Product Details

• Actors: Robin Williams, Kurt Russell, Pamela Reed, Holly Palance, Donald Moffat
• Directors: Roger Spottiswoode
• Writers: Ron Shelton
• Producers: Fredda Weiss, Gordon Carroll
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Vidmark / Trimark
• VHS Release Date: February 2, 1999
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305261997
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,115 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of the funniest movies of the 1980s, this football comedy written by Ron Shelton (writer-director of Bull Durham) and directed by Roger Spottiswoode (Gorillas in the Mist) stars Robin Williams as a thirtysomething banker obsessed with a pivotal experience of failure in his life: the moment he dropped a perfectly thrown football in an important high-school game. Kurt Russell plays the now-gone-to-seed former quarterback upon whom a small town's hopes rested until Williams blew the catch; the two very different men are forever linked by the overblown myth that surrounds their lost opportunity and the personal crises that followed. Shelton employs a Rocky-esque gimmick in the form of a repeat football match that gives these two sad sacks a chance to redeem themselves, but the results are as satiric as they are sentimental. (A scene in which the pair jeopardizes a romantic evening with their estranged wives by covertly watching a football game is hilarious.) The performances by Williams and Russell are among their very best (and curiously underrated by critics), and Pamela Reed (in her first screen role) and Holly Palance are also very funny as the spouses who want their men to wake up from an old nightmare. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Item Name: The Best of Times; Studio: Lions Gate

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Fall, this is a must see for me since 1987, July 27, 2001

By 

gymkata (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Times (DVD)

I guess I first caught this movie on Cinemax or some other cable channel back in '87 or '88(?) while still in High School. I've watched it at least once a year (around September usually) ever since. A "Sleeper" I suppose, but a sleeper at it's finest. In my opinion one of Williams' best, up there with "World according to Garp" and "Moscow on the Hudson". Kurt is perfectly cast as a former high school GOD turned beerbellied, blown out kneed "Van Specialist" desperately trying not to bathe in past glory. It has that "quirky and delightful" feel, not unlike Bill Forsyth's films like "Local Hero" and "Gregory's Girl". Now that I think of it, "Mystery Alaska" wouldn't be a bad comparison either. It goes way beyond simply a football/sports movie (my Wife likes it too but probably just because of Kurt Russell) but hey, I love football anyway so it it works for me on multiple levels. Of course, the idea of going back and correcting one's biggest screw up/regret would appeal to anyone. I always feel good after I watch this one, it hasn't let me down yet.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A underated classic, January 25, 2004

By 

Ju-Ju Bee (St. Louis, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Times (DVD)

I first saw this movie when it was out on VHS. Yes, it is that old of a movie. From the start, I thought this movie was a classic. Jack Dundee (played by Robin Williams) is living in a state of agony because of a dropped pass in a highschool football game. Reno Hightower (played by Kurt Russel) was the quaterback, the only good quaterback the town ever had, who threw him that pass. The town in the movie is a typical small town where highschool football is big. Unfortunately for Robin Williams, that was the one chance the town had for a championship season. Robin Williams gets the idea to replay the game with the same players on both sides. Without giving away the plot, this is one movie that is worth getting. It will keep you amused and rooting for Williams throughout the whole movie.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute, January 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Best of Times [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Nice mild but funny film, with Robin Williams not acting in his usual annoying hyperactive manner, but giving a rare subdued performance. Kurt Russel is great as always, as are the rest of the cast. The Script is well written, and the direction good. Kind of like an old Disney film, in the best sense of that term.