Product Details

• Actors: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt
• Directors: Bennett Miller
• Writers: Aaron Sorkin, Michael Lewis, Stan Chervin, Steven Zaillian
• Producers: Brad Pitt, Alissa Phillips, Andrew S. Karsch
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, Korean
• Dubbed: French
• 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: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 10, 2012
• Run Time: 133 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (439 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0060ZJ7BC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,030 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #9 in Movies & TV > DVD > Sports
• Learn more about "Moneyball" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's amazing that Moneyball makes baseball statistics seem fascinating--but that's because it's not really a movie about numbers, and it's not really a movie about baseball, either. It's about what drives people to take risks--in this instance, Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A's, who's just had his best players poached by teams that can afford to pay a lot more. Fed up with how money twists the game, he listens to Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who persuades him that certain players are being undervalued for trivial reasons--that statistics reveal hidden strengths that could, when used in the right combinations, produce a winning season. Beane takes Brand's advice, then has to fight everyone else around him to follow it through. Moneyball skillfully takes the audience into Beane's psyche. Pitt is in excellent form; it's an understated but magnetic performance, the kind that rarely wins awards but should. Pitt has the physical presence of a former athlete and vividly expresses the mind of a man who's never achieved success but isn't ready to give up. Director Bennett Miller (Capote) shapes the supporting cast (Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, and others less recognizable but just as solid) as carefully as Beane shapes his team. Miller has a few flashy (and highly effective) moments of sound manipulation and editing, but Moneyball is carried by its superb performances. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) challenges the system and defies conventional wisdom when his is forced to rebuild his small-market team on a limited budget. Despite opposition from the old guard, the media, fans and their own field manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Beane - with the help of a young, number-crunching, Yale-educated economist (Jonah Hill) - develops a roster of misfits…and along the way, forever changes the way the game is played.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 133 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Back Office Baseball: A Smart Screenplay And Grounded Performances Showcase The Business Of The Game December 7, 2011

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

Format:Blu-ray

Every year, I get wary of the inevitable film set in a sporting arena where an underdog player or team must triumph against adversity to become unlikely heroes. As accomplished or heartwarming as many of these films can be, they never seem to be able to break free of the conventions that we've all seen a hundred times. While I can't say that "Moneyball" isn't inspired by the genre, I will say that it looks at the phenomenon from a decidedly different angle. Based on Michael Lewis's non-fiction account of the same name, this is actually an intriguing story ruled by the business of baseball as opposed to the emotions the game elicits. As such, it seems like something entirely new. Director Bennett Miller (Oscar nominee for Capote), along with heavyweight screenwriters Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian, has created one of the brainiest and least sentimental baseball films you're likely to see. "Moneyball" tells the true story of how the Oakland A's GM Billy Beane rebuilt the team for the 2002 season with enormous financial constraints using computer analysis and statistics. While admittedly, this might not sound like a particularly sexy plot--it was a pivotal moment in sporting history well worth documenting. And despite knowing the outcome, the film is never less than fascinating.

"Moneyball" refers to the inherent unfairness in the sport as teams with deep pockets can rule the game by outspending their smaller competitors when selecting the top tier players. When Oakland lost its powerhouse line-up, the team was left scrambling for replacements. Eschewing traditional recruitment methods, Beane (Brad Pitt) placed his trust in a new assistant (Jonah Hill) that had a new way of looking at statistics to determine the game's most undervalued players.... Against all advice, he assembled a team of misfits that no one thought could succeed--including his own manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who constantly challenged and opposed Beane. What happens at the start of the season only cements the team as a league (and national) laughingstock and has the country thirsting for Beane's sacrificial blood. But against all odds, things start to gel and history is made.

