Quadriplegic athletes compete in a fierce form of rugby known as Murderball. Two rival teams from America and Canada respectively go head to head in Athens, Greece for the gold medal in a major championship match.Directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro vividly capture the amazing strength, humor, and humanity of a remarkable bunch of men who include the fearsome and aggressive Mark Zupan, the recently disabled, but determined Keith Cavill, the soulful Bob Lujano, easygoing blonde hunk Andy Cohn, likable Scott Higsett, and bitter Canadian team coach Joe Soares, who becomes a better and more caring father and person after suffering a heart attack. Moreover, Rubin and Shapiro show an obdurate and admirable refusal to sentimentalize their subjects: These tough, scrappy, and resourceful fellows elicit and deserve respect instead of pity for the courage and resilience they show in the face of adversity and offer proof positive that a disability can be effectively surmounted through sheer force of will alone. Better still, this film covers everything from the grueling training sessions to the brutal and harrowing games to the reality of these men's sex lives with refreshing candor and straightforwardness. An extraordinary testament to the triumph of the human spirit.

Murderball dives into the intense and aggressive sport of wheelchair rugby and follows it's tough and gritty athletes. I found the stories of these amazing men to be truly inspiring and very meaningful. From Mark Zupan, the star player of the United States team and Joe Soares the former star of the United States team who is now head coach of team Canada to the newly injured Kevin Orr. These men are not interested in your pity.I absolutely loved how the directors of the films got into certain topics one would not expect to come up in a documentary about wheelchair rugby. This is something that made me enjoy this film on a whole other level. Due to this humorous and humanizing sequence of the film I was engaged even further. After watching the film I wanted to know more about these men and turned to Google!Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro do an excellent job of structuring this film. I was very engaged in the lives of these people while also keeping in my mind the importance of the Paralympics they are preparing for. The back-story provided in the first portion of the film does a nice job of setting up the end.

This recent documentary about quadrapalegics playing a violent form of rugby never found its expected audience. It was expected to be a breakout hit of last summer and was even released under the MTV Films label. It was eclipsed by last summer's surprise hit doc "March of the Penguins." Is it any good? The scenes in which we follow the players in their day to day lives are great. One portion of the film follows a recently paralyzed motorcross racer and his excitement in discovering the sport. These moments are touching, inspiring, and the doc's best moments.The sport, though, is either filmed poorly by the directors or its just not that exciting. These moments are reminiscent of Oliver Stone's football scenes in "Any Given Sunday"--I can see a lot of bodies of banging together, but don't ask me what the heck is going on. It appears that who ever has possession of the ball is likely to score meaning that winning the game comes down to having the ball in the closing seconds.As a sports doc, it falls short. It greatly succeeds, though, in exploring the lives of the athletes.Recommended.Read more at http://solipsisticblog.blogspot.com/.

My thoughts on this film are that this film was well done, considering it was a Documentary. It was better than I expected, I expected it to be a boring old Documentary on some sport, although it wasn't. It was based on real people and how they live their lives having being in a wheelchair. It's not necessarily "action packed" if you will, but it has enough action to keep the viewer entertained. It's not only filled with action, but it carries with it emotion as well as confidence,strength, difficult challenges, and humiliation. It also takes a look at accomplishing your goals, and working towards that completion. I loved this Documentary because it displays a lot of truth to the facts of being a Quadriplegic. By: Steph