Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Bad News Bears Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 12, 2021

The world was a vastly different place 45 years ago, and 1976’s “The Bad News Bears” is both a film of its time and timeless in many ways. It’s the screenwriting debut for Bill Lancaster (son of Burt), who provides saltiness and silliness with this underdog comedy about a California little league team, but he also has something to say about the ways of guardianship and parental influence. Put into the hands of director Michael Ritchie (who was on a roll at the time, building career momentum with “Downhill Racer,” “Prime Cut,” “The Candidate,” and “Smile”), and “The Bad News Bears” is transformed into a true sports cinema classic, with the helmer finding a way to celebrate the rougher edges of the writing while still making an approachable picture about baseball, offering a vivid understanding of the little league experience. Ritchie does a remarkable job keeping the endeavor invested in character and mindful of abrasiveness, never slipping into mean-spiritedness when dealing with loudmouthed kids and their learned behavior. It’s a heroic directorial effort, with Richie finding just the right tone to make a crunchy movie lovable.

Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) was once a minor league baseball prospect who couldn’t make it to the majors. Now he’s a drunk who cleans pools, barely keeping himself together after experiencing all sorts of failures in his life. Accepting a secretive payday from Councilman Whitewood (Ben Piazza), Buttermaker agrees to become a coach for the Bears, a last-minute team addition to the local little league. Confronted with a bunch of misfits, Buttermaker slowly realizes what he’s in for, dealing with foul-mouthed Tanner (Chris Barnes), math wizard Ogilvie (Alfred W. Lutter), Hank Aaron fan Ahmad (Erin Blunt), obese catcher Engelberg (Gary Lee Cavagnaro), and diminutive Lupus (Quinn Smith). The Bears don’t know how to play baseball, facing humiliation across the league, with Yankees manager Turner (Vic Morrow) eager to destroy the new kids. Looking for a chance to turn things around, Buttermaker seeks out Amanda (Tatum O’Neal), the daughter of his ex-girlfriend, who’s an excellent pitcher. And there’s juvenile delinquent Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Hayley), who brings special tough kid skills to the Bears as they gradually come together as a team.

Lancaster doesn’t try to hide Buttermaker’s misanthropic ways, introducing the character as a soiled guy driving around Los Angeles with a cooler in the back seat of his busted convertible, making access to road beers (mixed with glove compartment liquor) easy as he goes about his day. He was once a man with promise, but now he’s a lump, stuck cleaning mansion pools around town, accepting a payday for coaching the Bears, with Whitewood threating to sue the league if a seventh team isn’t added to the rotation, giving his son a chance to play. Buttermaker is only in it for the check, and “The Bad News Bears” initially explores his understanding of impending failure, put in charge of children who can’t throw or hit a ball. Ritchie plays the situation for laughs, and dark ones too, watching an inebriated Buttermaker attempt to coast through the obligation, showing no interest in the players, who represent all sorts of attitudes, intelligence, and ability, with Tanner a complete hothead who likes to share his bigoted opinion.

For those new to “The Bad News Bears,” there’s sure to be a few pearl-clutching moments with the kids and their blue behavior, as Lancaster doesn’t hold back when creating a rowdy group of players for Buttermaker to connect with. The coach is also problematic, openly drinking around the kids. The beauty of the writing is how Lancaster enjoys the shock value of such interactions, but he’s after something a little deeper along the way, connecting the behavior of the Bears to their bitter parents, with Turner a bully of a man who prizes victory and slaps around his own son (Morrow is frighteningly realistic in the part). If you’ve even been involved in team sports at a pre-teen level, there are always a few Turners around, giving the movie complete authenticity when it comes to depicting the influence of outsiders stripping the joy out of game time. The Bears are hilarious with their quirks, complaints, and irritations, but the production doesn’t turn them into monsters. Ritchie preserves a human element to the endeavor, especially with Buttermaker, who soon recognizes the influence of his own depressive, dismissive ways (seeing himself in the team’s disappointment), working to become a better leader for the Bears.

“The Bad News Bears” is perfectly cast, with Matthau delivering one of his greatest performances as Buttermaker, making it clear that nobody else could play the part with as much exquisite resignation. The kids are wonderfully boisterous without becoming precocious, and there’s some fist- swinging warmth to be found as they learn to live with each other, including Tanner sticking up for “booger-picking moron” Lupus when he’s bullied by Turner’s kid (Brandon Cruz). Supporting parts aren’t wasted, and more seasoned additions in O’Neal and Haley are ideal, bringing some authority to star player subplots, with Leak an especially coarse character (living to smoke, hustle at arcades, and speed around on his Harley-Davidson), watching the outsider find a place for himself with the team effort. And Richie connects the whole thing with musical selections from Georges Bizet’s opera, “Carmen,” which is a choice that sounds nutty on paper, but fits the movie’s atmosphere of mishaps and growth beautifully.

The Bad News Bears Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Finally finding its way to Blu-ray, "The Bad News Bears" isn't offered a fresh scan for its HD debut. The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation provides an aged look at the feature, securing a modest amount of fine detail, with close-ups highlighting wear and tear on the characters, and baseball uniforms maintain some polyester texture. While the film wasn't never on the pretty side, befitting the underdog story, colors remain slightly muted, with greenery and blue skies lacking snap. Team colors fare a bit better, offering decent primaries, and skintones are natural. Delineation is acceptable. Grain is on the chunky side. Source is in good shape, with some speckling detected.

The Bad News Bears Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix does what it can with "The Bad News Bears," which was never the sharpest sounding picture to begin with. Overlapping dialogue exchanges and general kid excitement is comfortable, without shrill highs. Soundtrack selections are more pronounced, offering volume and presence in the surrounds, with clear instrumentation. Low-end isn't challenged.

The Bad News Bears Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historian Scott Harrison.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (3:09, SD) is included. Interestingly, two characters are incorrectly identified, and the marketing effort promotes a "girls can't play baseball" angle that's not present in the movie.

The Bad News Bears Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Bad News Bears" was a big hit for Paramount in 1976, and the studio certainly tried to keep the money train going, creating two sequels (1977's "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training" and 1978's "The Bad News Bears Go to Japan"), a television show in 1979, and a 2005 remake from Richard Linklater. Obviously, nothing touches the pure charm and itchiness of the original endeavor, which is a sharply edited, evocative gem, capturing the weird energy of little league baseball and the community of players and parents that inhabit it. Many movies have tried to replicate the bruised magic of Ritchie's picture, but it's an impossible task, as "The Bad News Bears" is a sublime, unique film that finds a way to serve its agitation with superbly scripted dry humor and richly defined characters.