Customer Reviews

The Bad News Bears [VHS]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The great Walter Matthau (all saggy jowls) plays Buttermaker, an ex-pitcher turned pool cleaner who tools around all day on his jobs in a chop-top station wagon with a cooler of beer in the backseat. A local businessman talks (with money) Buttermaker into coaching a youth-league team of castaways. Seems this is one community that takes its youth league baseball seriously. A little too seriously.

What follows is the familiar plot of a bunch of underdog kids coming together as the "Team Nobody Believed In" and contending for the championship against a team that represents everything that's wrong when parents spoil simple pleasures for their children (the Yankees, coached by Vic Morrow, in a neatly-observed performance). Look, I don't know if "Bears" even did it first, but this movie certainly does it best, and without the labored sentimentality of its progeny.

"Bears" never turns cartoonish. It captures just the right atmosphere- slanting, late afternoon sunlight during the games, the bikes parked behind the dugouts, the post-game chants. The kids, led by Tatum O'Neal and Jackie Earle Haley all perform well, and each has a sharply defined personality. Even Morrow, as Buttermaker's antagonist, isn't portrayed as bad or evil- just a guy with misplaced priorities that make him act like a jerk.

But Matthau makes this movie, conning kids into making martinis for him and cleaning pools while he regales them with increasingly drunken stories of his baseball glory days... until he passes out on the mound in a litter of beer cans. Matthau plays Buttermaker as a modern day loser who discovers (eventually) he still has a better nature.

Bright, smart and funny, "The Bad News Bears" is a joy to watch, full of quick-witted exchanges and even heartbreak. If you've seen one too many "Mighty Ducks" flicks, do yourself a favor and watch this one. It goes down as smooth as one of Buttermaker's ice cold ones on a hot afternoon.

And look for that kid who played Eddie in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" as Morrow's son and the Yankees' star pitcher. He has a ballpark epiphany that's true and heartbreaking. Just another aspect of this marvelous little movie.

Even movies about a bunch of pre-adolescent ballplayers were better in the 70s. This is possibly one of the best "kids movies" of all time ... if you like an unsentimental, raw look at how kids really are. No glossy cinematography here, the Bears stands as a testament to the truth of kids lives. Not all perfect angels or demons, kids are more complex than we give them credit. Sadly, this truth seems to stop with this film; "The Bad News Bears" is an anomaly rather than a groundbreaker.

We never see the kids at home, or with their families except for some brief snippets at the very end; the film exists only on the playing field and the dugouts. Matthau is simply wonderful as a gruff drunk who doesn't suddenly become loveable in a bland burst of generic orchestral mediocrity -- kudos to the filmmakers for incorporating the score to Carmen throughout the entire film.

Vic Morrow shines in a supporting role that embodies the cutthroat world of American Little League (and sadly the movie made me ask, does everything about America have to be so cutthroat?) and Morrow's performance is eerily true-to-life of all the sports parents and coaches out there who are more into the game than the kids. Watch for the tense stand-off scene between Morrow and Brandon Cruz.

The Bears went on to sully their legacy with two less than stellar sequels and a short lived TV series but this original film is worth holding onto.

Studios would never risk making such a hard edged kiddie flick! Here we have a posse of little cretins that act like real kids, obnoxious, bratty, foul mouthed, and selfish. These kids hurl racial epithets and get slapped down by their overly competitive or alcohol abusing coaches and fathers. Matthau drives the kids around while drinking whiskey laced beer. Do not let the PG rating fool you. In other words, it's a little too close to reality for modern white washed sensitivities and has nary a trace of the sentimentality that permeates other kiddie fare. So, if you want a non offensive boring piece of trash to watch with the family, I suggest you look at the list of lame imitators, such as Little Giants, Mighty Ducks, the Sandlot, or Little Big League.

The Bad News Bears is great! When kids are allowed to act like real kids, they can be pretty convincing. The humor is derived from watching the kids deal with each other or watching Matthau deal with their exasperating antics. And it has quite a number of actually touching moments, as when loud mouthed little Tanner sticks up for Lupus, or when Matthau coaxes Ahmad out of a tree after a particularly poor performance on the field, and of course, when both coaches lose their cool in the dugout during the final game. (Parents can learn lessons from this flick as well).

So, if you have not seen this since you were a kid, check it out, there was a lot more going on than you remember, and if you are an adult wondering if you should let your eight year old see it, go for it. I turned out alright!

