Battlefield Baseball

Or is it the other way round? ^^ Anyway, with cheesy SFX, over-the-top acting, and absolutely nonsensical jokes, Battlefield Baseball comes out as one hilarious film that doesn't take itself seriously for nary a minute - mixing some neat AoD tricks with the kind of Japanese humor, which is pretty typical of manga and anime.

I haven't had the pleasure to read the original manga, but the closest comparison I can call, considering all the lampooning going on here, is the anime version of Excel Saga (which incidentally has an episode about baseball heroes - make sure you watch that if you haven't yet!) The movie is quite successful in what it was trying to do (and probably one the few that manages to pull it off): it's guaranteed to make you laugh - provided you like the styles of the source material. And Tak Sakaguchi is simply great as the archetypal anti-hero a.k.a. the bad 'student with long hair and a dirty uniform'.

Two thumbs up!

...it would probably look a lot like this; because like Monty Pythion, this movie deliberately goes out of its way to be as ridicules as possible. The story involves a high school baseball team, who's opponents happen to be a vicious gang of superhuman, green-faced monsters; the monster team enjoys horribly mutilating the players on the opposing team (sorry to disappoint you sports fans, but there is very little baseball is actually played). Anyhow, the high school's last hope is to try and recruit a new student with incredibly powerful baseball skills; unfortunately he has vowed never to play baseball again, after one of his pitches ends up killing his father; are you following this so far? There's a bit more to the story then that, but its not that important, sense the whole movie is really just an excuse to show us some of the most insane gags ever brought to the screen. Recommended for those with a abnormal sense of humor.

Seeing this piece was definitely something I did on impulse. In my humble opinion low budget Japanese movies tend to be quite interesting and original, sometimes containing really odd ideas for the story and scenery. I suppose "Jigoku kôshien" never had any element that I really found interesting when first reading about the film, but now I've seen it and I was quite in a split when trying to draw a conclusion. The film do have a few really good moments where I was having a big smile and a bit of a laugh but as another other user here at the IMDb boards wrote, quoting "low budget ultimately hurts it too much" - something I'd definitely back up. But if you are into Japanese movies and are just looking for some good time-killing, perhaps this one would do the trick.

Ever wanted to see an action / comedy / musical about baseball playing zombies? Don't lie, you know you do.

Jubei Yakyû (Tak Sakaguchi) is a poor student, transferred from school to school. He is a great baseball player, but he won't allow himself to play, that is until his new school, Seido High has to face the Gedo High School team, a team of baseball-playing zombies, whose stadium is apparently not to subject to any laws. Awesome.

'Battlefield Baseball' is nothing but 90 minutes of insanity: packed with fights, deadly baseball matches, all sorts of strange characters, musical numbers, crazy dialog, the most convenient and bizarre plot twists, and all-round awesomeness, 'Battlefield Baseball' is one bizarre, but very funny movie.

Don't watch 'Battlefield Baseball' with any expectations, and don't take it seriously at all, and you should enjoy it. Especially if you like awesomeness - 8/10

Battlefield Baseball (2003) is a fine adaptation of a Japanese manga comic. The movie is very close to the original source. It's filled with cheesy sentiment, cartoon violence, music and over exaggerated slapstick humor. A high school baseball team's manager wants to take his team to the next level. But he's been plagued by a re-occurring nightmare. A team of zombie players has crushed and killed his team in brutal fashion. One day his worse fears come true when he looks into the paper and finds his team playing against the undead brutal team from Gedo. The manage and school officials know that the team doesn't stand a chance against this team. Unless he can convince the new transfer student to play for his school's baseball team. Will the new kid play for the team? Do they have a chance against the undead ball team? Find out when you watch Battlefield Baseball!!

Not a classic film but it's highly entertaining. It's a total manga film so be prepared for cheesy melodrama, exaggerated violence, adult humor and musical numbers!!

Highly recommended.