What can you say that hasn't already been said? This movie is about so much more than basketball. It covers hope, triumph, race and the economic and social dividers that come with it. A beautiful and frank film about the inner city condition. You're affected not only by Arthur and William, but by their respective families' ups and downs. This really is a wonderful movie.

It took years to finally get hold of a copy but the wait was worth every minute. Ostensibly a sports movie, it explores all of the influences around the boys and gives time to the many characters, from crackhead dads to unsympathetic coaches, who both help to create and hinder the titular dreams. A great editing job means there's real drama and tension throughout, with the viewer never certain about what's going to happen next. Documentary making doesn't get much better than this.

This is a documentary that was begging to be made and I'm glad that someone made it, and did a good job, too. The director doesn't cram any bullshit filler into this, and leaves out nothing real and important.

I can see that it's well made but I just frankly don't give a shit.

Simple, straight forward, and insightful truth. This is what a documentary should be. I can't imagine that the film-makers knew when they started how perfectly William and Arthur would compare and contrast. Despite starting in the same place, the only real similarity in their stories the pursuit of the same unreachable dream as the realities of life tried to wake them up.

Its incredibly long run time is justified by the scope of its subject matter. Although the description may make it seem like a small story, it really gets into so much. The individual kids, the importance of basketball, the dynamics of urban African American households, the American dream, etc. The praise it's received is well deserved, especially for its influence on the documentary genre.

What's so special about this?

Beyond perfect. And, every scene is true. Lovely, lovely, lovely stuff.

An unforgettable rich, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that shattered the nonsenseical illusion that factual films can't be as entertaining as fictional ones. Hoop Dreams is undoubtedly the greatest sports documentary of all time, but it is more than just a sports movie. It is a film that conveys the fabric of inner-city American life and manages to exemplify the spirit of it's time, a unique movie with all the properties that make film such a unique and special medium.

This was just as amazing as I hoped it would be, and expected it to be. I love stories and fairy tales and whatnot, but there's nothing like a real tale from the real world. This isn't a big redemptive story where everything fades to white and they all live on in eternal happiness at the end, nor is it some sort of overdone tragedy. It's a slice of life. A pretty big slice, mind you -- maybe a whole cake of life. And it's so much more universal than just being about basketball.

Slow and did not like it

What an impressive and, frankly, ambitiously epic documentary. The sporting journey is compelling enough, but the family dynamics fill this out wonderfully. Paying close attention to the cut points is especially rewarding -- the parallel stories offering such a rich contrast, as do the jumps between raucous sporting events to the muted triumphs/tragedies of everyday life.

I don't get all the hype. Sure its a good movie but not the best documentary of all time. It might have been original back in 1994 but in the time since then there have been so many sports documentaries similar to this. In comparison this just seems overly long and drags in a few places. Still the overall story is compelling and for as low a budget as they had it turned out really well.

So good at showing us the lives of these people that every minor victory excites us and every defeat wrecks us. Genius in how it manages to cover so much ground on inner-city life, the flawed sports scholarship system, and the human spirit. Sheila Agee is one of those incredibly inspiring people who never gives up, and her personal victories are the most moving parts of the whole film. Recommended for absolutely everyone.

I fully understand why Ebert named this his film of the '90s. While I won't go that far, it's still one of the most thorough and lovingly crafted slices of American life that has ever been committed to film. You do NOT have to be a basketball fan to enjoy this. If the sports scenes and hoops chatter don't get to you, the pain and struggles experienced by the extended families of Will and Arthur will. The filmmakers place you directly in their homes...their setbacks and triumphs become your own.

Serves as a cautionary tale. Meaning, don't put all your eggs in one basket. It's important to chase your dreams but Curtis was the culmination of a washed up, pathetic loser who did just that and failed then had nothing to show for it. School is important! Fascinating stuff. My only complaint is poor narration, otherwise this is almost perfect.

People's hopes and dreams are always interesting, because they are not your own. While the movie was engrossing, and did a good job of pulling me into the story, the fact that neither of these two men went on to follow that dream saddens me, and cheapens the movie's appeal in hindsight.

See. This. Movie. It's an utterly engrossing tale of two boys, their dreams, their families and, above all, basketball, basketball, basketball. And, the amazing part? All true, every part. Watch it; you won't regret it.

Not only does James prospect, scrutinize and analyse the two boy's courageous perseverance and adherence, but also their economical and academic import. It takes an enormous quantity of desire and hope to reach the status these two boys did, but they have confirmed right here that anything is possible. The best documentary I've ever seen and also one of the best single movies I've ever sat through. Remarkable in every regard.