early youth, which Mick apparently enjoyed (though his younger brothers became "burned out" on baseball from it, who according to Mick, could have been pretty good ball players), thru the wonder years of when his god given superstar talents blossomed fully (MVP years and between), and his injuries and slowly declining skills leading to his retirement, then his "aimless years" of middle age when he was "on-display" through countless golf tournaments and corporate events, and ultimately to the end, a life cut short by cancer, caused by who knows what, a lifetime of abusing his body????

"The Mick", what a guy! I loved him and still do ... I watched him play often on TV when I was in Junior High & High School, but what a person of extremes ... a heroic & charming super athlete (who comes along once every 100 years), as well as a tragic & pathetic drunk ... self-admitedly he wondered what he could have accomplished as a player had he skipped the booze, carousing late at night, and avioded those crippling/career limiting injuries ... we miss him.

Because of The Mick, I taught my son to switch hit ... down in the barn!

Jim May 12, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...