Don't listen to other reviewers who impose today's political correctness on a movie that came out in 1976. My parents took me to see this film when it came out (I was nine) and it was a good film. It has lessons about winning, losing and sportsmanship. It touches upon characters we all know: the winning coach (played wonderfully by the late Vic Morrow) who values winning above all else - even his own son. A realistic film from the 1970s, reflecting divorced parents, precocious kids, bullies, all of it is in here. Above all, it is a positive statement about self-respect and accomplishment. While Matthau's ways of coaching would probably be protested today (i.e., giving the kids beer after the final game of the season) it was seen as true to his character and one of the funny touches. Some of the material is mature but it may spark some positive conversations in a family. It isn't watered down, squeaky-clean family fare that people expect today, but it does have a good message and is fun. Excellent performances by a great cast, realistic baseball playing (sometimes painful) and great moments. A classic 1970s film that is often overlooked.

I saw "The Bad News Bears"in the theatre, when it came out in 1976. At the tender age of thirteen, I thought this was a hilarious send up of little league and organized sports. Now over twenty five years later, I still laugh out loud at the DVD version of the film, which has both biting moments and a lot of heart.The plot has now been endlessly copied by dozens of other movies.Walter Matthau plays an aging alcoholic, who is payed by a local politician to coach a little league team made up of misfits and losers.They are hopelessly bad players, who are dumped on by both other kids and adults alike.Through Mathau's drunken coaching and the help of an eleven year old girl with a killer curve ball (wonderfully played by Tatum O'neal) the team rises to the top of the stats and the big championship game. The late director, Michael Ritchie used this fairly simple plot device to present us with a scewering of the world of children's organized sports and a satire of suburban society in general.I love the scene where at the league party a female official presents a pizza made up with toppings to look like a ball field.She goes on to explain how she couldn't use anchovies in the presentation "but hey, not many people like anchovies".The film has many funny moments such as this, but it also carries a dark underbelly when it presents how serious the parents take games that are suppose to be fun and put their kids under a tremendous amount of pressure.It's hard to even watch a scene, in which an opposing team's coach, in the heat of game, goes out to the pitcher's mound and slaps his own son in the face.I don't mean to paint too dark of a picture of this movie. It is a really funny film. But under all the slapstick comedic moments that the film provides, Ritchie has something to say about how we treat our kids, that rings as true today (in the age of soccer moms) as it did over twenty five years ago.Matthau and O'neal are both excellent. The film has great supporting performances from actors Vic Morrow and Joyce Van Patton.Some of the stand out juvenile actors include Alfred Lutter, Jackie Earle Haley and Brandon Cruz.The script is smart and funny and makes us care about the characters.The movie is also an anthropological treasure trove of suburban America circa 1976 showing us such '70s fads as air hockey, hip hugger french jeans and mini bikes.The film has a very retro look.I highly reccomend this movie to both adults and older kids alike.

"The Bad News Bears" is truly one of the greatest sports movies ever made. It's also one the most popular kids movies ever made. As a result of this success, its plot has been copied and redone by numerous imitators- "The Mighty Ducks," "Little Giants," and several others. However, this original still stands tall over its numerous copycats.

"The Bad News Bears" is about an ultra competitive southern California Little League which has been forced by a lawsuit to allow any child who wants to play into the league. The league complies with the letter of the settlement, but not its spirit by placing all the kids, who would not have made the league under its old rules, onto a single team- the Bears. The Bears get the players nobody wants- a pitcher whose throws don't make it to homeplate, an overweight, foodaholic catcher, a foulmouthed runt, a black Muslim, two very small Mexican Americans, a junior George F. Will (who is a great fan of baseball, but can't play a lick), the son of the city councilman who brought the lawsuit, and a total basketcase named Timmy Lupus. The Bears also get stuck with Buttermaker, an ex-minor league pitcher turned near alcoholic, swimming pool cleaner as their manager.(Walter Matthau.)

The Bears, of course, are a terrible team and Buttermaker's lack of interest in helping them improve just adds to their wretchedness. League officials and the other teams revel in the humiliations heaped upon the Bears, who had dared to challenge this league's rules. However, Buttermaker starts to realize that by turning this team of misfits into winners he can actually make himself feel better about his life. Therefore, he goes out and recruits some ringers- the daughter of an ex-girlfriend to whom he taught all his old pitching tricks and the local juvenile delinquent who just happens to be the best player in the area. Also, the Bears actually had some talent. Thus, with their ringers playing terrifically and their untalented kids relegated to the bench, the Bears start to move up in the standings. Eventually, they meet the league's most talented and arrogant team, the Yankees (who else?), in the championship game.

In the championship game, Buttermaker will realize that the Bears are not playing to make him feel good about himself, but that they are kids just trying to have fun. Watching the manager of the Yankees berate and bully his players, Buttermaker realizes that his own desire to win is ruining the enjoyment of playing for his ballplayers. Buttermaker makes a decision to ensure that the entire purpose of the Bears (that everyone who wants to play can play) will be fulfilled in this game.

