I was ending my sophomore year of high school and still stinging from last years Championship series, which the Celtics won in 7 hard fought games---emphasis on "fought"! This rematch was long-awaited and my friends and I rejoiced as the Lakers finally beat the Celtics for the NBA Championship [as it was called back then]. This was a historic series and being able to relive them in this set, which includes all 6 games, was a great trip down Memory Lane. Much of the first half of Game 1 isn't available and it is stated on the DVD. A special treat for me was hearing the iconic timber of Chick Hearn announcing a portion of the action in Game 2---I actually cried hearing him call the action in that way only he could. This was the series that propelled the NBA into stratospheric heights as future Hall-Of-Famers on both sides battled it out in pro basketball's most polarizing rivalry. You will see the brilliance of Magic and Bird at their height, along with the dawning of Worthy and McHale as forces to be reckoned with. Kareem showed why the conversation should begin and end with Greatest Of All Time. I personally couldn't stand the color commentary of Tom Heinsohn, the worse ever, but that's just a Laker fan not tolerating a Celtic homer. Great set for anyone that loved this era of the NBA.

I loved watching , and remembering those Classic games. However, a l iui title disappointed. Did not get Complete Game of the first game, fourth quarter ending is missing .. Other than that GREAT BUY FOR LAKER FANS.ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ€ðŸ€ðŸ€ðŸ€ðŸ€

Why they are not releasing other great complete final matches seasons like the previous 1984 season which lakers should have won but lost it ?
There are many great finals like the 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009 season final matches which need to be release IN DVD IN A COMPLETE FORM.

This 1985 complete finals is a good start but we need more ... much more.....not just dvd's with 60 minutes content.

There are two reasons why I purchased this DVD release of the 1985 NBA Finals (the Lakers' "Return to Glory"):

One, the game was played better and with more of the fundamentals (shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding, defense, etc.) by such experts of the game as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and more.

Two (the more important reason), the telecasts were covered better, and what I mean by that is that the screen wasn't clogged up with scorebars and other stats and graphics that got in the way of the action. CBS was the network of the NBA then, and these DVDs prove why, at least to me, their coverage is/was unsurpassed, and remains so. For one thing, their NBA title sequence then (created by Bill Feigenbaum) was built around what, it has been said, appeared to be a computer-generated replica of the great Boston Garden. It had such elements as a green scoreboard that rotated into place in the top middle of the screen, an animated CBS camera that made a 90-deg. loop from the lens to the viewfinder, and a basketball that found its way into the hoop and became the eyeball of the CBS "eye device" (on a rectangular "CBS Sports NBA [World Championship]" title that zoomed out to the left from the "eye device"). Another thing is that CBS' score display, for the most part, only appeared when either side scored, and remained on screen for about a second (longer at commercial breaks). The game announcers (Stockton/Heinsohn) and the pregame presenter (Musburger) were also head-and-shoulders above the ABC/ESPN people (although of course Brent Musburger is currently with ABC/ESPN).

This DVD release of the 1985 Finals (known then as the NBA World Championship) comes on 7 DVDs in four slipcases. The first three cases contain the 6 games of the Finals (two per case), although for some unknown reason, the first game from the Boston Garden is incomplete, in that the balance of the first half is missing. I am, however, giving Warner Bros./NBA Entertainment the benefit of the doubt, in that the Boston Celtics had already run up a huge lead in the missing first 22 min. or so of gameplay, thereby leading to this game being known as the "Memorial Day Massacre." The third game has a real treat for the ears: for the balance of the 4th quarter there, legendary Lakers announcer Chick Hearn takes over. You'll get to hear the colorful mannerisms of this oft-renowned announcer; he had such well-known turns of phrase as "in the refrigerator," "boo-birds," and "air-mail special," among others. The games can be played all at once or by chapters (except for the first game, which has a "partial 2nd quarter" chapter, and chapters for the third and fourth quarters). Where the first game picks up, there is a status bar at the bottom of the screen that runs for the first few minutes explaining why that game started with 2 min. remaining in the first half.

The final disc is an hour-long recap of the road to this NBA Finals matchup, also called "Return to Glory," presented by CBS NBA announcer Dick Stockton. It is divided into 8 chapters, which, like the games, you can see all at once or by chapter.

The slipcases that contain the games include the stats from each game, such as the score (both by quarters and the final score), player stats, and shooting percentages for 2-pointers, 3-pointers, and free throws. They also indicate the dates and venues of the games, and the names of the officials.

All told, if you're looking for well-played and well-covered NBA basketball, you cannot go wrong in purchasing this release of the 1985 NBA Finals.

What a wonderful trip down memory lane. This was the era when basketball was fun to watch. The Lakers of the 80's had alot of scoring along with run,run, and more running. With Kareem, Magic, Worthy and company, the Lakers had the perfect combination of height,speed and depth that led to a World Championship. It is a shame that game one is not complete, since this may have been a motivating factor for the rest of the series. It also was a real treat to hear Chick Hearn from the radio broadcast during one of the games. I grew up listening to Chick during the '70's and '80's. He was the best at describing the action along with his "word's eye view" and his catch phrases, "the light is out in the refrigerator", and "no harm, no foul,no blood, no ambulance". The Lakers should have beaten the Celtics last time but due to bad passing and not playing smart, they still beat the Celtics 2 out of 3 during the '80's. Bring back all of these classic games.