''Murderball'' is a 2005 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about athletes who are physically disabled who play

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for Disabled sport, athletes with a disability. It is practiced in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic spor ...

. It centers on the rivalry between the Canadian and American teams leading up to the

2004 Paralympic Games The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September 2 ...

. It was directed by

Henry Alex Rubin Henry-Alex Rubin is an Academy Award-nominated American filmmaker and Emmy Award-winning commercial director. Early life and education Henry-Alex Rubin grew up in New York City as the son of a French mother and noted art historian James H. Rubin. ...

and Dana Adam Shapiro and produced by Jeffrey V. Mandel and Shapiro. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature for the

78th Academy Awards The 78th Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, P ...

. ''Murderball'' was the first and only MTV film released through

THINKFilm ThinkFilm (stylized as TH!NKFilm) was an American film distribution company founded in September 2001. It had been a division of David Bergstein’s Capitol Films since 2006. On October 5, 2010, five of Bergstein's companies in the film indust ...

as well as

Participant Media Participant Media, LLC was an American independent Film industry, film and television production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment intended to spur social change. The company financed and co-produced film and te ...

Production

''Murderball'' was shot on a low budget. The main camera used was a

Panasonic AG-DVX100 The Panasonic AG-DVX100 was a video camera released on October 13, 2002, manufactured by Panasonic. It was the first consumer 60-hertz digital camcorder to support video recording at 24 frames per second (progressive scan) onto MiniDV tape. T ...

; a Sony PD150 was used to shoot some of the early interviews. The crew rigged a Sennheiser shotgun microphone to use as a boom and relied heavily on Lavaliere wireless microphones as well. Available lighting was used almost exclusively. Additional light was provided using an inexpensive china ball. In one example of on-the-spot lighting, a flashlight was diffused using only a napkin.

Reception

''Murderball'' garnered almost universally positive reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, it has an approval rating of 98% based on reviews from 141 critics, and an average rating of 8.37/10. This film also appears on the Rotten Tomatoes countdown of the top sports movies in 14th place as of 2023.

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gives an aggregated score of 87 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". ''Murderball'' also received positive reviews from Hollywood.com and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, who said "This is one of those rare docs, like ''

Hoop Dreams ''Hoop Dreams'' is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates ...

'', where life provides a better ending than the filmmakers could have hoped for." In December 2005, as part of the

United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. It has been observed with varying degrees of success around the planet. The observance of the Day aims to promot ...

, the

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations (UN) is the global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among sta ...

screened the film at the

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (English: ,; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second secretary-general of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in Septe ...

Auditorium in its

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

headquarters. The movie was particularly celebrated for examining sexuality after spinal cord injuries. In April 2024, it was selected by Britain's

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

newspaper as one of their "20 best sports movies".

Awards

Musical score and soundtrack

The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

was composed and performed by

Jamie Saft Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City and raised a Conservative Judaism, Conservative Jew, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory, New England Conserva ...

and the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

, which featured selections from Saft's score along with previously released tracks by Ministry, Ween,

The Polyphonic Spree The Polyphonic Spree is an American choral rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal choir, and instruments such as flute, trumpet, ...

Sam Prekop Sam Prekop (born October 18, 1964) is an American musician in the band The Sea and Cake. He also has released five solo albums. Early life Prekop was born in London, but grew up in Chicago. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute. Career ...

The Moldy Peaches The Moldy Peaches are an American independent music, indie group founded by Adam Green (musician), Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band had been on Recess (break), hiatus since 2004, but in 2023 announ ...

