Blu-ray Specs
Video: 1080p HD
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD/ French & Spanish Mono
Writer David Ward had a lifelong dream to see his Cleveland Indians win a championship in his lifetime. The result come in the form of his making it happen on the big screen. Casting brought what are now considered to be well known movie stars Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen (both of which came from the previous movie Platoon), L.A. Law’s Corbin Bernsen and a little known man by the name Wesley Snipes.
Ex show girl Rachel Phelps inherits her husband’s baseball team, the Cleveland Indians. With disgust for the city and the team, she hatches a plan to drive the attendance records down to the point where she can relocate the team to Miami. To get her plan on the roll, she invites a host of has been and rookie players to spring training to put together the worst team in baseball. As the season begins, this rag tag group of players find their groove and begin to give a run for pennant. To retaliate against the winning streak, she takes away all of the luxuries she can possibly take to break the spirits of the team. When they learn of her plan to move the team and that she never wanted them to win at all, they band together to screw her in the only way they can “Win the whole F ing thing”.
I found the extras to be well worth watching as there are behind the scenes with the cast, interviews with Major League players an interesting short bio on Bob Uecker. There is also an alternate ending, which I am so glad they didn’t stick to, and photo gallery, and a tour of Pedro Cerrano’s locker.
There was a clean crisp look to the way the Blu-ray enhanced this baseball classic. Audio was rocking as they played Wild Thing for Ricky Vaughn’s entrance and to hear all of the cracks of the bat and trash talk on the field.
Charlie Sheen was amazingly believable as a Major League pitcher and had the form and finesse to pull it off. Actually, the whole cast meshed as a whole to make this feel good story come to life. Bob Uecker also influenced a generation of classic lines of announcing with such greats as “Just a bit outside” and “The post game show is brought to you by….Christ I can’t find it. To hell with it.” I think Bob’s performance really captures the feel of what the fans would love an announcer to sound like. And yes, I know he is an announcer for Milwaukee. I love this movie and can watch it any time and to get it on Blu-ray is a true delight of movie magic.
Reviewed by Michael Albaugh
