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Major League is directed by David20S. Ward, and the
film stars Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen,
Margaret Whitton, James Gammon, Rene Russo, Wesley Snipes,
Dennis Haysbert, and Bob Uecker. ***
The Cleveland Indians baseball team has just been inherited
by a woman who has desires to move the franchise to sunny
Florida. And the only way to do that? Have the team play
a losing season. To pull this off, she recruits the strangest
bunch of ball players to ever play the great American pastime
– including an aging ladies man, a young criminal, and a
guy more obsessed with getting endorsements than playing
the game. Will they lose horribly, as she has predicted?
Or will they do just the opposite and go the distance against
the best the major l eague has to offer? ***
Major League is a classic comedy in which the laughs
don’t stop. Imagine The Bad News Bears, but with an R rating
and foul-mouthed adults playing in the big leagues, and
you’ll have an idea of what to expect here. These actors
are hilarious, and they’ve got plenty of excellent material
to work with here. There have been plenty of comedies over
the years about baseball, but there’s no denying that this
one is league champion. ***
There’s a lot to love here. It’s a well-directed film
with plenty of interesting, off-the-wall characters – and
it’s fun seeing this misfits making an attempt to come together
in an attempt to place high in the league – exactly what
the new team owner secretly doesn’t want them to do. Charlie
Sheen is one of the funniest men alive, and when he’s got
great material to work with, it’s impossible not to laugh.
That’s more true of Major League than almost anything else
he has been in since, since there is no shortage of solid
material here for the guy. ***
All in all, this is a classic eighties comedy, and
it’s great to see it finally arrive on Blu. It’s a comedy
you have to see to appreciate – and when you do, the laughs
come at you like a hundred mile-per-hour fast ball. It’s
easy to recommend this disc. ---
Image and Sound:
The image quality here is about average as to what you’d
expect a movie from this era to look like. Detail is stronger
than older transfers of the film, but as a whole the picture
looks darker than it should, and the flesh tones are a little
on the reddish side. Sometimes the picture can be a bit
soft, as well. The TrueHD audio track is quite good, though
front-heavy (not uncommon for movies of this era.) As a
whole, this is probably the best Major League is probably
ever going to look or sound on home video, and I’m not really
complaining.
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| Special
Features: |
These are all the special features that were on the
earlier DVD “special edition” pressing. Amongst them is
a commentary track from the film’s director and producer,
an alternate ending with an introduction, a photo gallery,
and a number of behind-the-scenes featurettes. All of this
stuff is interesting, and will be worth viewing for any
fan of the film.
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