Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 5, 2022

Michael Pressman's "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary with Michael Pressman; exclusive new audio commentary with film historian Scott Harrison; and vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Michael Pressman’s The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training isn’t as good as Michael Ritchie’s The Bad News Bears, so anyone claiming that they are very similar isn’t telling the truth. The latter is quite simply a vastly superior film, and if you approach the former expecting a similarly good film, you will be gravely disappointed. You thought that this was made clear a long time ago? You thought wrong. There are fans of Breaking Bears that will absolutely try to sell you The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training as a similarly good film.

Now, let’s quickly address another false claim that you are guaranteed to encounter if you choose to see The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training and before you do so decide to look around for a few honest opinions on it. Actually, let’s address a few variations of the same claim. You will read that The Bad News Bears is so bad that it stains the reputation of Breaking Bears. The direction, the acting, the story, everything is so bad that the film should have never been made. The kids are awful -- the characters, not the actual actors -- and William Devane should have never made it through the casting process. You will read that that The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training may very well be one of the worst sequels to ever be greenlighted by a major studio. None of this is true. Not even an iota of it.

Here’s the truth about The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training:

Like virtually all sequels, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training does rely on the success of the original film to earn the sympathy of its audience. What does this mean exactly? It means that it borrows elements from the original story about the Bears and then uses them in a new story that would hopefully work just as nicely. This is inevitable, really, because it is what makes the continuity possible. All sequels do it. What separates the good from the bad sequels is how they do it.

So, how does The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training do it?

Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley) is back to lead the Bears, but this isn’t the same team from the original film. Coach Morris Buttermaker is replaced with Mike Leak (Devane), Kelly’s father, who has been away for years and makes ends meet as a factory worker in Texas. Carmen Ronzonni (hilarious Jimmy Baio) is asked to be the new pitcher, but he has trouble blending into the team. Also, this time the Bears are on their way to the Astrodome to play the Houston Toros for a chance to meet the Japanese champions. The stakes are high, but the drama is different, and so is the comedy that routinely overshadows it.

What about Pressman’s direction? It is different too, but he does seek the same atmosphere that made the original film so special. Like Ritchie, Pressman understands that the chemistry between the kids is as important as the story his film tells, so there are a lot of beautiful intimate moments that are wonderfully shot. There are plenty of silly moments that produce the crucial laughs too, like the one where the Bears van stops to pick up a young hitchhiker but the euphoric kids instantly change her mind.

The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training is a good sequel. It has flaws but does a lot of things right, plus it remains modest. A lot of sequels flop because their potential isn’t right for the ambitions of their creators, so once this discrepancy is revealed, they become awfully difficult to tolerate. This isn’t the case with The Bad News Bears in Training. It is a small film whose potential is managed just right by its director.

The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Paramount Pictures. Despite some minor limitations, this master actually offers a very fine presentation of The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training that I think will surprise quite a few people. For example, the daylight and indoor footage boast similarly strong organic qualities, while color balance remains very convincing. In fact, the darker footage does not reveal any of the crushing that typically plagues older masters. Yes, there are a few areas where the finer nuances can be more convincing, but shadow definition remains very good. The wider panoramic shots look lovely too, though a brand new master should improve depth and fluidity (see screencaptures #4 and 24). There are no traces of problematic digital corrections, but ideally grain exposure could be slightly more convincing. Image stability is excellent. I spotted a few tiny flecks, but there are no distracting larger cuts, debris, blemishes, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I had to turn up the volume on my system a tad more than usual, but the overall quality of the lossless track was very good. Clarity, balance, and stability were as solid as I expected them to be. Also, I did not encounter any age-related imperfections, like distortions, buzz, and pops. If in the future the audio is remastered, I think that at very best there would be some rebalancing adjustments. The rest would be very similar to what you will hear on the existing lossless track.

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

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Commentary One - in this exclusive new audio commentary, Michael Pressman recalls how he was offered the job of directing The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training and how its narrative was shaped up. Also, there are a lot of interesting comments about the evolution of the relationships between the main characters, some of needed similarities (with good comments about Michael Ritchie's film), the era from which the film emerged, etc. This is a very, very information commentary, so it is definitely worth listening to in its entirety.

• Commentary Two - in this exclusive new audio commentary, film historian Scott Harrison has a lot of interesting things to say about Michael Ritchie's classic films and Michael Pressman's sequel, what makes them appear similar and different, Pressman's relationship with Roger Corman, how the sequel was received, how sequels performed during the '70s, etc. This is also a very good commentary that has a lot of valuable information about the film industry in America during the '70s as well.

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

Michael Pressman had directed only one other film (The Great Texas Dynamite Chase) before he was offered to do a sequel of Michael Ritchie's box office hit The Bad News Bears, which basically means that he was not the obvious choice for it. However, I am convinced that he was the right man for the job because in its current form The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training is a very modest film that does what is required to be likeable. A different, bigger director would have attempted to direct a bigger sequel, and I think that any such attempt to match the quality of Ritchie's film would have backfired. Via Vision Entertainment's release is sourced from an older but very nice organic master that was supplied by Paramount Pictures. Also, it features two very good exclusive new audio commentaries, one of which was recorded by Pressman. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.