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- Cert:
- Cat.no: EDV 9116
- Running time: 86 minutes
- Year: 2001
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 16 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Trailer, Featurette, Interviews, Deleted Scenes, Director’s Commentary
Director:
- Steve Barron
(The Adventures of Pinocchio, Coneheads, Electric Dreams, Mike Bassett: England Manager, Rat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TV: Arabian Nights, DreamKeeper, Merlin, The Storyteller)
Producers:
- Thomas M. Hammel, Kai Jam and Courtney Solomon
Screenplay:
- John R Smith and Rob Sprackling
Music :
- Antony Genn, Duncan Mackay and Mark Neary
Cast :
- Mike Bassett: Ricky Tomlinson
Dave Dodds: Bradley Walsh
Karine Bassett: Amanda Redman
Lonnie Urquart: Philip Jackson
Tommo Thompson: Phill Jupitus
Kevin Tonkinson: Dean Lennox Kelly
Smallsy: Robbie Gee
Interviewer: Martin Bashir
Themselves: Pele, Sue Barker, Dickie Bird, Keith Allen, Gabby Logan, Barry Venison, Ronaldo, Richard Guest and 2/3 of Atomic Kitten
I was expecting more from Mike Bassett: England Manager.
After all, its star, Ricky Tomlinson, is best known most recently for playing Jim Royle in the excellent sitcom, The Royle Family, you don’t expect him to appear in a turkey. However, while this comedy is far from the laugh-out-loud affair I was expecting from the hype at the time of its cinema release, it’s interesting enough to stick with it for the 86-minute running time, since it has a few very funny moments, but most are just amusing, while the rest of it plays out like a drama with observational comedy thrown in.
Also, those who know me know that I hate watching football, although from what I’d seen of it in advance of watching this DVD, it looked like you didn’t really need to know more than the basics. You don’t, but a more familiar knowledge with the game would’ve helped.
In short, Ricky plays Mike Bassett, Norwich manager and the only one available who is actually interested in taking over the English side and managing them with a view to winning the next World Cup, attempting to train them at the new ridiculous Sports Science Institute along the way. Every manager from the premiership was too busy or disinterested to bother with it. Mike then does what he can as a down-to-earth guy taking charge and boosting their morale and sending them to victory. The question is – will it work?
The whole film is told documentary-style as England go on the road to the World Cup to see if they can even at least qualify for an appearance in the initial group tables. Contributions come from Bassett as well as his two right-hand men, Dodds (Bradley Walsh) and Urquart (Philip Jackson). Amanda Redman plays his long-suffering wife and comedian Phill Jupitus is one of the pushy roving reporters.
Also, appearing most of the time in the film is BBC news interviewer Martin Bashir, who follow’s Mike progress, what little there is of it. Bashir will be best known as the man who interviewed Princess Diana several years ago over her affair with James Hewitt. However, for a film such as this, it would’ve been far more appropriate, given the endless running commentary by the interviewer, to have brought in Chris Langham, who plays the dry-witted interviewer Roy Mallard in BBC2’s excellent People Like Us. Other guest appearances, this time as themselves, come from Pele, Sue Barker, Dickie Bird, Keith Allen, Gabby Logan, Barry Venison, Ronaldo, Richard Guest and 2/3 of Atomic Kitten.
Mike Bassett faces the angry fans
after their defeat by Egypt.
A lack of comedy is one thing. A lack of an anamorphic transfer is another. Quite why this wasn’t done is a real pain because the subtitles are placed mostly in the lower black bar, unless there’s so much text that some of it spills into the main picture. This is quite unacceptable because it means those of us with widescreen TVs cannot zoom the picture in to fill the screen and still see the subtitles(!)
Other than that, it’s in the original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio with little in the way of print damage or artifacts.
The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but doesn’t really go beyond football crowd noise and an England World Cup song, both of which wouldn’t have sounded any different in Pro Logic.
The extras begin with a 2½-minute letterboxed Trailer and a standard 8½-minute Featurette containing the usual comments from principal cast and crew members, so it’s more like an extended trailer.
Interviews are included for director Steve Barron, co-writer Rob Sprackling and cast members Ricky Tomlinson, Bradley Walsh, Amanda Redman and Phill Jupitus, but each one only lasts a few minutes and just summarises their role in the film and tells you nothing revolutionary. Some of these are also inserted into the previous featurette.
Nine Deleted Scenes are included, some lasting a few seconds with the rest a few minutes, including an alternative ending. Finally, a feature-length Director’s Commentary is also on this disc.
The disc contains just a mere 16 chapters, there are only English subtitles and all menus are static and silent.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.