Quantum Hoops (2007) User Reviews

A solid, entertaining documentary

[rvanarc · 9/10 · 18 November 2007]

This is a good film, which shows the demands of high academic performance coupled with the challenges of competing in college athletics. It captures the heart and spirit of the Caltech men's basketball team, and also shows a little of the history of Caltech and its athletic programs.

One person described the film as heartwarming and heartbreaking, and I agree. Coach Roy Dow shows tremendous skill and commitment as he works with the players, and other coaches in his conference tell of their admiration of his commitment and performance.

The climactic game in the film, against Whittier College couldn't have been scripted to be any more exciting.

This film is like a cross between Real Genius and Hoosiers.

"REVENGE OF THE NERDS" meets "HOOP DREAMS" – a winner by all means

[george.schmidt · 8/10 · 26 March 2008]

QUANTUM HOOPS: THE CALTECH BASKETBALL STORY (2008) ***

"REVENGE OF THE NERDS" meets "HOOP DREAMS" – a winner by all means

The truly hard to-believe only-in-real-life incredulity of the CalTech College Basketball's remarkable 20 plus years of never winning a game since 1986 seems like a textbook formulaic big Hollywood underdog story that would be ripe for the pickings of someone like Rob Shelton to turn into a jock flick but instead we are treated to a very informative, entertaining and inspirational documentary by novice filmmaker Rick Greenwald.

The film details the entire history of the esteemed CalTech and reads like a whos who of American ingenuity at its greatest – the list of brilliant minds who attended and went on to even greater endeavors is too long to mention – but the overall cache of amazing genius level students is staggering.

The same can be said of its basketball team, which truly had its demons to wrestle with as a laughing stock within the collegiate league and Greenwald focuses primarily current coach Roy Dow's 2006 efforts to win one game.

Greenwald's skills as a professional editor – his bread and butter prior to this, a well- conceived effort as a filmmaker in his debut here – excel with sharp, clever and inventive methods to keep the large amount of archival footage, rare stills and talking heads a cut above the atypical jockumentary and it shows in his storytelling in the final act as the Beavers ("nature's engineers"!) attempt to fulfill their destiny.

Narrated with the placating tones of David Duchovny the film moves along like a great mystery and showcasing all its players and the facts of the matter make for a unique sports saga in the ultimate underdog story that you can't help be rooting for a solid victory (and as someone who could care less about sports in general, that's truly saying a lot!)

The hoop dreams of a brainiac team

[jeppe-29965 · 7/10 · 14 April 2017]

Started out slow, got way better towards the end. Documentary wasn't as professional as I was used to, but I enjoyed the down to earth nature of the Caltech students and how the filmmakers chose to show us the former players. So, while it may not be the most absorbing subject for a feature documentary, the hoop dreams of a brainiac team that wants to win just once does make for an amusing diversion, especially with another season of college-bracket fever upon us.