Product Details

• Actors: Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden, Sammi Kane Kraft, Ridge Canipe
• Directors: Richard Linklater
• Writers: Bill Lancaster, Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
• Producers: Adam Ellison, Brad Marks, Bruce Heller, Geyer Kosinski
• Format: Collector's Edition, Color, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: December 13, 2005
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BDH68K
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,138 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Bad News Bears (Widescreen Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In a fitting follow-up to Bad Santa and Friday Night Lights, Billy Bob Thornton makes the most of the remake trend in Bad News Bears. He's just the right guy to inherit Walter Matthau's role from the original 1976 version about a lousy Little League team baseball team coached by a curmudgeonly drunk, and the original team of misfits has been updated (but not upgraded) to an ethnic mix that includes an Indian math whiz, a pair of Latino twins, and a paraplegic kid who doesn't play until the final championship game. It's a little sad to see a talented director like Richard Linklater doing an unnecessary remake, but his experience on School of Rock made him the obvious choice to mine comedy gold from the collision of Thornton and a batch of unruly, prepubescent kids (including Sammi Kraft, an all-star Little Leaguer in the role originated by Tatum O'Neal). With Marcia Gay Harden and Greg Kinnear in supporting roles, this isn't family fare (the potty-mouthed kids deservedly earned a PG-13 rating), but Thornton's easygoing presence makes it worthwhile for anyone who's not too attached to the original version. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

A fresh take on the irreverent 1976 comedy hit, "The Bad News Bears" follows a grizzled former minor league baseball player who is recruited to coach a woefully inept Little League team to a championship against their hated rivals, the Yankees.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining remake of Michael Ritche/Walter Matthau classic December 19, 2005

By Wayne Klein HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Remakes good or bad dog our entertainment existence. Why? A good story needs to be retold. A good story needs to be told more than once. It's a waste otherwise. The movies represent our myths. We've seen two remakes and two sequels to "King Kong" and "Dracula" has been adapted many, many times (badly for the most part I might add) so why not the comedy about the team of baseball misfits who could? Billy Bob Thornton takes on the role that Walter Matthau essayed in the original 1976 film. The social misfits angle has been updated with kids that behave worse and have their own social stigmas. They still kick butt. Alcoholic pest worker Morris Buttermaker (Thornton) briefly played in the "big game" before washing out and using booze as his crutch. He's recruited to coach a kids baseball team that play so badly that they could be beat by a tree in the wind.

Michael Ritiche's ("Smile", "The Bad News Bears", "Downhill Racer", "The Candidate")original is a five star classic that would be difficult to beat. Luckily this remake doesn't try to beat it--instead Linklater ("Dazed and Confused", "Before Sunset", "The School of Rock", "A Scanner Darkly")just tries to update it for a new audience. His efforts deserve 3 1/2 stars. It ain't perfect but it's a whole lot of fun. Here's the good news-this film like the original is just as nasty, funny and outrageous in its own way. There was probably the temptation to make this into a PC Disney movie. Luckily the writers and director Richard Linklater resisted temptation and made a film that both pays homage to the original film and retell the story for a new audience.

"Bears" hits a home run on DVD with an very good transfer. Detail is exceptionally good and color rich with accurate flesh tones. The color and detail are remarkably good. The 5.1 catches every ground ball that the cast hit.

"At Bat with The Bears" features Linklater, Billy Bob Thornton discussing his attraction to doing a remake something that he has avoided. Thornton mentions that the big attraction for him was taking on a role so strongly associated with Matthau. "Scouting for the Big Leagues" focuses on the casting sessions and includes bits and pieces of the audition tapes done by the kid actors. Linklater felt that finding actors that could both play the roles and project distinctive personalities was the biggest casting challenge. The other challenge according to Linklater was finding an actress that could play the role convincingly of Amanda Whurlitzer and someone who could actually throw the ball well. The "outtakes" don't amount to much and aren't all that memorable. The "Video Baseball Cards" is a clever way to give us a bit of background on the actors in the main roles.

The commentary by director Linklater and writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa provides an entertaining glimpse behind-the-scenes. The challenge of translating a classic film without losing the flavor of the original for a contemporary audience is discussed. Ficarra and Requa are depreciating about their efforts crediting Bill Lancaster with writing the perfect comedy (he did). Sadly, Lancaster is no longer around to hear his efforts praised (or to see this fine remake) as he died in 1997 having written only a handful of movies including John Carpenter's remake of "The Thing".

