“Murderball” (Thinkfilm)

Starring: Mark Zupan, Andy Cohn, Keith Cavill

Directors: Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro

Rating for Extras: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: This summer’s surprise hit documentary “Murderball” follows the U.S. quadriplegic rugby team on its quest for Olympic gold at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. Although centered around the unique sport, the movie is more than just something new for sports fanatics. It showcases the players in a human light, as filmmakers Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro avoid many of the cheesy cliches associated with movies about the disabled. The film follows the team in its quest abroad, but their own individual stories end up stealing the show.

Commentary: The DVD offers two distinctly different commentary tracks. One is with the filmmakers, Dana Adam Shapiro, Henry Alex Rubin and Jeff Mandel; the other features team members Mark Zupan, Scott Hogsett and Andy Cohn. The two differing perspectives offer enough different insight to almost make the film worth watching twice without the original audio track.

Television Appearances: The DVD offers two television interviews the members of the team did in anticipation of the film’s release. The first is an hour-long episode of CNN’s “Larry King Live,” which has the athletes exploring different aspects of their lives, the game and the movie. Although the interview is in-depth, it covers much of what is already said in the film and therefore might be suited only for the most adamant of fans. The second is a special episode of “Jackass” the cast filmed with hosts Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, and Wee Man. Although the special also runs into the problem of being repetitive for anyone who has seen the full-length feature, it truly shines when the Jackass crew meet the team at a bar for a night of excessive drinking and follow it up with some “Jackass”-style stunts that include a cattle-prod joust and a wheelchair long jump.

Deleted Scenes: There are six deleted scenes on the DVD, and although they don’t add a great deal of insight, they are entertaining.

Interviews: There are two interview features on the DVD. One is a follow-up interview with one of the film’s most interesting characters, Joe Soares. In the interview, he updates viewers on his curious discharge from Team Canada. This alone makes the DVD worth it. The other interview also features Soares along with the rest of the cast explaining what the game means to them. Although this is probably the most candid and blunt interview with the cast, by the time you get to it, you’ve already heard so much of the material before that it is hard to stay interested.

Other: The last notable featurette is from the film’s premiere, where the cast receives a standing ovation and recently disabled Keith Cavill receives his first murderball chair.