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Brian's Song |  | Director: Buzz Kulik
Actors: James Caan, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Warden, Bernie Casey, Shelley Fabares
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy Used: $4.05
as of 3/12/2010 20:35 PST details
You Save: $10.89 (73%)
New (43) Used (17) Collectible (1) from $4.05
Seller: shapingup
Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 3480
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Georgian (Subtitled), Chinese (Subtitled), Thai (Subtitled)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 73 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0 x 0
MPN: 043396048638
ISBN: 0767848985
UPC: 043396048638
EAN: 9780767848985
ASIN: B00004TJQJ
Theatrical Release Date: November 30, 1971
Release Date: August 8, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Officially Licensed | | • | Highest Quality Recording |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
While women shed more than a few tears over Love Story back in 1970, men had their equivalent with Brian's Song on TV. This biopic about the Chicago Bears' Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers is no mere sports film. It's one of those transcendent stories that struck a rare cultural nerve, a sensitive film about love, friendship, cancer, racial harmony, and football that came along at just the right time. James Caan is at his free-spirited best as Piccolo, and Billy Dee Williams is very charming as the quiet Sayers destined for superstardom. Roommates and rivals, these two rookies soon become best friends because of their competitive natures and complementary personalities. When Piccolo becomes stricken with cancer, his relentless will to live inspires the talented Sayers to reach his athletic potential. Jack Warden, as the masterful coach George Halas, superbly manipulates the ying and yang relationship for all it's worth. Michel Legrand's melancholy theme still lingers in the mind as one of the all-time greats. --Bill Desowitz
Product Description
Gale Sayers joins the Chicago Bears and is befriended by Brian Piccolo, an over-achieving running back. Although they compete for the same spot on the team, and despite the fact that Sayers is black and Piccolo white, they become roommates on the road and very close friends, especially when Sayers is injured and Piccolo helps his recovery. Later, they and their wives must both deal with the harsh reality of Piccolo's cancer.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 68
Tear jerker December 1, 2009
Enjoyed it. Sometimes famous people become such legends that you forget they are in fact just people with hopes and dreams, this movie brings that home. Very good movie with a few tear jerking moments.
Best movie ever!!! May 18, 2009
A. R. Bryant
I ordered this movie along with the remade version. This is one of my favorite movies of all times!! I was excited to find it available at Amazon because I knew that I would get good service with Amazon and I was not disappointed! The order came really fast and just as advertised "NEW". Awesome!!!
Great for a real cry!!! March 12, 2009
Pamela Lozon (Groveland, MA)
This is a true story and have watched about a dozen times and cry my heart out each time. Unbelievable....great if you need a great cry....wonderful oldie!!!
Best Made for TV movie ever. November 26, 2008
Lonnie J. Russell
I ordered the video late on a Saturday night and it was here Monday by 3:00pm. I wasn't expecting it that fast. I had bought the newer version of Brian's song but it just didn't have the same feel that the James Caan, Billy Dee Williams version does. When I watch this one, I feel like I really am watching Gayle Sayers and Brian Piccolo. I was really surprised that it was in my hands within 24 hours. WOW
 Thank You For Being A Friend November 22, 2008
Gregor von Kallahann
I recently screened the original BRIAN'S SONG for a film series on "Friendship In Film." It's not easy to find American films that explore that theme on a deeper level than the typical buddy-buddy flick. There are any number of films out there about deep and lasting friendships between women, but male friendship has been significantly less attention paid to it--understandable given the still strong cultural taboos against men expressing emotions and the implicit fear that too strong an emotional bond between men might imply at least latent homosexuality.
This 1971 made-for-TV movie can be seen as something of a cultural watershed, in a way. I actually missed the original broadcast back in the day (I was away at college and had other concerns), but I do recall that it was something of a media event. And understandably so. When the cinematic Gale Sayers, receiving an award for "Most Courageous Athlete," announces that his gallant teammate and friend, the mortally ill Brian Piccolo is infinitely more deserving of that award and that he (Sayers) will present it to him personally the next day, well, there's not a dry eye in the auditorium--or, for that matter, in any of the millions of living rooms where the film is being viewed. And when he expresses his love for his dying friend, well, no one's going to misinterpret that statement.
Is it easier to express such sentiments about someone who's dead or dying? Probably. BRIAN'S SONG actually is kind of predictably buddy-buddy for the first hour or so. Like many male friends, these guys express their affection for each other by bantering back and forth and playing silly practical jokes. Viewers understand from the get go, of course, that a deeper bond is being forged, one that transcends race, or the fact of their sports rivalry, or of their decidedly different personalities.
But it does take personal tragedy for that affection to be articulated. Some might find that something of a shame. Others will just say that's just the way things are (or WERE back in those storied days of those yore). BRIAN'S SONG, like most bio-flicks--and ESPECIALLY like most bioflicks on TV--is often frustratingly sketchy. But it does make plain an implicit truth found in many close friendships between men. The bonds are not just superficial--even when the banter mainly is.
I recently did a solo performance of the old Louis Armstrong song "Wonderful World" in my church, and was struck anew by the lyrics, "I see friends shaking hands, saying, 'How do you do?'/They're really saying, 'I love you.'" In the case of Brian Piccolo, when he learns that his good friend has donated a pint of blood to him, what comes out of his mouth is, "Well, no wonder I woke up with a craving for chitlins." But we know he's really sayin' "I love you."
And "THANK YOU!"
Showing reviews 1-5 of 68
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