Remakes are always a questionable affair. Luckily Linklater and his collaborators have fashioned one that manages to be unique, funny and yet also stands up pretty well when compared to the original. Not insulting the original is an art by itself and "Bad News Bears" (what happened to "The"? Hollywood is becoming increasingly illiterate) manages to be entertaining and worthwhile without diminishing the terrific original film directed by Michael Richtie.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but Unnecessary August 15, 2005

By Theo Logos

The original Bad News Bears is an absolute classic which has aged well. There was no need for a remake; the fact that this movie was made anyhow is a tribute to the lack of creativity and aversion to risk taking in Hollywood. That said, the remake is entertaining, and had it been an original film I would have rated it four rather than three stars.
The primary reason to see the new Bad News Bears is actor Billy Bob Thornton. He is the logical successor to Walter Matthau's mantle. Thornton owns the character of Coach Buttermaker - a lewd, gruff drunk with no socially redeeming traits who still manages to exude a sleazy charm. Had he created this role rather than just expertly imitated it, it would have been pure genius, and as it is, it stands as a homage to the original.
Oddly, the remake manages to be simultaneously both raunchier and more politically correct than the original. Where the original film had Buttermaker getting endorsements from a bail bondsman on the kid's uniforms, the remake has the endorsement of a strip club, complete with dancers coming to the games as a rooting section for the team. Yet in the climatic scene of the aftermath of the championship game, where the original film had Buttermaker giving all the kids beers, in the remake he simply hands out near-beer, robbing the scene of all of its edginess and power with its unwillingness to take the risks of the original.
The kids in the movie were well cast and did a nice job of recreating the original roles. Here once again, this movie has the feel of a homage. The only innovation was to make the ethnic mix of the team more diverse.
This movie is a must see for all Billy Bob Thornton fans - his performance here will not disappoint them. And though this remake can never replace the original, it is entertaining and stays fairly true to the intent and feel of the film that it is imitating. I thus give it a qualified recommendation.

Theo Logos

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but an unnecessary remake January 18, 2006

By furtherburn

Format:DVD

I was at Blockbuster and since there wasn't much of anything new to rent, and I swore to myself I would never watch this movie as I was a huge fan of the original.....well, you know what happened....and I HAD to write something about it, mainly due to the fact of feeling guilty..I figure could support the original more by stating what I thought of this movie...first off, if you never saw the original, this is a really cool movie..BUT if you have seen the original, then it doesn't hold water, and I think purists out there know what I'm talking about...Billy Bob Thorton did a good job, as always..the kid in the wheelchair (I already forgot the name of this actors or his character's name) was pretty damn funny as well..the rest of the acting , in my opinion, blew, especially from the kids that played Amanda and Kelly...I saw what Richard Linklater was going for with the Amanda character..he wanted authenticity as far as her pitching, and Sammi Kane Kraft in real life is an All Star Little League pitcher..BUT I'msure she couldn't have been the only female pitcher out there..seriously, her acting skills reminded me of one of those kids from that old nickelodeon show "Fifteen"...really wooden...awful(and in the bonus features on the DVD she said she got the part because she could pitch and knew she read well for it..that she was a natural when it came to acting)<sheesh>She had better pray to god she's going to be the first female Major League pitcher because she does not have a future in acting...I don't know the kids name that played Kelly Leak, but same thing with him...awful awful..which again in the bonus section on the DVD, he went to an open cast call..never acted before in his life, and it showed..Richard, I know you ahve a casting director but I still think you have final say..what the HELL were you thinking? As far as other things go in the movie, the musical score really could have been done better (if you watch it you'll get where i'm coming from), and the absense of character that Vic Morrow brought in the original was HUGE(Greg Kinnear's character had more of the wimp-dad feel..he wasn't as serious or a tempermental hothead...more buffoonish)...this movie overall was too cutesy(and as I said for a movie if it were something original would be really good, just not good for a remake), while the original had the "real feel"..seriously...I know movies are just that...not real..but that proves my point even more..if you didn't even ahve to think about that for the first one, it shows how ingenious it was...it didnt need to be remade..but this movie did have a couple of laughs, and BBT's Buttermaker was well done, hence the 3 stars..and sorry if I brought up the original movie comparisons , but there's no way around it as this is what it was..how could you not...rent the remake, BUY the original!!