Pitt plays Beane with a world-weary grace. It may, in fact, be his most grounded performance to date. Aloof at first, we see how he thaws to his own superstitions to become an invaluable part of the club. Through flashbacks and interludes with his daughter, we see different sides of a man who has dedicated his life to the sport. Jonah Hill plays it straight as the assistant who is instrumental to the team's new direction. Hill is surprisingly good, deadpan even, and he and Pitt develop a chemistry that is as unlikely as it is effective. Hoffman has a small, but vital, role and is spot-on. The actors that comprise the team all turn in solid work as well, but fundamentally this is Pitt's picture from start to finish. And understatement is the name of the game. A smart screenplay, an interesting topic, effective performances--it's all handled with a refreshing minimum of schmaltz (a key element in many sport's films). By tackling the back office side of baseball, "Moneyball" sets itself apart as a true original. A film that doesn't just love the game, but really understands it (foibles and all). A rarity and a surprisingly adult entertainment, about 4 1/2 stars. KGHarris, 12/11. Read more ›

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inexplicably great movie, even for baseball dummies January 19, 2012

By D. WISELY

Format:Blu-ray

I really don't understand baseball. Like it, but don't really understand it. I can watch the game and understand superficially what's happening, but I don't get the strategy and, of course, it's all strategy. So, I went to see this in the theater and loved it and then just rewatched the blu-ray. Loved it, and only partly understand why. One thing: You can't take your eyes of Brad Pitt. Not because of his good looks, but because he's just utterly charismatic and engaging. Jonah Hill is an unexpected but perfect casting choice. But, overall, it's a tribute to the filmmakers that a movie that shouldn't work this well works this well.

37 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The business of baseball November 29, 2011

By Nicholas R.W. Henning

Format:DVD

"Moneyball" is based on true events, and provides valuable insight regarding the on-field and off-field dynamics of the Oakland A's Major League Baseball Club.

This film has the capacity to engage viewers who are familiar or unfamiliar with the sport, based on the avant-garde approach to managing resources that is utilised by Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), which any person in business can appreciate.

The narrative is also inspiring, as the viewer is presented with what seems like impossible circumstances for the A's to be successful, yet through innovative thinking high performance is achieved.

Brad Pitt provides a solid performance, as does the entire cast, and the viewer is entertained with plenty of humour and quality drama.

This movie is a win for baseball, as it has the capacity to introduce new people to the game from all over the world.

Nicholas R.W. Henning - Australian Baseball Author

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars War Between Intuition and Statistics January 12, 2012

By prisrob TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

For those of us who love baseball, and even for those who don't, this is a wondeful 'feel good' film of statistics and brains versus intuition and brawn.

We find Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, GM of the Oakland Athletics, making it to the World Series but failing to win. In the process the team is losing three of its best players. The Athletics have a thirty million dollar cap on their players versus the Red Sox and New York Yanklees, who have hundreds of millions. Beane needs to replace these players, but the members of his scouting teams just give him the same old tired story of the players that will probably work out with practice. Beane wants another method to pick his players. At a meeting with another team he finds a young, short, chubby man, Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill, who spouts statistics and crunched numbers to arrive at an algorithm for players who will do well. He hires Brand and changes his methods and that of his team.

Brand is a nerdy Yale graduate who looked at the strict cost-benefit analysis of baseball players. He persuaded Beane that he should hire based on key performance statistics that pointed to undervalued players. They assembled a team that seemed foolhardy at first, but during the course of a season, proved itself the biggest bargain in baseball. Beane antagonized most of his scouts, but he was proved correct. At the end of the season he is invited to Boston to meet the Red Sox owner. When he returns to Oakland he talks with Brand, and tells him, "I don't play for money, I play for the love of the game". Oh, yes, the love of what you are doing. A lucky man and one who knows and is happy with himself. A loner, a divorced man with a daughter he loves, but all in all a man who is fine living alone....

This is not just a film for baseball lovers, but a film for all of us who can see that a new way, a change from the old ways is almost always a good thing.

Highly Recommended, prisrob 01-12-12

The Tree Of Life

Accepted (Widescreen Edition) Read more ›