A phenomenal hit when it was released in 1989,
Field of Dreams has become a modern classic and a uniquely American slice of cinema. It functions effectively as a moving drama about the power of dreams, a fantasy ode to our national pastime, and a brilliant adaptation of W.P. Kinsella's exquisite baseball novel
Shoeless Joe. Kinsella himself found the film a delightful surprise, differing greatly from his novel but benefiting from its own creative variations. It is the film that cemented Kevin Costner's status as an all-American screen star, but the story resonates far beyond Costner's handsome appeal. As just about everyone knows by now, Costner stars as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who hears the mysterious words "If you build it, he will come," and is compelled to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. His wife (Amy Madigan) supports the wild idea, but a reclusive novelist (modeled after J.D. Salinger and played by James Earl Jones) is not so easily persuaded. The idealistic farmer is either a visionary or a deluded fool, but his persistence is rewarded when spirits from baseball's past begin appearing on the ball field. Past and present intermingle in the person of "Moonlight Graham" (superbly played by Burt Lancaster), an unknown player who sacrificed his dreams of baseball glory for a dignified life as a small-town physician ... but what all of this means is unclear until the film's memorably heartfelt conclusion. A meditation on family, memory, and faith, the film balances humor and magic to strike just the right chord of thoughtful emotion, affecting audiences so deeply that the baseball field created for the production has now become a mecca of sorts for dreamers around the world. Universal's widescreen Collector's Edition DVD is a real treat, offering extensive production notes, full-length commentary by writer-director Phil Alden Robinson, and the extensive behind-the-scenes documentary
The Making of Field of Dreams. --Jeff Shannon
1 It is not necessary about baseball
First of all, I knew nothing about baseball when I watched this movie. I still don't. I saw this movie with a friend before I went to college. We both were very moved by it.
Yes, the heros are just too darn lovable it's seems fake. And I know the plot makes no sense and yet it touches people's basic emotions. Yes, I felt for it. Why? I do know one thing. It's that not many of us have the luxury to live their dreams. "Moonlight" graham, the perfect example, gave up his dream for a something that's far better. He has no regret in his life but the dream that he gave up never dies. I was so moved when he walked away once again from his dream for one last time.
I absolutely love the title. There aren't no perfect movie...let me be frank, but, this is a great human movie.
Watch it and try to remember what dreams that you once had.
2 Costner's Finest Moment
Kevin Costner is as perplexing as a Rubik's Cube (at least it was tough for me to figure out.!).
Here's a guy who starred in perhaps two of the worst films ever - "Waterworld" and "The Postman" and yet was single handedly responsible for the epic masterpiece "Dances With Wolves".
And, of course, this beautiful film - "Field of Dreams".
I'm not going to provide a recap / synopsis of the plot - that's been done very, very well by many of the reviewers here.
I guess it was inevitable that I would feel a connection with this movie. As a guy who grew up living in southern California, I fell in love with baseball at a very early age. In fact, as a youngster / teenager, it's all I can remember doing when I wasn't in school. I guess I was a decent player because I was scouted by the Cincinnati Reds and offered a minor league contract.
I was also a teenager who had a very difficult and, at times. estranged relationship with his father - which is the "sub plot" at the heart of this magical story. And in view of the fact that my dad passed away about a year ago, needless to say, the ending depiciting the meeting of Kevin and his dad can certainly trigger alot of emotions in me.
When you really think about it, this movie could have failed so easily. For example, it could have tried to "explain" the magic of the cornfield - or Costner "going back in time" and meeting Moonlight Graham, superbly played by Burt Lancaster. And if it had tried, it could / would have lost all credibility. Because there is no "rational" explanation for the events depicted in this film.
Instead it didn't even try - the events just happened and if you didn't "feel" the magic because you were too busy trying to understand the logic of it, you would be the poorer for it.
As a Red Sox fan, I also loved the fact that Costner had to seek out James Earl Jones in Boston and actually attend a game at fabled Fenway Park. Could you possibly imagine these two characters attending a game together at some modern behemouth stadium and buying into the notion that something " supernatural" was happening. Personally, it wouldn't have had nearly the same impact.