, The Whiles,

Chessie Chessie may refer to: *Chessie (sea monster), a legendary monster supposedly living in Chesapeake Bay, US *Chessie System, a former holding company of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) *Chessie (mascot), a kitten mascot of the C&O * ''Chessie' ...

and

Scratch Massive Scratch Massive is a French DJ duo, composed of Maud Geffray and Sébastien Chenut. Biography Scratch Massive was formed in 1994, and is active in the French electronic music scene, and are DJs as well as composers and music producers. In 2001 ...

used in the documentary, was released on the Commotion label in 2005. Additional music composed for the film was released on Saft's ''

A Bag of Shells ''A Bag of Shells'' is an album of music written for film by Jamie Saft which was released on the Tzadik label in 2010. It features the music that Saft wrote and recorded for the documentaries '' Murderball'' (2005) and '' God Grew Tired of Us'' ( ...

'' (Tzadik, 2010).

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's James Christopher Monger said "Hearing Ministry's Alaine Jourgensen screaming "thieves, thieves & liars, murderers" over the clash of metal on metal during a wheelchair rugby match dutifully amplifies the primal nature of competition, especially when all of the players involved have overcome near-death physical (and psychological) injuries. ... The film's producers have compiled a rousing soundtrack that reflects the sport's brutality while maintaining an undercurrent of regretful stoicism. Keyboard player/composer Jamie Saft provides ''Murderball''s backbone, laying down an original score that boasts atmospherics which are both tender and visceral. Other highlights include the engaging "Something" from the Sea and Cake's Sam Prekop, a trippy instrumental from Ween and the Moldy Peaches "Anyone Else But You."". ; Track listing All compositions by Jamie Saft except where noted # Ministry: "

Thieves Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

" (

Paul Barker Paul Gordon Barker (born February 8, 1959), also referred to as Hermes Pan, is an American musician, best known as the former bass guitarist, producer and engineer for industrial metal band Ministry from 1986 to 2003. Prior to Ministry, he pr ...

Al Jourgensen Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is t ...

) – 4:59 # Jamie Saft: "Murderball Remix" – 4:44 # Ween: "The F**ked Jam" (

Aaron Freeman Aaron Freeman (born June 8, 1956) is an American journalist, stand-up comedian, author, cartoonist, and blogger. Career During the 1990s, Freeman was the host of the weekly informational radio program ''Metropolis'' which was broadcast in the ...

, Michael Melchiondo) – 2:55 #

: "Light & Day" ( Tim DeLaughter) – 3:24 #

: "Something" (Sam Prekop) – 3:47 # Jamie Saft: "Robert's Theme" – 2:27 # "

: "

Anyone Else but You "Anyone Else but You" is a song by the indie rock duo the Moldy Peaches, first released on their 2001 self-titled album. The song achieved wider popularity after being featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 film '' Juno'', along with several othe ...

" (

Kimya Dawson Kimya Dawson (born November 17, 1972) is an American folk singer-songwriter, one half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song " Anyone ...

) – 2:57 # " The Whiles: "Song for Jerry" (The Whiles) – 1:31 #

: "Follow Me Home" (Chessie) – 6:51 # Jamie Saft: "Penultimatum" – 3:21 #

: "Keep on Workin'" (Sebastien Chenut, Maud Geffray) – 5:12 # Jamie Saft: "Dungeonous Warfare" – 1:27 # Ministry: "Waiting" (Jourgensen,

Mike Scaccia Michael Ralph Scaccia ( ; June 14, 1965 – December 22, 2012) was an American musician, best known as a guitarist for several heavy metal and alternative rock acts, including Rigor Mortis, Ministry and Revolting Cocks. Life and career Scacci ...

Max Brody Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1981 by producer, singer, and instrumentalist Al Jourgensen. Originally a synth-pop outfit, Ministry evolved into one of the pioneers of industrial rock and industria ...

) – 5:04

References

External links

* * *
Mark Zupan's Murderball Journal
from 2005, at MTV.com (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Murderball 2005 films 2005 documentary films American sports documentary films 2000s English-language films Documentary films about sportspeople with disabilities Films about the Paralympics Films about people with paraplegia or tetraplegia Films about disability in the United States Films directed by Henry-Alex Rubin Films shot in Rhode Island MTV Films films Participant (company) films Paramount Pictures films Sundance Film Festival award–winning films Wheelchair rugby 2000s American films English-language documentary films