Once I heard about this DVD coming out, I had to have it. When I was younger (around 11) I became a fan of the Los Angeles Kings, mainly (probably solely) because of Wayne Gretzky. I remember seeing the SI (I believe it was) cover story when he was traded to LA from Edmonton (I was 7 at the time), and I didn't fully understand then how big a deal it was. Anyways, the majority of the first disc is one on one with The Great One, interviewed very casually (and it fits perfectly) by former goaltender and current broadcaster John Davidson. There are a lot of video clips, insight from Wayne, but my favorite parts are the snippets from guys like Kevin Lowe (especially the Sony Walkman part on Disc 2) and Craig Simpson who used to play with Wayne. There are also introductions and retrospectives with Kiefer Sutherland, and it all fits together very well. The second disc contains clips from Wayne's last game in Toronto, Canada, and his final NHL game, as well as clips from his wedding, two separate honor ceremonies by the Edmonton Oilers, one by the Los Angeles Kings, shooting footage from the Pond of Dreams spots from a few years back, and a heck of a lot more. Like my summary states, I would loved to have had more game footage, more interviews with teammates, but I understand that for much of that it would have taken much more than two discs, but certainly Wayne is worthy of a library's worth of DVDs. As it stands, this is a very personal look at the life and career of the greatest hockey player to grace any sheet of ice. All hockey fans should have this in their collection.
Review of Ultimate Gretzky
Ultimate Gretzky
(2003 Video)
Great like the Man it represents (but I still wanted more)
22 January 2004