Let me make another recommendation - consider purchasing the soundtrack to this film as well. The music provides a perfect backdrop to the wonderful feeling conjured up by this movie, especially the long last song which is played as Kevin and his dad meet again.
At a time when movies rely so heavily on special effects in order to mask the fact that there is no plot. Or that studios just keep on pumping out horrid sequels in a blatant cash grab. Or studios are so devoid of original ideas that they have to make films of tired old television series i.e Charlie's Angels / Mod Squad / Starsky and Hutch - it's an absolute pleasure to watch a movie that's so original and so fresh that it's like nothing you've ever seen before..!!
Or are likely to see again.
This is a very, very special movie and if Costner was to spend the next 30 years making turkeys like the Postman, at least we would always be grateful to him for this gem.
3 A Classic
I saw this movie just the other day, for the first time. I never had an interest to see the movie, because i was stupid and judged the movie by its cover, which i did not find very appealing. Well my dad (who absolutely loves this movie, its his all time favorite) finally talked me into watching it. I was blown away. The movie was just absolutely amazing. This movie moves ahead of 'Rudy' and 'Hoosiers' in my book as the best sports movie of all time. It was just that good. I mean, the movie is just perfect and inspires you to dream and the impossible can become reality. A GREAT MOVIE ABOUT AMERICAS PASTTIME; BASEBALL...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
4 The perfect movie?
"Field of Dreams" very well may be a perfect movie. I don't know anyone who didn't like it. The film's moral message had a profound impact on me. I first saw it when I was a little kid and loved it; I understand and love it even more today.
The story is about an Iowa farmer named Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) and his family. Kinsella hears a voice one day while walking in his cornfields. It tells him "if you build it, he will come." He interprets it that if he builts a baseball diamond in his cornfield, Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) will appear again. Kinsella proceeds to built it, and magical things begin to happen.
I won't go any farther. "Field of Dreams" is another example of how utterly dumb the Academy Awards are. It lost the Best Picture honor to "Driving Miss Daisy." Whatever. Kevin Costner does a great job in the lead role. The script was sublime, and the rest of the acting was as well. James Earl Jones stands out as a reclusive writer, and Burt Lancaster makes an excellent impression in his last film. And pay attention to James Horner's mystical score, especially in the last 10 minutes of the movie.
"Field of Dreams" is the kind of movie you can watch over and over and never get tired of it. At least not me. A real American classic, it's the "place where dreams come true."
5 Doesnt live up to the hype
Field is a sweet movie, but at time it's runs to long. The plot is original, and the touch of spirituality is cool. The classic ending isnt that touching and I wasnt weeping for joy.
6 They built it--I came
Costner stars as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who hears the mysterious words "If you build it, he will come," and is compelled to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. The meeting of Kinsella and shoeless Joe Jackson was one of the best parts of this unusual movie. While the film has had its many detractors, I loved it, the idea of it, and especially the excellent execution. That final scene, with the line of car lights streaming out over the horizon, still gives me goose-bumps.
7 Another coded Hollywood movie
On the surface, Field of Dreams is about the loss of American innocence and the attempt to find healing
and wholeness: Kevin Costner plays a baby boomer who, like many of that era, fell out of favour with his
father through the course of the turbulent 60s. Costner marries a fellow 60s student traveller and finds
himself in a sort of self-imposed exile as a farmer in rural Iowa. One day, as he is in his corn field, he hears
a voice that tells him to Build it and he will come. Costner eventually intuits that this mysterious voice and
instruction is connected to he and his father's never having resolved their growing apart. Costner then
determines that what he is supposed to do is build a baseball field in his corn field and his father's favourite
player, Shoeless Joe Jackson, will appear. On the surface, Jackson, a member of the White Sox team that
threw a world series, represents the tie and bond between father and son and serves as a source of the
re-discovery of what is elemental and good about America as supposedly manifested in baseball. Here,
however, is where the cryptocracy of Hollywood uses subtle symbolic archetypal imagery to affect a more
sinister processing of the Societal Mind. The set-up begins with a loss of innocence, a Fall, where the son
is alienated from the Father. Shoeless Joe Jackson, describe in the movie as the most elegant and dazzling
player, is essentially Lucifer, a favoured angel that falls and eventually causes a rupture between God and
Mankind. In Hollywood gnostic -- kaballistic -- masonic manipulation, however, Shoeless Joe is unjustly
condemned. After Costner builds his field and Shoeless Joe arrives, played by Roy Liotta, he tells Costner
there are more players coming, since he represents only one player of a team of nine. This number is roughly
one third of a baseball team, one third being the percentage of angels in Heaven that fell with Lucifer
according to the Holy tradition of the Church. The townspeople consider Costner crazy since only he and
his family can see the players out on the field, indicating the fact that the others have not yet been initiated.
