Product Details

• Actors: John Goodman, Kelly McGillis, Trini Alvarado, Bruce Boxleitner, Peter Donat
• Directors: Arthur Hiller
• Writers: John Fusco
• Producers: Bill Finnegan, Erica Hiller, Jim Van Wyck, John Fusco, Walter Coblenz
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: July 1, 1997
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302534372
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,979 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

John Goodman ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?") brings the legendary Babe Ruth to life in this triumphant film "Entertainment Weekly" calls "a crowd pleaser."

Co-starring Kelly McGillis ("Witness"), "The Babe" chronicles Ruth's phenomenal story--from his hard knock beginnings at a Baltimore orphanage, to his meteoric rise to baseball superstardom and his poignant retirement from the game.

His amazing career included seven American League pennants, four World Series championships, two tempestuous marriages and a wild lifestyle that earned him numerous suspensions.

"The Babe" is the definitive story of one of sport's most fascinating figures, capturing all the drama and excitement of the greatest baseball player in history. END

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good baseball movie, but not what it should have been, March 20, 2006

By 

Wyluli "Wyluli Wolf" (Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Babe (DVD)

Probably the most famous baseball player of all-time, Babe Ruth should definitely have had a movie done about him, and "The Babe" is a decent effort, but is not without flaws. First, there are many inaccuracies in this movie, but I won't go into that too deep. At the end of the movie (1936), The Babe is spitting up blood during the game between the Braves and the Pirates, but Ruth did not pass away from cancer until 1948. Certainly Ruth did not have cancer in 1936.. There's many other things, but I don't need to list them all.

But the thing that really bothered me about this movie is that Ruth is portrayed as nothing more than a bumbling idiot while he was with the Red Sox. While this is good for a few laughs, it really took away from my enjoyment of the first half of the movie. I'm thinking "THIS guy is Babe Ruth??" However, as soon as Ruth is sold to the Yankees, he becomes much more intelligent and doesn't act like a complete dumba$$ all of the time. At this point, the movie takes a much more serious turn, and in my opinion, the last half of the movie is EXCELLENT. The film delves into the Babe's issues both on and off the field, and definitely has some touching moments, and a strong finish to the movie. Too bad the first half of the movie was so silly.. So overall, 1 star for the first half of the movie, 5 stars for the second half, for a final score of 3 stars.

I thought that John Goodman was very good as The Babe, although yes, he was much larger (weight) than Babe Ruth really was at any point in his life, but let's not get hung up on details. Goodman was a good fit for the part, and Kelly McGillis was excellent in the supporting role of Claire Hudson.

All of that said, if you're a true baseball historian, you will find plenty to complain about with "The Babe", but if you just want a fun baseball movie to watch, then I would definitely recommend it. I would hope that someday a movie is made about Babe Ruth that is more historically accurate, and has a much more grand feel like the movie 61*, because this telling of Babe Ruth's life just isn't quite the home run that it should have been.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Truth Stretching, and All-Out Fabrication, August 8, 2005

By 

Hans Pfaall "eight_miles_high" (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Babe (DVD)

I saw this movie as a kid when it came out and liked it, but since then it has gone through something of a critical reevaluation. Goodman is an entertaining actor, but there are just too many factual errors, and they arguably detract too much from the film's quality.

As was noted elsewhere by other reviewers, Goodman's Ruth does not represent a great athlete. Ruth was not overweight growing up, nor in his early days as a ballplayer. Ruth's weight did fluctuate, but few to this day know that Ruth had 123 career stolen bases, and actually led the Yankees in steals one year (1923). Goodman's character was unreasonably slow, and at the end was portrayed as unable to run the bases even on a home run. This might work as light humor, but it certainly is not fact. Also of note, Goodman was a natural born right-hander that had to learn how to bat and throw left-handed like Ruth for the purpose of acting in this film. This makes Goodman look awkward, and even less like an athlete on a few occasions.

On the other hand, I understand as a general rule that playwrights and filmmakers are given a certain "artistic license," and that it is alright on some occasions to stretch the truth for a purpose. The bloated portrayal of Ruth might be one such example, no matter how erroneous it is from a factual standpoint. Even so, many of the inaccuracies have no discernable purpose. Case in point, "Jumpin' Joe" Dugan was never a teammate of Ruth's in Boston, only in New York. It is also known that Ruth did not have any home runs in 1914, but according to this movie he had one that year. In addition, Ruth was not the first player to hit a home run at Forbes Field. The list could go on for a while, and there seems to be no reason why the filmmakers decided to alter such facts. "Jumpin' Joe" may have been put in there just to have a veteran teammate friend for Ruth, but Dugan started his career three years after Ruth did, so he could not have been a veteran to Ruth at any point in his career. They could have picked someone else to fill this fictitious "veteran teammate" role, or scrapped the idea all together. The 1914 home run served the purpose of providing a dramatic rookie year home run, but this scene could have been set in 1915 instead, and with some modifications perhaps could have been just as dramatic. Lastly, regarding Forbes Field, the announcer could have said a true statement along the lines of "Forbes Field is a pitchers ballpark, not many home runs are hit here folks," as opposed to the inaccurate "no one has ever hit a ball out of Forbes Field." The latter line had a dramatic effect, but was not necessary.

Also of note, Ruth's supposed "meeting" with gangster Alphonse Capone seemed a bit absurd, perhaps this was thrown in to get a glimpse of the times. Aside from the dicey misrepresentations though, there were a few strong qualities. The acting was strong overall, with Ruth's two wives giving strong performances, and Goodman's performance was not a total wash, even if there was too much over-the-top buffoonery. And let it be said that this film does have the ability to evoke some of the excitement of the game of baseball - a sentiment especially felt as an eight or nine year old viewer. But as said by Derek Armstrong, there were "too few ambitions toward a greatness to match that of its subject matter."

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very great movie, July 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Babe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Babe was one of the best baseball movies that I've ever seen. It has a little of everything in this movie from funny to sad parts to really dramatic parts. Atleast that's what I remember from it, but I saw it back in 92 and haven't seen it yet. But anyway it was a great movie and really detailed about Babe Ruth's life so own this one today.