Chicago Cubs: Reviewing the 2016 World Series Film by Shout! Factory
WARNING: This article may contain spoilers for the World Series Film. Well, it’s not like the Chicago Cubs faltered in Game 7. Either way, this film captures every defining moment up until the final out.
Honestly, I missed the television showing which aired on FS1 not too long ago. I was somewhat disappointed in myself. Now, a few fellow Chicago Cubs’ fans felt as if this movie covered more Cleveland Indians’ than the North Siders.
Not entirely sure if the copy I have is the same one that was shown on FS1 but I didn’t feel like that was the case. The Indians jumped out to a commanding 3-1 lead. From Corey Kluber pitching a gem in Game 1 to Jake Arrieta evening the series in Game 2 — it was well balanced in the beginning.
Which is great because this series was an uphill battle. And having footage such as Jason Kipnis jogging through the Wrigley Field clubhouse was amazing. Kipnis grew up a Cubs fan and he actually talked about his performance.
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Vince Vaughn, Chicago-native, and actor/comedian provided powerful narrative began the film by talking about two cities. Two cities that have spent a ton of time wishing and hoping their team would win it all.
Vaughn attended games at Wrigley Field throughout the postseason. It would have been nice to see Billy Murray share his thoughts in the film but he makes a late appearance. That appearance being his interview with Theo Epstein.
Schwarber’s Return
In addition, this film did a great job covering Kyle Schwarber‘s journey. During one of Schwarber’s at-bats, a highlight of Kyle’s injury in early April was shown. Kyle talked about how he broke down when he heard was out for the season.
But refused to let it break him and got to work as soon as possible. Footage of his Arizona Fall League at-bat and his press conference made it into the movie itself.
I don’t want to necessarily spill everything that is included. So that was just a little taste of what is expected if it’s your first time watching. Actually, I’m watching it for the fourth time while typing this review.
Simply Beautiful
This movie is absolutely beautiful and what makes it even sweeter is the bonus features. Not too long but the regular season highlights and clinching moments were satisfying. Both clips came out to about 15-16 minutes combined and it’s followed up by the Victory Parade and some stuff on David Ross.
If I were to give this movie a rating from one to five stars, or one through 10 — it would have to be through the roof. Showing the reactions and having multiple Cubs fans share bits of their personal story is what made this movie special.
Remembering my Grandfather’s and other loved ones who watched this team brought nothing but emotions. The fact that I had the honor of watching most of the playoffs and World Series with my Father is something that I will never, ever forget.
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Special thanks to Shout! Factory for putting together something as beautiful as The World Series Film. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again, this is a gift that every Chicago Cubs fan, no matter the age, should have for Christmas.
You can either visit Shout! Factory’s official website to order the regular Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital combo set or pre-order the collectors edition. The standard film has a run time of 90 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes, 23 seconds to be exact) while the collector’s edition runs for 20 plus hours.
Here are links to Amazon for both the standard film and collector’s edition (in stock December 20th). Also, we’ll be figuring out a way to give away THREE copies of the standard film courtesy of Shout! Factory.
So make sure to stay tuned to both our official Twitter and Facebook pages for more details.