At this point, Costner receives another message which takes him in a search for a J.D. Salingeresque figure
who wrote brillant, mind-expanding novels in the 60s but has since fallen silent. This character is played
by James Earl Jones which provides an alchemical element of black and white to the set-up. Here, Jones
would seem to be the magus who will provide the alchemical initiation for the New Age. Once back home,
as foretold by the original voice and Jones' character toward the end, masses of people turn off the highway
running by Costner's rural farm to see the Black Sox play again. Build it and he will come sounds like a
recipe for building the political spiritual order necessary for the appearance of the fallen and their human agent
as prophesied in Daniel and Revelation. The Hollywood cryptocracy has once again produced a coded
movie that at its core slanders the Truth of the Gospel of Christ by a subtle means of pyschological processing
whereby people open themselves up to this false New Age and its promises.
8 One of Costner's Best Movies
This ranks as one of my favorite movies of all time. You don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the nostalgia and warm heartedness this movie brings to the big screen - well little screen in the case of the DVD. It's part ghost story, part fantasy, part nostalgia. It's also about redemption and the fulfillment of dreams.
The story begins when Ray Kinsella, a reluctant Iowa farmer, although he won't admit he's reluctant, starts hearing a voice telling him "build it and he will come." Ray dreams, ponders and finally plows under many acres of his crop to build a baseball field on his farm, against all rational logic. And the magic begins. This magic takes Ray on a strange quest in search of a '60s radical holed up in a New York City apartment writing children's books played by James Earl Jones - to tell why would spoil the movie. But suffice it to say Jones ends up with one of the most memorable "speeches" in the movie about the nostalgia of baseball.
It's hard to really do justice to the plot without spoiling the movie but it will at times give you chills and in the end is very uplifting.
9 Sentimental nonsense
Sports fans tend to be both nostalgiac and sentimental and sports movies tend to fall into the same trap. This movie is a perfect example of why sports, and especially baseball, rarely makes for great cinematic subject matter. Corny, predictable and manipulative- perhaps baseball fans might enjoy it, but I can't imagine anyone else sitting through it.
10 It was you. -- No, it was YOU.
When I attended the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, we were given one rule: "Never write about Christmas, the circus or baseball." The reasoning was that these three topics were just too ingrained in the American psyche, they were too iconic, and that they had been used too often. Well, I'm glad that Ray Kinsella (author of the book "Field of Dreams") and screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson didn't attend the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
FIELD OF DREAMS is a marvelous examination of America's infatuation with baseball and a moving exploration of family loyalties. Ray (as sensitively played by Kevin Costner) has a loving wife (Amy Madigan, making it look so easy) and a doting daughter, but something is missing. A voice tells him that he must build a baseball field in his corn crop (in Iowa!). When he does, the apparition of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) shows up to play. What follows is a series of baseball adventures on and off Ray's baseball diamond, as well as in and out of the present day. Eventually, it becomes apparent that what was missing in Ray's life can only be addressed through baseball, and through a cultural icon from his past, played by the ubiquitous James Earl Jones.
When everything is resolved, there's a bit of throwaway dialogue that, in reality, is very moving. "It was you," Ray tells Shoeless Joe Jackson in reference to the voice he'd heard early in the film. "No, it was YOU," Jackson replies, indicating that
Ray's conscience prompted the entire adventure. Don't let anyone tell you that FIELD OF DREAMS is just a baseball movie. That would be like someone telling you that baseball is just a game.
