Barnes & Noble

One of the first and best sports films ever made for kids, The Bad News Bears established a formula that became its own subgenre. Years of imitations, though, only make The Bad News Bears seem more genuine. A former baseball player-turned-pool cleaner (Walter Matthau) coaches a failing Little League team with the help of a preteen girl pitching sensation (Tatum O'Neal). Tomboy prototype O'Neal is as charming here as she was in her film debut, Paper Moon. Part of the film's unique charm is its courageous support of the "it's how you play the game" ethos and its thoughtful rejection of the "win at all costs" mentality. As always, Matthau plays his grumpy sad-sack role to perfection; and the rag-tag collection of players is enthusiastic and endearing. A winning combination of broad humor and smart observations, The Bad News Bears is a beloved treasure of family entertainment -- and a terrific baseball movie, to boot. Amy Robinson

All Movie Guide

The success this underdog comedy from director Michael Ritchie almost single-handedly spawned the kids' sports film boom of the 1980s and '90s. When beer-breathed ex-minor-league ball player and professional pool cleaner Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) agrees to coach a Los Angeles little league team, he soon finds he's in over his head, having inherited an assortment of pint-sized peons and talentless losers. They play well-organized teams and lose by tremendous margins, and the parents threaten to disband the Bears to save the kids (and themselves) any further embarrassment. Buttermaker refuses, though, and brings in a pair of ringers: Amanda (Tatum O'Neal), his ex-girlfriend's tomboy daughter, and Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley), a cigarette-smoking delinquent who happens to be a gifted athlete. With their help, the Bears manage to change their losing ways and qualify for the championship, where they face their arch-rivals, the Yankees. Jeremy Beday

Product Details

• UPC: 097360886344
• Source: PARAMOUNT
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital, monaural
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:41:00
• Sales Rank: 15,087

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• The Bad News Bears Triple Play Three Pack
• Bad News Bears 2 Pack
• Baseball Game Night Collection

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