"The Bad News Bears" triumphs as a movie because of the winning performances of the kids, who were mostly played by total unknowns. These young actors really capture what it's like to be an 11-12 yr old boy- one moment full of cocky bravado and the next an easily discouraged child. This movie also has an ending which is very similar to the end of the original "Rocky." Like Rocky, the protagonists do not come out on top as to the final score, but it is they, not the champions, who celebrate in style in the end. Like Rocky Balboa, the Bears win respect and dignity, but they also had fun doing it.

This movie is perfect proof that the 1970's were the last era of great American film making. Nothing like this movie could be made today. Foul mouth kids? Horrors! A drunk coach passing out on the mound? Bring forth the Inquisition! A kid smoking a cigarette? Heresy! A coach passing out beers to underage kids? CRUCIFY HIM!

Walter Matthau is great as the loser pool cleaner ex-minor-league pitcher who doesn't believe in himself, much less in the team he's been paid to coach. Tatum O'Neal mostly reprises her role from "Paper Moon" as the con artist kid with the sassy banter who ends up falling for a loser father figure, adding a killer curve ball to her repertoire but not getting enough banter time with Matthau to really dominate the movie like she did with "Paper Moon" (but the few scenes she does get are good ones). The true stars are the kids, a bunch of unknowns whose banter makes the movie in a way that all of Matthau's grumpy old man antics and Tatum O'Neal's sassy presence don't.

This is not a perfect movie by any means. Because the ensemble cast is so large, many of the characters (especially the unsympathetic ones) are painted with a broad brush to the point that they are caricatures, and the progression of the Bears from total losers to winners, and the progression of Coach Buttermaker from going through the motions to genuinely caring about the kids, is unevenly portrayed. But even today, its combination of honesty and talented acting makes it arms and shoulders above the dishonest treacley-sweet dreck that passes for "family entertainment" today. And as someone else has already pointed out, it is a perfect myth-puncturing critique of what Little League has become and still is for the most part (a bunch of self-involved and often-abusive parents who miss the point of it all), while still being entertaining and yes, funny, in a way that all the sanctimonious wanna-be's inspired by this film never manage.

A great movie that hits it mark..unfortunately sprung two terrible sequels. THE BAD NEWS BEARS is a social commentary about when kids are taken out of the sandlot (which is more fun when kids are left to play among themselves) and organized by adults to play little league baseball and the result is chaos. Walter Matthau in one of his signature roles as coach Buttermaker (he even reprised the role in a parody of the film on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, in the now classic and hilarious BAD NEWS BEES sketch). Matthau is hilarious as the drunken, ex-big league ballplayer/pool cleaner hired by one of the parents to coach a bunch of losers in a competetive and elite Los Angeles little league organization. The kids are innocent, but honestly brutal in their depiction. Standout performances from Jackie Earl Haley (BREAKING AWAY)as Kelly Leak, the motorcycle riding punk who is also a great athlete, Chris Barnes as tough little Tanner Boyle (who supposedly takes on the whole seventh grade when he is humilated in the embarrassing first game loss), and of course Tatum O'Neal as the tough girl pitcher whose curve ball breaks 2 feet. All this works on a level of a family movie, but some situations are adult oriented. Watch the film on network television and it is butchered beyond recognition. On DVD and cable, it it way better because you see why some of the situations occur. One example is the scene when pitcher Joey Turner (Brandon Cruz -tv's COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER) throws at the head of batter Engelberg (Gary Lee Cavagnaro) and you'll know why. Actor Vic Morrow continues his string of bad guy roles even in this film as Coach Roy Turner and even the Yankees (a metaphor for elitistism) is used as a name of one of the teams as the arch rival of the Bears. Overall, entertaining and authentic with great casting.

Walter Matthau's character in this film was despicable. He was an alcoholic and a bum, an abusive aging ex-ball-player with an ex-family who swore too much, drank and smoked all the time and appeared to be semi-miserable -- the sort of influence that every parent hates and fears.

Put another way, he was ABSOLUTELY GREAT, and I wish to heck I'd been friends with a dude like that when I was a young baseball-playing kid!!

Maybe it's still too early to tell, but so far the long-awaited DVD release of the Bears trilogy doesn't seem to be anything to get excited about. Not one box features the wonderfully wacky artwork of the original movie posters. The box for the first film is just a publicity shot of Matthau and O'Neal, with Tatum perched on an apple box as she stands eye-to-eye with Walter. Hello! An apple box is a piece of film equipment. Why is it revealed in this photo? And why was it chosen to grace the *front* of the box? The cover art for Breaking Training is another bogus publicity shot, but this one is an even bigger head-scratcher in that it includes a female character not even in the film! The "Go To Japan" box at least consists of a team photo, but sadly it also is sans poster art.

As for bonus material, there doesn't appear to be any. You'd think there would be, given the price (...). If the only plus is that the films are letterboxed, I wish I would've bought the laserdisc of the first film a few years ago. No supplemental material there either, but a letterboxed picture and and a jacket draped in original art work--all for the same price as these bare-boned no-frills DVDs.