11 Grand Slam
On the surface, Field Of Dreams, seems like it belongs as an epidsode of The Twilight Zone. The cynic in me takes it one step further, and says, "there's no way I can buy into this sentimental hockum". As I watched the film for the first time, all of those concerns melted away, leaving me with a sense of wonder...normally reserved for children
Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is inspired by a voice he can't ignore that will take him on a journey that will change his life forever. Supported by his wife Annie (Amy Madigan), Ray begins his special quest by turning a portion of his cornfields into a baseball diamond. Along the way he meets reclusive activist Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), the mysterious 'Doc' Graham (Burt Lancaster) and even the legendary 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson (Ray Liotta).
Adapted from W.P. Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe", director Phil Alden Robinson, has created a fine tribute to the sport of Baseball, the fans who love the game, and more importantly, it's a metaphor about father's and sons everywhere. Aside from a handfull of films, I don't really think of Kevin Costner, as a good actor. As Ray though, he gives one of the best perfomances of his career, ideally capturing the sense of wonder I talked about earlier. Of course it doesn't hurt that James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster are there to back you up. Both men add so much to the film, giving a sense of realism and warmth, that may have seemed artificial had lesser actors been cast. As Joe Jackson, Liotta is very effective and I had forgotten just how good he can be in a non gangster/bad guy role. For more on the life of Joe Jackson and the World Series scandal that rocked the sport, be sure to watch Eight Men Out, another winner. Field Of Dreams also boasts one of composer James Hornor's best scores.
I don't really know why I never picked up the Collector's Edition of the DVD. But after watching the Anniversary Edition 2 disc set, all I can say is, I'm glad I waited. The remastered picture and 5.1 sound very clean transfers and work well on either my TV, or, my speaker enhanced PC. The audio commentary with Robinson and the film's director of photography John Lindley is very good. Both men are well spoken, never dull, and clearly respected the source material In keeping with the father/son themes I spoke of, I especially enjoyed "...Passing Along the Pastime" - memories of father and son baseball as recounted by the director, star, and major league baseball players. The newly discovered deleted scenes are mostly throwaway stuff that was wisely cut. I was surprised to learn while watching "The Diamond in the Husks", that the baseball set made for the film still exists, and attracts tourists every year. We also get to visit the Minnesota home town of Moonlight Doc Graham. "A Look Inside Field of Dreams is a new 90-minute documentary on the film and its lasting appeal. Also included is a 48 minute segment of the Bravo channel series "From Page to Screen" on the movie. The "Field of Dreams Roundtable", with Costner and former baseball players, including Bret Saberhagen talk about the state of the game and the film. Trivia buffs will really like the topper to the set, fun facts about America's stadiums.
Field Of Dreams is not your typical "sports" movie. Indeed, it's much more than that...Even though, I never had the chance as kid to pitch baseballs with my dad, the movie allows me to dream that I can...
12 1989 Classic And Kevin Costner's Best Film
On DVD, the movie is loaded with extra features including commentary, interviews, trailer, etc. This was on Channel 7 last week. Kevin Costner stars as a suburban family man who is hearing voices. "If you built it they will come". The voices keep changing their messages and lead him in pursuit of the gathering of baseball legends who have passed away. The goal is to establish a "field of dreams" a baseball park with old pros playing and a magic working on its audience. And it did for many people when this movie was released in 1989. Too many, it was a movie about hope, following your dreams and persistence. Kevin Costner is doing a terrific performance and is perhaps doing his greatest role. He was merely a romantic lead in the early 90's "The Bodyguard" with Whitney Houston and he was not as committed in "Dances With Wolves" which though the right kind of movie for him was not as interesting enough a character as he is in this movie. Other than this movie, his only fine role was in J.F.K. In this film, he plays a dedicated and persistent dreamer who discovers that indeed dreams come true if you hold fast. A great job by all the actors, including James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars) as the hermit and elusive author Terrence Mann, who wrote books in the 60's advocating love and peace. He is supposedly modeled after J.D. Salinger. The chemistry between James Earl Jones and Kevin Costner, especially in the scene in which Costner attempts to pursuade him to join him to a baseball game is exceptional. Magical and unexpected things start to happen as the voices carry him onward through his mission, including a trip back in time to 1972. Bring the magic home in this remarkable DVD. It's as much an adult's movie as it is for the whole family. It's almost a Disney film. Five stars.
13 Much More Than About Baseball!
Field of Dreams is a movie that vibrates the heartstrings of millions of people, and this version with all of its extras is wonderful. It is hard to believe that it is not among The American Film Institute's 100 Best of All Time. I believe that it is more about the American philosopy of Transcendentalism than it is about baseball. It perfectly illustrates Henry David Thoreau's belief that we should march to the beat of our own drummer. It completely illustrates the Transcendentalist belief in living close to nature. After all, Ray began to hear his inner voice once he moved to the farm. I believe baseball symbolizes the Transcendentalist concept of Oversoul in the movie. Emerson and Thoreau believed that everything is connected to Oversoul; in the movie, everything is connected to baseball. In terms of the transcendentalists' reliance on intuition, what movie better shows its importance? Once Ray began to rely on his intuition, his life finally led to his reconciliation and healing with his father. The transcendentalists also believed in social responsibility. How wonderfully is this illustrated in the movie when Annie staunchly defended the 1st Amendenment at the school board meeting. Director Phil Alden Robinson created a classic movie because it taps into our true American psyche. It is perhaps the most spiritual of all secular movies. A gem.
14 Great Story... Outstanding Ending
I've probably watched "Field of Dreams" about 25 times. This is due, in part, to my love for baseball. I appreciate its historic recollection of players and events and I've always found the film to be well done and very moving.
Even though I liked it already, this movie has taken on a greater significance to me since my father passed away in 1999. In the end, when Ray Kinsella asks "Hey Dad... You wanna have a catch?", how could anyone that loves their dad keep it together? Costner's performance just seems to reach into your soul and bring out your emotions.
When I saw the anniversary edition was available, I scooped it right up. Most of the bonus inclusions are pretty thin but the documentary on how the book was transformed into the screen play and then the film is worth every penny.
15 Kinsella's Catharsis - Heal His Pain.......
I watched the movie on TV again on Saturday Night with the vinettes showing what was going to be on the DVD. Very intriguing the parts where the former players talk about their lives and their play.
It is all about connecting with your dad. What Kinsella did and what this movie did was attempt to make closure for Kinsella with his dad and, in his mind, for the players who had dreams that were not fully or in ever realized.
Interesting sport baseball. It is an American and now international sport that surpasses boundaries. It is a game like no other. Any young man can remember the feeling of having a catch with dad or learning how to hit a baseball or other ball with a bat for the first time. It really made us connect with dad and me like others, always wanted dad to have a catch with us. He taught us not to be afraid of the ball when catching. To keep our eyes open when having a catch and keeping our eyes on the ball when swinging at the ball.
Kinsella captures something else in his story about the field of his dream to connect with his father again and to ease his pain. It is the pain of a life unfulfilled seen through the lives of players, the 8 players from the White Sox who were kicked out of baseball for good at the peak of their careers due to a gambling scandal.
The movie makes you wonder about dreams and desires achieved versus those which are not achieved. My thoughts go to my deceased uncle Jack who tried out for the NY Giants in 1939 or 1940 as a catcher. He had a life changing injury, as the story goes, that caused him not to be picked that year. I see my uncle in that field of dreams, wondering if he would or could have made it if he had not gotten hurt and, if he had, what a life he would have had for his family.
I really love the connection that Cosner, as Kinsella, has with his dad. "Dad, can we have a catch....?" Wow, too powerful for words. This movie is one where the author honors and respects his dad and finally connects and fully washes away any guilt he may have had for not connecting with his father before his death.
There is a scripture that states, "honor your father and your mother that your life may be long in the land...." To Ray Kinsella, "Long Life." Thank you for a beautiful tribute.
