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Laramie Movie Scope:
The 2018 World Series:
The Official Documentary from Major League Baseball

Perfect for Boston Red Sox fans

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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December 4, 2018 – First off, I am biased on this subject, since I am a Red Sox fan. Perhaps Los Angeles Dodger fans might be interested in this documentary too, but since the Dodgers only won one game in the series (and that was also the longest game in World Series history) there is not much joy for them in reliving this series.

While I watched every game of this series on TV, there is material in this disc that I had not seen before. The package consists of one DVD, one blu-ray, and the unlock code for a digital copy of this same video as well. This goes on sale today (December 4, 2018).

Also for sale is the eight-disc “2018 World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox Complete Collector's Edition,” which has the complete games. I am now watching this set of eight discs and will review it separately.

The documentary (running time 80 minutes) gives a good collection of highlights from the 2018 World Series games between the Red Sox and Dodgers. In addition to showing the important hits and defensive plays in the games, there are also interviews with players and managers which give insight into the decisions they made, and what they thought and felt at key moments in the series. Statements from fans are also included, along with predictions and summaries of games by sports analysts.

This documentary does a nice job of setting up the World Series matchups, and in depicting the excitement and drama of the series games. The documentary gives a summary of Red Sox history, including the 86 years of frustration before the team's World Series win in 2004, including, of course, Bill Buckner's famous error in the 1986 World Series.

This documentary tells stories of unlikely Red Sox heroes such as unheralded hitter Steve Pearce and unheralded pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, who both joined the team in mid-season. Both came up huge in the playoffs. Pearce was the World Series MVP. Eovaldi inspired his team by pitching six innings of relief in the longest game in World Series history. Light-hitting Jackie Bradley Jr., had enough key hits to be named MVP of the American League Championship series, as well as a home run in the World Series.

Often maligned, pitcher David Price had never won a playoff game as a starter prior to 2018, but he came up big in the 2018 playoffs for the Sox. He was the winning pitcher in the American League Championship Series clincher against the Astros, and was the winning pitcher in two World Series games, including the final game.

One of the funniest segments on the disc has Red Sox manager Alex Cora and some of the players reading social media posts predicting a terrible season for the Red Sox right after the Sox lost the first game of the 2018 season. Red Sox fans, who are notoriously pessimistic, were already calling for Cora's firing after the first game loss (the Sox went on to win the next eight games in a row, so the fans became a bit more optimistic after that). Of course, this is funny now because Cora's managerial decisions during the season and in the playoffs proved to be extremely astute.

Besides the documentary, bonus features on the disc include Red Sox regular season highlights (running time 16 min 23 sec) such as Mookie Betts hitting three home runs in two different games during the season, a one-hitter thrown by pitcher Rick Porcello against the Yankees, and Steve Pearce hitting three home runs in one game against the Yankees. The great MVP season of Mookie Betts and the huge home run and RBI totals put up by J.D. Martinez are also mentioned in the highlights.

Another bonus feature on the disc is “Clinching Moments,” (running time 7 min 15 sec) including walk-off hits that ended dramatic games at Fenway Park during the season. One such hit by Hanley Ramirez is a ironic since he was released from the Red Sox roster long before the playoffs in a surprising move. The man who replaced him at first base, Mitch Moreland, hit a big three-run homer in the World Series. Yet another Sox first baseman, Steve Pearce, is seen making a big stretch to grab an errant throw that clinched the deciding playoff game between the Sox and Yankees. Pearce was traded for in mid-season because of his ability as a right-handed hitter against the Yankees, but his defense proved to be a valuable bonus.

There is also a “How They Got There” featurette (running time 5 min 13 sec) in the disc extras, and another extra (running time 2 min 28 sec) shows the Red Sox World Series victory parade in Boston. I had tried to find some videos of this parade on YouTube, but could not find very good ones. The World Series Parade feature on this disc has the kind of parade sights and sounds I was looking for. This disc has a fine documentary and extras well suited for Red Sox fans and others interested in the World Series. It rates an A.

Technical details. Video is the customary 1080 resolution on the blu-ray, 480 on the DVD. There is a single soundtrack on the main documentary, and on each of the bonus videos on both the blu-ray and the DVD. The blu-ray documentary soundtrack is DTS Master Audio 5.1, and DTS Master Audio 2.0 on each of the bonus features. The DVD has Dolby Digital 5.1 audio for the documentary, and 2.0 for the bonus videos. English subtitles only for the deaf and hard of hearing on the main documentary on both the blu-ray and the DVD. No subtitles on the bonus videos on either the blu-ray or DVD.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2018 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)

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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]