Customer Reviews

Long Gone [VHS]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love baseball. I grew up watching AA and AAA ball in upstate New York. . This wonderful little gem of a film captures the feel of minor leaugue baseball better than any other film I have ever seen. Bull Durham is certainly a better known film, and Kevin Costner showed some real baseball skills, but it lacks the gritty humor of Long Gone. Petersen nailed his role as Stud Cantrel. He plays a man who has come to terms with his limitations but still has some fire left in his belly when it comes to the game. I agree with many of the other Amazon reviewers. This is the best baseball film of all time.

This is by far the best baseball movie ever made. When do we get to see it on DVD? Cecil "Stud" Cantrel is not only the best character from a baseball movie; he may be the best character in any movie. William Peterson is the man. Is there two better movis than Long Gone and Manhunter? I doubt it.

I feel this is the best baseball movie I have ever watched and it is a shame that not too many folks have ever seen it. Stud Cantrell is one of my favorite characters and the setting is great. This film gets you itching to get back on the diamond even if you've never played before. Minor league ball is about growing into the game and cuting a youngsters teeth with the help of a seasoned coach/player. In that sense it has the same chacteristics as Bull Durham except it has a lot more feeling. Besides you can almost smell the dust in Weeks' uniform and the perfume that Madsen is wearing. Rent it if you can find it, but definately buy it before spring for someone who loves the game of baseball.

The first, of course, was The Natural, for pure 'love of the game' beauty and drama. But, hot diggedy DAWG, this is the best good time baseball movie ever! You can tell it was crafted with love and reverence by BASEBALL guys. The characters are loud and larger than life, while the Florida panhandle of the 50's swelters away, in all it's heavy, backroads charm. Petersen as Studs Cantrell is tour de force performance, Virginia Madsen glows with all the longin' of a small town girl just lookin' for a way out, and the rest of the cast is just as fabulous. The baseball sequences are first rate, alive with all the intrigue of the good ol' boy bush leagues of the time. And what do you mean, they couldn't play after being in a bar all afternoon? A guy named Babe Ruth made a career of it! We've been watching a grainy old VHS we taped the night it first aired on HBO, and can't wait for a DVD to finally be available.

I know, I know, lot's of people say the Bull Durham is best, but Long Gone puts Bull Durham way back in the shade. Here is the hardscrabble world of minor league baseball during the golden era of baseball. We see saints and scoundrels, wise men and fools, players on the way up and down. Love of the game permeates the movie. There's an older catcher who just wants to keep playing, a player-manager who might have made the big leagues had things been just a little different, a young second baseman who is probably on the way to the majors and a black catcher who knows he can play in the majors if he can catch a break. There's also a bit of spice and a dose of romance. Every baseball fan should buy this movie!

Anybody who claims that "Bull Durham" or "The Natural" is the greatest baseball movie ever made, has obviously never seen this early gem from HBO pictures. But I have seen it and it is the best baseball movie ever made. It's bawdy, rowdy, belly-laugh hilarious AND it's about baseball. It doesn't take itself too seriously and everyone has a grand time. It also says a lot about a movie when you care more about the characters than whether or not the film has a happy ending. (Anyone who's seen it know what I mean.) But, alas, my VHS is worn out and I DON"T HAVE A VHS PLAYER ANYMORE!!!!! But 2007 will be it's 20th anniversary; I'll probably have to wait until then...Sigh.....

Like any movie your characters have to be enjoyable
and they are. Studs(Bill Peterson) is so real and fun.
I watch it every summer.Because it takes place in the 50'S
it doesn't look dated like Bull Durham. It doesn't take
it self too seriously it has it's story to tell and
tell's it.Waiting to see it relesed on DVD.If you like Baseball
you'll like Long Gone.

Kevin Coster probally played his best role in Bull Durham with a great supporting cast, but Long Gone takes a mediocore cast and creates a great film. If you are a baseball fan this is the better movie of the two.

Long Gone is simply the best baseball movie ever made. True baseball fans and those who understand the nuances, humor, and character of the game would undoubtedly agree. The movie will leave you with a feeling of baseball purity, joy, and a longing to go to the yard.

I feel this is the best baseball movie I have ever watched and it is a shame that not too many folks have ever seen it. Stud Cantrell is one of my favorite characters and the setting is great. This film gets you itching to get back on the diamond even if you've never played before. Minor league ball is about growing into the game and cuting a youngsters teeth with the help of a seasoned coach/player. In that sense it has the same chacteristics as Bull Durham except it has a lot more feeling. Besides you can almost smell the dust in Weeks' uniform and the perfume that Madsen is wearing. Rent it if you can find it, but definately buy it before spring for someone who loves the game of baseball.