It's a shame, but The Program is more well known for the infamous "highway turkey" scene than anything else. This scene supposedly caused some idiot kids to repeat the stunt and get themselves killed in the process. Well, it has been excised from this version as well, but it never really did add anything to the film in the first place.
This is still a solid, mildly amusing college football flick with and ending that makes little sense (so do they win the Bowl game or not?). There is some great character development and a few segments are laugh out loud funny, but it's still a shame the DVD format didn't invite the studio to ressurect the sequence.
The video is presented is the orignal 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The print is very soft and filled with scratches and compression artifacts are annoying. Colors remain strong and the actual football sequences look great however. The sound is presented in a nice, immersive 5.1 mix. Though most of the movie is dialouge based and powered by the center channel, the football sequences are great. You'll feel every hit and the immersion of being in front of 50,000 people is here.
As a bargain basement disc, you'll get what you pay for. Extras are completely absent. The theatrical trailer hasn't even been included. It has recently been packaged with Con Air, but it can still be found individually for about $6. There's always a chance we'll see an updated edition with a better print and maybe a few features, but for $6 you can't go wrong.
Article comments
1 - JR
What is the "highway turkey" stunt?
2 - Matt Paprocki
Wow, I thought everyone knew that. =;) Anyway, there was scene in the original release in theaters where a few characters wnet out and laid down in the center of a busy highway. The first one to leave lost. Well, as I said, some kids really tried it without the happy ending. Never seen it again.