The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

source: The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

source: The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

The first thing you would say, probably, if you watch this, is the question "What is it that makes this such a poor movie"? There are many minor answers, notably the over-zealousness to make fun of the Japanese people in the movie. The main problem is the main character. Tony Curtis plays another of the same character Hollywood stuffs down our throats, the "superiority complex" guy who has to change. The character that only Hollywood people can relate to, and which keeps them out of touch with the world. We have a story about American kids playing baseball against Japanese kids. Okay, except we have about the worst script imaginable. The actors and director do the best with what they have. The minor plot love affair of two kids is okay, considering the script for them is on the poor side, but it isn't anywhere near as boorish as the main plot. There is positively no way to remotely care whether the bore that Curtis portrays changes or not. He's so superiority minded that he is a god, and no normal person could be that ignorant a god. Most would make mistakes, but none would be as arrogant and ignorant as this guy. Sure, a few other characters on the side are okay, but this character is too dull a central character, and gets his way too often. He may as well be named "God". The script is the main problem, and if the script is bad, the movie is bad.

This 3rd and final installment in which the Bear's appear on the big screen is nothing but a big mistake, you'd think, after the sequel turns out to be surprisingly good, considering it was a different writer, director, etc. and the only thing that was the same was the cast. Exactly. The cast. That's one of the many flaws of this movie I will begin with, lack of cast. I guess a majority of the team are still there as Kelly, Stein, Feldman, Ahmad, Miguel, Toby, and Engleberg are all still in this, but the missing character's are the one's that are missed the most, one of the most notable absent is Tanner, who from my understanding had to back out've this because the kid who played him parent's were becoming "Increasingly uncomfortable with the profanity of his character". Whatever.....I've never been all that big a fan of Tanner, but even I know the movie will be dull without his shrill outbursts, racial slurs, and fighting everyone, I mean, he, other than Kelly is pretty much the only character that you can't just drop without an explanation. Other missing character's would be our beloved nerd Ogilvy, Our bugger eating moron Timmy, The English speaking Mexican Twin/brother Jose, and the Chachie Clone, Carmen. Next, there is the story, I guess it starts out somewhat promising, with a somewhat half smile humor of the opening. Then cut to the Bears watching some war movie and Ahamd and Feldman playing Chess, and Stein nagging at them to be more careful, then Engleberg of course, raiding the refrigerator. Then nothing but blah until one final funny part where the team is practicing their first practice since arriving in Japan and everyone keeps arguing about who's playing where then in the last awesome moment ever, Kelly pushes Ahamd and yells "God Damn it! Play Left!". But other than that it's boring. And the kid's are given little to do, with the exception of Kelly and Ahmad, but they don't do anything special here either..... Like the other film, this one is really bad on continuity, as they're going to Japan, like they were going to do when they won the game in Houston, but in this they're going for a different reason, which explains why they appear on a talk show with Regis looking for a coach, and it's there, the introduction of Coach Marvin Lazar, then they meet him at some restaurant and they get things set up. And in that part Kelly leaves and goes inside the bar in the restaurant and what else, flirts with older woman in the bar. But there's only one problem. HE DOESN'T LOOK 12 YEARS OLD ANYMORE. SO THEREFORE IT'S NOT FUNNY. And other stuff like, mainly, as much as it's hard to see the Bear's go, this movie just didn't work out.

Misadventures of the delinquents of the diamond came to an end with this unmemorable third and final film with Curtis, flashy in his 70's getup, leading the charge. This time the Bears travel to the Orient to take on a champion Japanese team and somehow return without starting World War III.

OK, so in the "one line summary" I use the words "horrifically" and "unbelievably" to describe how bad this film is. That's only because coming up with words strong enough to describe how incredibly and unfathomably (there's two more) bad this film is, is actually very difficult. Why did I even view this? I did like the first one, and the second kinda sucked. So in the video store one night a few years back, looking for something new to view, I rented this because I had never seen it, and it was 70's Japan so I thought maybe there would be some cool Godzilla references, because I am a huge Godzilla fan. This film was so awful, it shocked even me. As the film ended, I got very angry. Angry at myself, angry at those who made it, angry at everything. I took action. I wrote a fierce letter to the director demanding he send me my $2.00 rental fee back. (I know, "whoo boy you told him!"). Hey, I wanted my money back! Of course I never heard from him. Maybe he was dead. Maybe he heard it all many times before! Anyhows, yes this film is a joke and a half. And the Godzilla references? Nothing direct, just a "tv commercial" for a baseball bat featuring a kid who uses the bat to knock down a monster trampling over cheesy miniature buildings. It had absolutely nothing to do with anything and was obviously stuck in there just to show the monster trashing some cardboard little buildings. Oddly enough, it was the best part of this film.

In his autobiography, Tony Curtis blasted this movie, the final entry of the "Bad News Bears" series. Watching this movie, it doesn't take long to figure out why Curtis hated this movie. The strange thing, however, is that despite his less than adequate surroundings, Curtis gives a pretty good performance. He's lively, and manages to deliver a few quips in his trademark sarcastic manner that manage to provoke a few chuckles. Aside from Curtis, however, this movie is a terrible mess. I know these movies aren't supposed to be politically correct, but there are some touches that today could be considered racist. But the storytelling is even worse. For some reason, the kids in this movie don't get a lot of focus, and there's even less footage of them playing baseball. And most of the movie is one scene after another that doesn't advance the thin plot the slightest. It's hard to believe that Bill Lancaster, who wrote the sharp first movie, wrote this sloppy script.

I just turned on the telly this afternoon and was rather surprised to hear people speaking Japanese without subtitles. Turned out I was halfway through this film and I can't recall ever seeing a more realistic depiction of Japan (I lived there for five years). Another user commented on the Godzilla advert - a nice touch was the phrasing of the catch line. "With this bat you can beat the anyone!" An excellent film for anyone who has ever lived in Japan, and one which is surprisingly undated considering its age. I also think it was very brave - and realistic - of them to release a film in which more than half of what goes on does so in a language that most of the audience doesn't understand, leaving them in the same position as the characters. Lost in translation? Perhaps.

Sleazy hustler/promoter Tony Curtis (looking old and tired here) talks our pint-sized heroes into going to Japan to play an international little league game with the best team in the Orient. Sleep-inducing third installment lacks the wit and charm of the original and even lacks the minimum credibility that the first sequel had. Jackie Earle Haley and the rest of the ballplayers seem like little more than spoiled adolescent performers that are just going through the motions. Curtis' one-liners and used car dealer-styled part wears thin before we are even settled in. More proof that sequels rarely work, particularly in the 1970s. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).

This--dare I call it--film is, IMHO, one of the worst productions ever recorded onto celluloid and released by a studio. Our daughter loved the original BNB, and seeing original director Michael Ritchie as this installment's Producer gave us some reason to hope, but 3 minutes of this extreme dog-of-a-movie was enough to dispel all of THAT! It's hard to believe this was made only two years after the original came out. From Tony Curtis' boozy, utterly amoral character (was this an acting job?), to the very incoherent script and equally helpless direction, this is a testament, I can only imagine, to the power of greed. Greed by a studio and production company that had had a hit with the first BNB movie and was determined to milk it for all it was worth--regardless of the #&%@! they had to serve up! Thanks folks! Save yourself the considerable bother and DO NOT watch this movie!