Search - Major League on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity Movie Release: 1989 DVD Release: 09/24/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 46 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Comedy, Sports Comedy See Also: Major League [Wild Thing Edition], Major League [I Love the 80's Edition], Major League [Wild Thing Edition], Major League [Blu-ray], Major League

Inheriting the Cleveland Indians baseball team from her late husband, covetous ex-showgirl Margaret Whitton wants to move the franchise to Miami, primarily to take advantage of the many personal perks she's been promised by that city. But Cleveland won't yield its lease on the Indians unless the year's attendance falls below 800,000. Figuring that chances for this are already good given Cleveland's inability to win a pennant, Whitton tries to make doubly certain that the fans won't turn out by ordering the club manager to put together the worst team possible. The new players include hasbeen Tom Berenger, blind-as-a-bat pitcher Charlie Sheen, self-protective free agent Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes, who is constitutionally incapable of hitting straight. Surprisingly, this band of misfits begins winning games, so Whitton decides to break their spirit by forcing them to fly from game to game in a World War II prop plane, assigning them a rickety old bus for road games, and divesting them of their precious whirlpool. Still, the team's talent and esprit de corps grows, especially after "Wild Thing" Sheen dons a pair of glasses and is able to see where he's lobbing his 100-mile-an-hour pitches. Once the players are told that Whitton plans to dump them all whether they win the pennant or not, the team defiantly adopts an "us against the you-know-what" attitude. In a nailbiting 20 minute climax, the Indians face down their hated Yankee rivals in the pennant playoff game. The film's conclusion ties up several loose plot ends, notably the off-and-on romance between the irresponsible Berenger and his "ex" Rene Russo. Though set in Cleveland, Major League was filmed virtually in its entirety in Milwaukee, with the Brewers' play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker giving a terrific performance as the Indians' drink-besotted color commentator. The film represented not only the fictional comeback of the Cleveland Indians, but the actual comeback of producer/director David S. Ward, who'd been in a professional slump for several years. Though containing few surprises, Major League was a box-office smash, inspiring a 1992 sequel, inventively titled Major League II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tom Berenger - Jake Taylor
Charlie Sheen - Rickie Vaughn
Corbin Bernsen - Roger Dorn
Margaret Whitton - Rachel Phelps
James Gammon - Lou Brown

Baseball gets wacky in the '80s comedy Major League. Paramount has done decent work on this 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There are a few imperfections to be found on this picture (including some dirt and edge enhancement in the print), though overall the colors and black levels are all solid and very concise. The soundtrack is presented in a newly remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track that, while nice, isn't much of an improvement over the original audio track. The biggest boost comes in the form of composer James Newton Howard's bouncy music score through both the front and rear channels. Otherwise, this is a rather unintersting mix that supports the film well. Also included on this disc are English subtitles. Sadly, Major League fans will have to wait for a special editon of this film -- Paramount hasn't included a single extra feature on this disc. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide