Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: December 7, 2004
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (304 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00064AM5I
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,241 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Comedy > Comedy Stars > Ben Stiller

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

How's this for impressive trivia: Dodgeball faced off against The Terminal in opening-weekend competition, and 29-year-old writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber aced Steven Spielberg by a score of $30 to $18.7 in box-office millions. That's no mean feat for a newcomer, but Thurber's lowbrow script and rapid-fire direction--along with a sublime cast of screen comedians--proved to be just what moviegoers were ravenous for: a consistently hilarious, patently formulaic romp in which the underdog owner of Average Joe's Gym (Vince Vaughan) faces foreclosure unless he can raise $50,000 in 30 days. The solution: A dodgeball tournament offering $50K to the winners, in which Vaughan and his nerdy clientele team up against the preening, abhorrently narcissistic owner (Ben Stiller) of Globo Gym, who's threatening a buy-out. That's it for story; any 5-year-old could follow it with brainpower to spare. But Thurber, Vaughan, Stiller, and their well-cast costars (including Stiller's off-screen wife, Christine Taylor) keep the big laughs coming for 96 nonsensical minutes. With spot-on cameos by champion bicyclist Lance Armstrong, David Hasselhoff, Hank Azaria, Chuck Norris, and William Shatner, and a crudely amusing coda for those who watch past the credits, Dodgeball is no masterpiece, but you can bet Spielberg was unexpectedly humbled by its popular appeal. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

The year of Ben Stiller (this is his fourth film to be released since January) continues with this hit-and-miss comedy. Stiller plays the owner of a corporate fitness center who's plotting to drive a local gym out of business. The cool-as-sweat Vince Vaughn plays the gym's owner, and, in classic "Bad News Bears" style, he puts together a team of misfits to win a tournament and save the day. Rawson Marshall Thurber's ragtag direction and writing leave plenty of room for the great supporting cast to let it rip. Especially so in the case of Rip Torn, who plays a tough, wheel-chair-using trainer. Jason Bateman and Gary Cole provide laughs as clueless sports commentators, and a host of cameo performers (including Lance Armstrong and William Shatner) hurtle their lines at the audience with glee. The movie is goofy, ridiculous, and, all in all, somewhat inspiring. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.", October 3, 2004

By	Yoshi "Boo Boo Johnson" (Yoshi's Island) - See all my reviews

This movie was awesome! The stars, Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller, are hilarious. The plot is a little... lame (Vince Vaughn's gym is going to be bought by Ben Stiller's, unless he can get enough money to keep the gym; one of the members of the crappy gym suggests they go into a dodgeball tournament.) but it makes up in its hilariousness. Just the characters are funny; there's one who thinks he's a pirate, another wants to impress a girl by going on the cheerleading team. In one part, they get the wrong box of team uniforms, and... well I won't tell you'll have to see. Basically this whole movie is funny, so see it!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a comedy is supposed to be, September 5, 2004

By	cmurphy82 (Granby, CO) - See all my reviews

I'm a little annoyed with all of the negative reviews for this movie, considering it is the funniest movie I have seen for a while. People are forgetting what a comedy's purpose in life is; to make people laugh. I was sitting in a large movie theater, full of people, who of all things, were laughing.

Ben Stiller plays a character, that yes, we may have seen before, but that's because he does it well. It works. Vince Vaughn plays your average joe, with an army full of hilarious sidekicks, what more do you need? How about some of the best cameo appearances I've seen. People need to stop thinking so much when they go to movies like this....just sit back and enjoy it! It's not going to change the world, but it made quite the impression on me!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't stop watching it!, July 12, 2005

By	James M. Miller "Lantern Lighter" (Mall of Oa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story (Unrated Edition) (DVD)

i missed this sleeper comedy in the theater, but picked it up on a whim on DVD and let me say, it is a well crafted, fun, hilarious movie! Vince Vaughan is my hero and can't wait for Wedding Crashers! Anyhow, if you love dark humor movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Dumb & Dumber, you will love this one!