Eephus Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Eephus Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 29, 2025

For those uninitiated in sports vernacular, Eephus is not in fact some widely unknown character created by Dr. Seuss (though it sure may sound like it), but instead a specialty slow curveball pitch in baseball. That very data point might provoke an immediate "well this one is obviously not meant for me" in some prospective viewers, and frankly kind of did for me when I looked at the cover of this release. However, even those with an aversion to films centering around athletic pursuits may want to at least consider checking out this sweet "little" film which marks the feature (co)-writing and directing debut of one Carson Lund, who evidently began his film industry career as a critic (uh oh). The film takes place more or less in "real time", documenting the final game of the season between two amateur baseball teams filled with a range of men, several at least middle aged or older. There's an elegiac quality since some initial voiceover (done by none other than Frederick Wiseman, and, no, that's not a typo) contextualizes things with a "news report" that the field where the guys play their games is about to be razed to make room for a new school. This will, therefore, be not just the final game of the season but also the last game at this location for these teams, and the "death" of the field provides an apt subtext for a plot that dances at least allusively with ideas of mortality and inevitable change.

You may not get complete life stories for the men making up the two amateur teams in Eephus, but you get more than enough in a series of almost throwaway vignettes that document the longstanding relationships the guys have had. There is of course plenty of bantering and a few low level conflicts along the way, but this is a film about "male bonding", for lack of a better term, and in that regard it's one of the most distinctively satisfying ensemble efforts in recent memory. The cast may not have any real marquee stars, but that's probably a good thing, as this coterie of performers probably more easily slip into these sometimes slightly peculiar characters without the "baggage" of having already well established film personae. (There's a fun use of a real life player that won't be spoiled here, other than mention of the "performer" is unavoidable in the supplements section, below.)

Lund proves himself to be both a very capable writer but also a rather accomplished technician in terms of how he, along with cinematographer Greg Tango, keeps the camera gliding through the field like some errant runner not sure where a base hit should lead him.

Eephus Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Eephus is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. The IMDb lists the Sony CineAlta, but as of the writing of this review there's no specification as to the resolution of the DI (I suspect 2K). This is a largely fantastic looking presentation, one that makes full use of a simple, "all American" setting of a neighborhood park field and pushes things at times to almost Field of Dreams lyricism, and I mean that as a total positive. Director Lund and cinematographer Greg Tango utilize natural light (or at least what looks like natural light) appealingly throughout the story, something that's especially notable since the narrative bridges the gap from bright midday sun to a self described "golden hour" into twilight and then darkness. The brightly lit moments of course offer the most consistent detail levels and appealingly suffused palette. There are some arguably slight deficits in shadow detail once things get dark, but nothing of any major import. There is some very slight banding that is noticeable at times as light values change, including the fade in at the very opening of the film.

Eephus Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Eephus features either DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. The entirety of this tale takes place outdoors, and the surround track noticeably opens up the pretty much nonstop ambient environmental effects. There is also some really good directionality as the guys spread out on the field and conversations can either be up close and personal or yelled across the entirety of the playing area. Multi-hyphenate Lund contributes a winning score with his brother Erik, which also sounds nicely spacious in the surround track. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Eephus Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Audio Commentaries

Cast Commentary features Russell Gannon, Cliff Blake, Peter Minkarah, Keith William Richards, David Pridemore, Chris Goodwin, Stephen Radochi, Patrick Garrigan, Jeff Saint Tic, and Johnny Tirado




Filmmaker Commentary features writer-director Carson Lund, co-wrtier, producer and assistant director Michael Basta and cinematographer Greg Tango

• Extra Innings (HD; 35:56) offers deleted scenes.


• Big Whiffs (HD; 10:41) is a gag reel.


• Eephus: Behind the Scenes (HD; 33:53) features camcorder material.


• East River Park Pickup Game (HD; 3:12) features the cast and crew in a game.


• Promo Videos (HD; 2:39) includes an explanation of the Eephus pitch.


• Pre-production Storyboards (HD) is an image gallery.


• Behind the Scenes Photos (HD) is an image gallery.


• Interview with Bill "Spaceman" Lee (SD; 19:09)


• Director Q&A at Jacob Burns Film Center (HD; 28:17) followed a preview screening on March 9, 2025, with JBFC Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo moderating.


• Harvard Film Archive Conversation (HD; 59:28) features quasi-alum Lund in an audio interview.

Eephus Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Every so often (and, frankly, nowhere near often enough) my review queue offers a completely unexpected pleasure, and I would certainly rate Eephus as a prime 2025 example. This is a beautifully written and performed elegy, and it actually kind of surprised me with how much it touched me. Technical merits are generally solid and this disc has unusually fulsome supplements for a Music Box release. Highly recommended.