Viewed in
2010
Premise
Part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series, Ice Cube directs/narrates the story of the Los Angeles Raiders.
Loved
Reminiscing about that period.
Disliked
The goofy drawings.
Thoughts
This is one of those docs that I cannot properly critique. Not only are the Raiders my favorite NFL team, but I grew up in Los Angeles when the Raiders played, listened to the airwaves as gangsta rap blew up, and observed as the city's racial/gang tensions exploded. Last but not least, I have a six degree of separation with a Raider legend.
All I can say is that it was really entertaining, and I thought it made a convincing argument that the Raiders image and gangsta rap image fed off of and benefited from each other. While there was a gimmick of American football-rap symbiosis, the arc of the documentary was about the teams arrival, duration, and bitter departure in the City of Angels. I appreciated Raider owner Al Davis was willing to interview and even take some direct questions regarding how they returned to Oakland.
Speaking of Davis, watching him in HD was (in a masochistic sense) enough reason to check this film out. Bill Simmons even warned me days before its debut. Still, nothing in the world could prepare me for seeing every craggy wrinkle, yellow-stained tooth, and decomposing skin. I literally diverted my eyes every few seconds for fear of petrification.
And then he talked! It was mind-blowing to hear every CryptKeeper/Weekend At Bernies's/sea monster joke when you see him sitting motionless in the owners box of a game broadcast, then to hear him speak like a proud, grizzled warrior.
I wished it had more American football footage of the Raiders in that time span. I doubt they were lost, because of NFL Films division.
Overall, it was very entertaining, somewhat educational. Words could not describe the experience of Al Davis in HD. For me, this brought back a lot of great memories in sports, music, and local history.
Then the documentary had to sucker punch me with "The Silver and Black Attack" song during the credits. Go ahead and YouTube it while I bury my head in shame.
What I would change
Replaced the silly animations for the flashbacks with regular footage or pictures.
