Michael Jordan to the Max (2000) Reviews

• Expected MORE!

  kenandraf2001-03-31

  I expected more to this documentary.The best thing about this film is that it was done in IMAX form which really details everything so clearly and incredibly.I finally found an IMAX subject matter that I wanted to see for I am a die hard NBA fan.This was the first IMAX experience I have ever had and I liked it.My complaint is the fact that this documentary was too SHORT!I wanted more!Maybe about 30 minutes longer at least.The soundtrack was great and the film overall was done very well.It was just too rushed though.Oh well,it will still be worth your money if you are a Jordan or NBA fan......

• Solid At Best

  daveisit2000-11-27

  "Michael Jordan to the Max" should never have been screened at IMAX. There were a few reasons for this, although the biggest problem was how chopped up the production was. There was minimal continuity throughout the screening, detracting from the IMAX experience. It was much more suited to the kind of video you watch before playing sport. For much of the movie only about a sixth of the screen was being used. Examples of this were the many commercials Jordan has appeared in. I did not go to IMAX to watch commercials I've already seen Jordan and his sponsors repeatedly screen on TV. At least I got to see some of the great Luc Longley in action.

• Just Another Routine Documentary In IMAX form

  Desertman842012-02-29

  Michael Jordan to the Max is a documentary released in IMAX. The film is about the life and career of basketball player Michael Jordan, focusing mainly on him during the 1998 NBA Playoffs. It is narrated by Laurence Fishburne.The film includes appearances by numerous celebrities and professional athletes including Phil Jackson, Doug Collins, Bob Costas, Bill Murray, Ken Griffey, Jr., Steve Kerr, Spike Lee, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Ahmad Rashad, and Pat Riley. Michael Jordan was the most famous, most honored, and probably the greatest professional basketball player of his generation, an athlete whose intelligence, charisma, and dazzling on-court skill helped earn his game a new level of popularity and won Jordan a record six NBA title rings. Michael Jordan to the Max, shot and initially released in the high-definition IMAX film format, takes a documentary look at Jordan's life and career, focusing primarily on the 1998 NBA playoffs, in which Jordan and the Chicago Bulls achieved their sixth professional championship under his leadership, shortly before announcing his final retirement from the court. Along the way, we're offered glimpses of Jordan's early days growing up in North Carolina, his rise to fame, and his successful off-court careers in business and advertising. Michael Jordan to the Max is, aside from the IMAX process, the kind of routine documentary a local TV station might air on a Sunday afternoon when a ballgame is rained out.Nothing much is learned from what makes Michael such an incredible athlete and most charismatic professional basketball player in his generation.sports icon, gets another buffing. Michael Jordan, person, remains private and just a little bit richer.Essentially just a promotional film for Jordan as a product as it plays like a commercial for itself.

• Great Homage to the World's All-Time Greatest Athlete.

  tfrizzell2002-11-28

  "Michael Jordan to the Max" was an Omnimax documentary detailing the superstar's final championship run with the NBA's Chicago Bulls at the end of the 1998 season. Interviews and amazing archive coverage makes this an entertaining and vastly interesting viewing experience. Truly the film does lose a little luster on a non-Omnimax screen, but overall the production is first class all the way with intriguing interviews and cinematography adding to the movie's superiority. If you want to see a good Michael Jordan flick avoid "Space Jam" and watch this twice instead. Laurence Fishburne narrates this must for all fans of the international sports icon. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

• The message doesn't fit the medium

  debsever2000-06-29

  This is a case of trying to fit a nice little picture into the wrong frame. The IMAX screen works wonderfully with expansive sites as was the case with Everest. This film is filmed too close up to make it work for anything except a sore neck or a headache. The only shots that were effective were those wide angle shots of the stadium of the skyline. I could not follow the action under the basket shot from floor level. The images were just too big. Besides this fundamental flaw - it just didn't work - the content felt like one big commercial or promotion. Come on now, using clips of three of Michael's TV ads to show what a great personality he has???? I can see how this project might have taken root. Take a bigger than life superstar and make him even bigger. I sure like Michael, but not because of this piece but in spite of this.