We Are Marshall (2006)

PG
124 min
Drama
December 12, 2006

Latest Articles
Movie Details

Latest 'We Are Marshall' News

We Are Marshall Scores on the Charts

DVD is No. 1 in sales and rentals.

Evan JacobsSep 28, 2007

We Are Marshall Scores on DVD September 18

DVD to feature 45 minutes of featurettes.

Evan JacobsAug 3, 2007

Matthew McConaughey Hits the Gridiron in We Are Marshall

The sexiest man alive plays a doting father and football coach.

Julian RomanDec 23, 2006

Win Huge Prizes from We Are Marshall!

We're giving away tons of great merch from the film!

B. Alan OrangeDec 17, 2006

ON SET: Matthew McConaughey Talks We Are Marshall

Playing the coach of the rebuilt 1971 Marshall University football team.

Nov 13, 2006

ON SET: We Are Marshall's Director McG and Writer Jamie Linden

Go behind the scenes of the real-life football drama.

Nov 13, 2006

Warner Bros. Hosting a $50,000 We Are Marshall Fan Page Scholarship Contest

Entrants are encouraged to create a film fan page on their favorite social networking site.

Nov 6, 2006

Matthew Fox Talks We Are Marshall

The true story of the 1970 Marshall University plane crash.

Nov 1, 2006

Warner Bros. Re-works Their Upcoming Schedule

Lucky You, We Are Marshall, The Astronaut Farmer, The Reaping, and 300 all get new release dates.

Aug 9, 2006

Matthew Fox Talks Vantage Point And The Lost Season Finale

The action thriller to be shot in Mexico City; and what's going to happen to Dr. Jack Shephard.

May 19, 2006

New Photos from the Set of We Are Marshall Online

McG directs the star in the upcoming drama now filming in Huntington, WV.

Evan JacobsApr 24, 2006

Ian McShane Joins the Cast of We Are Marshall

The film about the loss of the 1970 Marshall University football program.

Apr 17, 2006

We Are Marshall Begins Production

The McG directed drama stars Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox.

Brian B.Apr 3, 2006

Critics Score

49%

Release Date

December 12, 2006

Director

Writers

Jamie Linden
Cory Helms

Cast

Official Website

wearemarshall-themovie.com

We Are Marshall Synopsis

"We Are Marshall" tells an inspiring true story set in Huntington, West Virginia, a small town steeped in the rich tradition of college football. For decades, players, coaches, fans and families have come together to cheer on Marshall University's "Thundering Herd." For this team and this community, Marshall football is more than just a sport, it's a way of life. But on a fateful night in 1970, while traveling back to Huntington after a game in North Carolina, 75 members of Marshall's football team and coaching staff were killed in a plane crash. As those left behind struggled to cope with the devastating loss of their loved ones, the grieving families found hope and strength in the leadership of Jack Lengyel, a young coach who was determined to rebuild Marshall's football program and in the process helped to heal a community.

"We Are Marshall" stars Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, the coach who leads Marshall University and the Huntington community from tragedy to triumph; Matthew Fox as assistant coach Red Dawson, who helps Lengyel rebuild the team after giving up his seat on the doomed flight to another member of the Marshall squad; and David Strathairn as the president of Marshall University, who attempts to restore the school's broken spirit against overwhelming odds. The film also co-stars Anthony Mackie ("Million Dollar Baby") as passionate team captain Nate Ruffin and Kate Mara ("Brokeback Mountain") as Marshall's head cheerleader Annie Cantrell."We Are Marshall" tells an inspiring true story set in Huntington, West Virginia, a small town steeped in the rich tradition of college football. For decades, players, coaches, fans and families have come together to cheer on Marshall University's "Thundering Herd." For this team and this community, Marshall football is more than just a sport, it's a way of life. But on a fateful night in 1970, while traveling back to Huntington after a game in North Carolina, 75 members of Marshall's football team and coaching staff were killed in a plane crash. As those left behind struggled to cope with the devastating loss of their loved ones, the grieving families found hope and strength in the leadership of Jack Lengyel, a young coach who was determined to rebuild Marshall's football program and in the process helped to heal a community.

"We Are Marshall" stars Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, the coach who leads Marshall University and the Huntington community from tragedy to triumph; Matthew Fox as assistant coach Red Dawson, who helps Lengyel rebuild the team after giving up his seat on the doomed flight to another member of the Marshall squad; and David Strathairn as the president of Marshall University, who attempts to restore the school's broken spirit against overwhelming odds. The film also co-stars Anthony Mackie ("Million Dollar Baby") as passionate team captain Nate Ruffin and Kate Mara ("Brokeback Mountain") as Marshall's head cheerleader Annie Cantrell.

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Based on true events, "We Are Marshall" tells the inspiring story of how a small town in West Virginia struggled to cope with a devastating loss and restore their community after one of the worst disasters in the history of American sports.

On the evening of Saturday, November 14, 1970, a chartered jet carrying Marshall University's football team, coaches and fans, was on its way home from a hard-fought game in North Carolina. Less than a minute before its scheduled landing at Tri-State Airport, the plane crashed in the Appalachian Mountains, killing everyone aboard: 37 players, eight coaches and university staff, the flight crew, and 25 prominent Huntington citizens who had made the trip as they always did to cheer their "Thundering Herd."

In the aftermath of this stunning tragedy, university president Donald Dedmon (DAVID STRATHAIRN) prepared to suspend the school's football program for the season - perhaps indefinitely. Assistant coach Red Dawson (MATTHEW FOX), who narrowly missed the ill-fated flight, couldn't face going back onto the field.

But in Huntington, Marshall football has always been more than a sport: it's a way of life. And this town would rally to save it.

After some initial setbacks, they found hope and strength in the leadership of outsider Jack Lengyel (MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY), a young coach determined to rebuild Marshall's football program and, in the process, help to heal the community.

Less than a year later, on September 18, 1971, Marshall University's brand new Thundering Herd was poised to stage one of the greatest comebacks in collegiate sports. A raw, youthful and inexperienced squad, patched together under the guidance of Lengyel and Dawson, they would defy overwhelming odds just to march onto the gridiron for the school's first game since the accident.

That season, it didn't matter whether Marshall won or lost. It didn't even matter how they played the game. All that mattered was that they played.