16 Don't trade in or get rid of your original edition!!!
this is a great movie..great transfer and great extra features...commentary, roundtable with hall of fame baseball players...bravo special ...current day update on the actual field of dreams location....BUT , and its a big one...it does NOT contain the fabulous hour long making of documentary from the initial release!!! as well as many of the other bonus features....
so.....if you are a fan , you will most likely want both editions...
I don't understand why they couldn't have included the bonus features from the first "collectors" edition to make this the definitive issue...but Like ON GOLDEN POND ...you get a newer edition with great extras which don't duplicate the original....
anyway...just thought I'd warn fans out there who are thinking of "trading up" for the new edition...
17 Movie for Simpletons
Not an emotionally authentic moment in this movie. It's scary, and tells you a lot about America, that so many moviegoers are bowled over by this treacle. No wonder the booboisie want to put Ronald Reagan's mug on Mt. Rushmore. They fall for anything.
18 did you feel it?
to say that you did not feel anything after watching, "Field of Dreams," would be as if saying you had never drank a cup of water ever in your life.
19 Shoeless Joe Comes to Iowa
Field of Dreams is nothing short of magic. It is a wonderfully captivating movie that could have been made 50 years ago. If you're a pessimist, a non-dreamer, one who doesn't believe in the magic and wonder of the world, you're not going to like this movie. In many ways this movie logically doesn't make sense, yet that is the beauty of it. It's about baseball, fathers and daughters, fathers and sons, trusting relationships, second chances, wonder, and dreams, and so much more. But mostly it's about hope.
A framer Ray Kinsella who is played by Kevin Costner, has a vision while working in his corn field to clear some of his crop to build a ball field. His wife, played by Amy Madigan, supports her husband and gives him the courage to follow his dream. In this day and age where society rams down our throats the notion that married couples should remain individuals, this movie embraces the notion of true trust, unity,and support.
The field Ray builds becomes one of magic as the banned players from 1917 Chicago White Sox including Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) appear from the corn field to knock the ball around and play a few games. As the movie progresses Ray has yet another vision and is drawn away from his Iowa farm to go to Boston and Fenway Park to lookup a famous old writer named Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones), who has lost hope in a cynical world. Together they are drawn to Chatham Minnesota to lookup an old ballplayer named Moonlight Graham (Burt Lancaster), who many years earlier had one big league at bat for the long gone New York Giants managed by John McGraw.
Ray, Terrence, and Moonlight Graham return to Ray's Iowa farm to find that many more long ago players have showed up to play. There's Gil Hodges, Smokey Joe Wood, Mel Ott, all who just want one more chance to play the game. The movie plays on the classic farmer bankrupt angle, but that's merely a footnote to tie the movie together. Ray's farm is losing money because of the ball field he built. But he is persuaded by his wife, his little girl, and Terrence Mann to keep the ball field. Terrence Mann makes a speech about baseball that is pure poetry, and it leaves the viewer wishing that baseball, as we know it today, could somehow recapture its simpler time. A time of Sunday double headers, and 50 cent bleacher seats. A time when music wasn't played as a batter steps to the plate, and kids got to see or listen to world series games because they weren't played late at night.
As the movie culminates you see just why Ray was moved to build the field. Yes, the old ballplayers do get a second chance to play the game, but Ray also gets a second chance. The ending is simply heart breaking, and loving, and hopeful all at once. Is this heaven? No, its Iowa says Ray, as he looks over to his house to see his wife and little girl on the porch swing. As tears well up in Ray's eyes he moved to say, maybe this is heaven; for he realizes the blessings he has in his wife and little girl's love. Ray Kinsella gets his second chance, but sadly it's a second chance far too many people will never get. Hey dad, do you want to have a catch?
This movie will make you reflect on your life and your relationships. It is a beautifully made movie. Don't be mislead by the few people who have panned this film. Maybe life has left them a little too bitter or they have allowed the child inside their heart to die. Sadly for them they just don't get it. Field of Dreams is a classic in every sense of the word, and 100 years from now it will still be a highly sought after film. It is an all-time classic.
20 Wonderful edition of a classic
I'm not spending an hour writing a glowing review of the film, which I certainly could do. If you've seen it, you know it's one of America's finest works of all-time. Absolutely a joy to watch. I just want to point out that the 15th Anniversary 2-disc set is brilliant, as well. Tons of extra features come as a welcomed surprise. I didn't think they could make a perfect movie any better, but they did.
