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WRIGLEY FIELD: Beyond the Ivy |  | Director: David Levenson
Actor: Narrator: William Petersen
Studio: Bougainville Productions
Category: DVD
Buy New: $17.95
as of 7/31/2010 14:16 PDT details
New (1) Used (8) from $11.86
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 25575
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 137 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 820218482821
EAN: 0820218482821
ASIN: B0001NXL34
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: January 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 A Quirky Time Capsule February 19, 2009
Kingston (Tennessee)
Like a lot of other reviewers I was expecting a history of Wrigley Field--info about its construction, teams, games, players etc. The usual documentary stuff.
Instead this is a very quirky time capsule which concentrates on the fans and the ambiance of the neighborhood circa 1998-99. There are chapters on a scalper, fans in the bleachers, a guy who lives across the street from Wrigley with his Mom, and the 'ball hawks' who spend their days waiting in the street for home runs flying out of left field.
There are also scenes made at several bars in the surrounding Wrigley area.
Also included is a documentary of the demolition of old Comiskey Park. This was a bit of a disappointment as it is only a poem read over still photos of the demolishing Comiskey.
There is quite a bit of time devoted to a guy who built an amazingly detailed replica of Wrigley Field in his apartment. It is about 10x10 feet or more and the guy has a time dismantling it so he can move it elsewhere. He has devoted all his time and energy and finances to making a sale of the replica.
I can kinda understand some of the reviewers being disappointed at this documentary. Personally I think it will be of even greater value 15-20 years from now when the characters and scenes portrayed here are long gone.
Being a lover of all sorts of baseball documentaries I loved it. It is not a quickie throw-together of old newsreel footage like a lot of documentaries often are.
It does seem a bit expensive compared to other similar documentaries.But there is value here.
 Cubbies deserve more June 23, 2006
Nathan Conrad
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you are a Cubs fan you will be disappointed because you love anything about the Cubs but this DVD is slow and boring. Giving a so-so look at the ball park, a less than steller history of the Cubs, and no real salute to the fans makes you very annoyed. The only good part was the walk through of a day at the park and the narrator. If you are looking for a good 'past 100 years in Cubs baseball" don't buy this-but if you buy everything that relates to the Cubs you might as well get it. It is a slow boring documentary with moments of tolerence. Keep shopping.
 Not for a Cub fan, or anyone wanting the Wrigley Field experience April 5, 2006
BobbyT (Chicago, IL USA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Bad. I kept looking at the clock hoping that the DVD was almost over. A few inside chuckles IF you know Wrigleyville. No insight. Do these producers understand how much the Cub fans dislike Woo-Woo. More to Wrigley Field than the scalpers and ball hawks. Spend the money on an afternoon at Wrigley Field.
 Intelligent and funny! March 10, 2006
Cynthia M. Finch
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I saw this film in a small theatre in Chicago a few years ago, and was delighted to find it available on DVD. I bought it wondering if it would be as enjoyable on home viewing without the aid of a full theatre crowd, and was not disappointed!
What still comes through for me is the filmmakers passionate immersion in the crazy Wrigley neighborhood culture and the various individuals they chose to spotlight. My favorite is the ticket scalper. It's rare to find such an in-depth (and hilarious) look at this hidden aspect of baseball. I could have watched him for another half hour!
Living in the Phoenix area, I've read about all the changes going on at Wrigley this year, which makes me twice as glad that I bought the DVD. It's a thoughtful document of the way it is - and the way it was.
I love Wrigley Field, but this documentary is just bad... January 7, 2006
Snoo-Snoo (Japan)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was really looking forward to popping this into my DVD player and witnessing an in-depth look at Wrigley Field and the fans that make it tick. Unfortunately, we don't get to see much of the inner-workings of Wrigley, and the obssessive fans that we do see leave a lot to be desired. I don't argue with the inclusion of any of the fans in the documentary, as they are all interesting and are what make up an integral part of Wrigley Field and Cubdom. However, the few fans and people that are included are milked for every minute of screentime and dialogue that they can give, and that comes off as extremely boring. The director should have cut down the extraneous bits, gotten to the point, and included more people and more interesting people. I would have loved to have seen a little bit about the locker rooms, and the people who make them run, or the field maintenance crew, or something about clubhouse manager Yosh Kawano. Instead, we are left with an extra hour of unnecessary and boring video footage, several borderline-exploitative interviews of fans at the end of their wits, and poorly produced and scripted "dramatized" scenes by undramatized people. As well, the documentary seems to have very little to do with the teams that have actually played at the ballpark, presumably because the producers didn't have any official licensing from the MLBPA or the NFL (yes, the Bears did also play at Wrigley Field). There seems to be no cohesive theme to glue and tie the documentary together. It just meanders around, seemingly endlessly, as a bunch of video some guy took and decided to throw together to make a "film".
Another big beef I have with this DVD is the super amateurish production values. The budget for this production was extremely low, and it is painfully obvious and not cleverly hidden. Handheld cameras, excessive usage of strange and unappealing camera angles, very poor audio processing, terrible video editing, and cornball scripting and acted scenes left a very bad taste in my mouth. It was hard for me to sit through this DVD. I did sit through it because I love the Cubs and I love Wrigley Field. But at the end of the documentary I felt extremely let down. I'm still looking for a great documentary about the Cubs and/or Wrigley Field with high productions values like NFL Films knows how to put out.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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