Garra de Campeões

As you might know, Baseball is not big in Germany. Hardly anybody knows or understands the rules. People watch soccer here. Basketball gets bigger. But Baseball? No.

So this movie, which many of my friends watched as well, was my first contact with this interesting sport. Of course, it is a fairy tale. Of course, the underdog won't get that big that it will beat everybody and win the championship. Or will it?

Sports history tells us different. The story is the same in every sport. Just two years ago, a team just promoted from second division won the German soccer championship!

This movie depicts the glorious story of a bunch of outsiders and underachievers who finally win some games. And it is told in such a wonderful manner that you can't but root for them on their way out of the slumps. Yes! It is a simple story! But the characters are wonderful, the wisecracking Harry Doyle incredibly funny and the finals... well... no spoilers here.

My most favorite moment is when oldtimer pitcher Harris is replaced by Charlie Sheens character in the finals. In the first games of the season, some die-hard fans had given Sheen the nickname "Wild thing" and sang the famous song. Now, the whole crowd is chanting this song as Sheen steps onto the field to pitch his largest enemy. This scene always gives me goosebumps. It is splendid.

Many great moments, excellent humor and a fate you would wish for your favorite sports team as well - unless you are one of those boring Yankees, Bulls or Bayern Muenchen fans...

Let me preface this by saying I can't stand baseball; I find it to be one of the most boring sports out there. With that said, I love this film. It has a great "underdog" story, some genuine comedy, great characters, and heart. It's a minor film, but it's thoroughly entertaining. If more films could just be entertaining, I might go to the theater more often.

The heart of this film is the characters. We have the broken down veterans, the rookies, the love interest, the wise old coach, and the villain. These are rather cliched characters, but they are written and performed so well, you don't notice. Much of the humor arises out of character moments, which keeps it from becoming tired or dated.

Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen were hot, coming off of the success of Platoon. Corbin Bernsen was enjoying fame on LA Law. Rene Russo and Wesley Snipes were relative unknowns who got a chance to shine. And then there's Bob Uecker! Uecker is the glue that brings everything together and he gets the best lines in the movie.

You can't go wrong with a film like this. Everything works well and a good time is had by all. Too bad the sequels forgot what made this a success.

Over the years many times I have watched Major League and each time I enjoy it. This film just seems better if you watch it during baseball season. The cast and plot of this movie is just great. You have a bunch of misfits and old-timers who come together and bring the Cleveland Indians out of many years of a slump, and finally contend for an American League Pennant. The movie has plenty of funny moments and mishaps that the characters do just to make you laugh while at the same moment you cheer for the team in each game of the season. Charlie Sheen is great he was perfectly cast as the pitcher. Plus the cast of Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, Dennis Haysbert, Corbin Bernsen, and Tom Berenger all worked very good together even Bob Uecker is a joy as the Indians very funny play-by-play announcer. Major League is just one of those movies when you watch it each time you enjoy it and you just love to cheer for the underdog. If you are a baseball fan and love a little comedy mixed with winning then Major League is a movie to watch many times.

... in this great ensemble film about the underdog, from several perspectives, and it's my favorite sports film even though I don't even like baseball. Being a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, and given the team's dilemma for the past thirty years, I definitely feel for the city of Cleveland.

As for the plot, Rachel Phelps is the ex-showgirl widow of the owner of the Cleveland Indians, and as such she has inherited the team. The first day of the new season she comes in with a puzzling roster for spring training - A bunch of has-beens and never-will-be's. She later confides in GM Charlie Donovan that she is deliberately trying to build a team that doesn't just lose - it's been doing that for 34 years - but finishes dead last, with attendance so poor that by contract she is allowed to break her lease with the city and move the team to Florida.

At that point the movie's focus moves to the jug band of players she recruited, how they work together, and how some of them just rub each other the wrong way. At first it looks like Rachel Phelps's plan will be a success, but how would the team react if they knew? Watch and find out.

It's one of the most quotable movies out there and provides genuine tension at the end as you really WANT these guys to win. It gives off such energy. I wasn't a huge fan of the romantic subplot involving Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) trying to win back his ex-wife because it felt a little forced, but I did appreciate that it gave him some character development.

Charlie Sheen's "Wild Thing" Ricky Vaughn is iconic, the writing is brilliant , and it gives us a beautiful story of a bunch of ragtag misfits coming together to prove their individual and collective worth.

This is one of the best baseball sports films ever made. Notg because it exactly depicts the tradition of baseball. Mainly because of a pitcher who can throw a ball at 96 mph at a guys head, a vodoo guy who doubts Jesus Christ's curve ball skills, and a guy named Willy Mayes Hayes who can run like haze but hit like s***. These are the original comedy things added to this great baseball film about the new owner of the Cleavland Indians who wants the team to finish dead last so she can sell the team. That is until the team (which includes Tom Berenger, Cornin Bernson, Charles Cyphers, Wesley Snipes and Charlie Sheen) changes all that. Incredibly funny, and it gets better with each viewing. My favorite moment, when Hays (played by a good newcomer named Wesley Snipes) finds out he made the Indians and just runs outside and goes (Owwwww, yes yes yes). A+