Cheap NBA Dynasty Series - Los Angeles Lakers - The Complete History (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of NBA Dynasty Series - Los Angeles Lakers - The Complete History

Magic's VITAL historical importance - don't miss it!
I've been a big Lakers fan over the years...was too young to watch Magic in 1980, so was really excited to see this dvd collection, just on that point initially. Boy do I feel Soooooo fortunate to have grown up in the 80's with the Magic show!

But having watched that memorable game (vs. Sixers) and all the subsequent games included, I think that for anyone who loves this game like I do, this is both an exciting trip down memory lane, and (more importantly) a historical lesson in just how much the game has changed and has affected broadcast sports and the players who play it.

I think especially for younger people today, who didn't grow up with Magic and Bird (not to mention a guy named Dr. J), this is especially meaningful. I don't think anyone can underestimate the historical importance of Magic and Bird...but especially Magic, givin his dominance of what we use to call "team basketball".

The real joy is seeing the actual games, from beginning to end. The most important point to this collection is to sit back, watch, and appreciate just how great the Lakers were in the '80's (not to mention the Celtics and Sixers). The Lakers played such incredibly beautiful, orchestrated fast-break basketball.

These days (or even in the 90's) you would be hardpressed to find more than a couple decent fastbreaks in a game that didn't end in a sloppy turnover or mistake. On the other hand, for a real lesson in what the fast-break truely was, sit back and watch the games on these dvds. You just knew when the Magic Johnson fast-break started, something good would happen...either a dunk by Worthy, or an outside shot by Scott...guaranteed 90% of the time. That calculated, harmony and spectacle is extremely rare these days. It's almost like you knew it was coming when you watch these tapes. I had forgotten that feeling. I got goosebumps just watching these tapes again.

I can't overstate the way Magic controlled the tempo, pace and flow of the game was just incredible, something lacking in the past post-Jordan era. It really shows how team basketball has changed over the years since Magic retired. Can you honestly watch Magic's Lakers games and find any team in the past 6 or 7 years to compare it to? I can't. Not even the "new" dynasty Lakers (whom I like too / it's just not the same).

You can compare who the greatest team or player is for eternity. In my book, Magic is the greatest team player, and Jordan is the greatest one on one player. But put the Jordan's dynasty against Magic's dynasty...come on, it's ALL Lakers! Jordan didn't have a Boston team to deal with in the 90's for a decade! End of conversation. I rest my case.

Fun compilation, but not a "complete" history
This set is certainly desirable for any die hard Lakers fan, and basketball fans who remember how great the game became after Magic and Larry Bird paved the way for unselfish play will surely enjoy it.

The edited games are great. The finals games featured between the Lakers and the Sixers are mindblowing because of how fast paced they were. It's pure fast break basketball at its best. The games between the Lakers and the Celtics are intense and you also realize what an excellent job Dick Stockton did for CBS when he was the play-by-play man. In retrospect, even Stockton's color man partner seems pretty balanced, even though he was a Celtic great and even though he had the incredibly irritating habit of placing the subject of his sentences at the very end, Tom Heinsohn.

No set is going to be perfect, but I think where the box set is a bit of a letdown is in the "history" aspect. It's really just a compilation of all the NBA films that they do at the end of each year for the champion. And while they are all pretty good and I rented them all years ago, they don't really tell the history of the team. They tell the history of the champtionship seasons.

If you're looking for history, Disc 1 is probably the best, with old footage and more recent interviews. But there's no description of the Lakers of the '70s and how they got Kareem and what the team was like before Magic and how the Lakers drew about 11,000 fans per game. I think that is missing from this and I would have liked to have seen more of that. Also too bad someone couldn't dig up more interviews with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West talking about how frustrating it was to lose all those years to the Celtics, although there is a good feature on Rod Hundley and Tommy Hawkins talking about the '85 Lakers win.

Two other criticisms: (1) On the whole the editing of the games is very good, but on the early games is a bit choppy. We lose the last few minutes of the 71-72 Lakers championship, which was the team's first and there's no footage of West running off the court with Pat Riley. It should have been there. (2) Not enough about Chick Hearn and his role with the Lakers. He's featured prominently as the narrator on the '87 overview, but there should have been more devoted to him. Also, it would have been nice if they could have taken one or two of the games and replaced the network commentary with Chick Hearn and Stu Lantz.

Still, any Lakers fan should have this.