21 What a STUPID waste of precious 33 mm film!!!
This movie was so stupid, I was mad at myself for wasting 2 hours of my life, that I can't get back, oh this movie is just so bad, I can't fit all the horrible things about it. Field Of Dreams just is every bad cliche of every bad film all rolled up onto one pitifully cliched film. AWFUL, I think this is right up there as one of the worst filsm of all time, but unlike the other worst films of all time, which most have some camp value, thsi just plain stinks.
22 Go the distance!
This movie goes the distance as perhaps the alltime best movie about baseball. I rank it up there with the Natural in its pure mythic and magical themes. Everything about this movie is magical and so well made that it stirs you inside. From Ray's relationship with his father to JD's ode to the american past time this movie moves you. It also has very humorous parts my favortie being the baseball game where Moonlight Grahm bats and the ensuing conversation with Shoeless Joe: Joe-- He's thrown you two pitches high and inside where do you think the next will be? Moonlight--- Either low or away or in my ear. Joe---Look for low and away but be ready for in your ear.
This movie is a great tribute to dreams and the American past time.
23 Not really about baseball
We all have at least one regret; most of us more than one. Maybe we said or did something stupid or cruel in a moment of passion, and left an eternal scar on someone we love, someone who loved us. Life rarely if ever gives us a second chance. In the words of Moonlight Graham (Burt Lancaster), an old small-town doctor who, fifty years before, got to play in the major leagues for just one inning, "...we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives when they're happening. I said to myself, `There'll be other days,' but it turned out that that was the only day."
The "dream" of this beautiful film, is the dream of the second chance. This theme is common to all the major characters, and by some inexplicable miracle the film pulls it off without ever becoming sappy. There are a few tiny flaws I could point out, but why? The film as a whole is such a towering achievement of the metaphysical, of the magical, of the spiritual, that if you are willing to suspend your disbelief even the tiniest little bit, it will take you to places in your soul that you didn't even know were there. In a strange and almost perfect way, "Field of Dreams" taps into that deepest and most precious place in the Judeo/Christian cultural tradition - that place where forgiveness and redemption live, and where that which is beautiful and good does not die or disappear, but instead lives forever. If those who have the courage to love are united by hope, this film is a glimpse of what they are hoping for.
24 Field of Dreams (1989)
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Cast: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster, Ray Liotta, Timothy Busfield.
Running Time: 106 minutes.
Rated PG for some mild language.
Labeled as a sports film but so much more, "Field of Dreams" is a breathtaking, touching, and mystical adaptation of W.P. Kinsella's delicate baseball novel "Shoeless Joe". On a mysterious night while working in his farm, average family man Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner in a heartwarming, brilliant performance) hears the faint whispers proclaiming "if you build it, they will come". Ray has no idea what this means and why he hears these voices, but he is determined to find answers to his questions. With the guidance and support of his loving wife (Amy Madigan), Kinsella decides to use all of his family's money and land to build a beautiful baseball field-not knowing its purpose and why Ray felt he had to build it.
Ray is also compelled to track down a once-famous novelist (James Earl Jones) and an unknown baseball star named "Moonlight Graham" (Burt Lancaster) because they are somehow connected to the spiritually enveloped ball diamond. Seen by only himself, his family, and the novelist, Ray's field becomes the playing ground for the spirits of former ballplayers whose careers were cut short by fate and tragedy. As Ray learns more about the purpose of the field, he continues to lose money from not growing crop. He is on the brink of losing his land and home, but Ray is still obligated to understand his true destiny-and he believes it is the field.
Kevin Costner delivers one of the defining performances of his career, capturing Kinsella in a fashion that only he could produce. James Earl Jones is a fine choice as the cloistered activist Terrance Mann. "Field of Dreams" cultivates from being a standard baseball story and becomes a miraculous metaphor for the American dream, the love for family, and the incredible bond of father and son. It is a tale that symbolizes what is good about cinema, how movies can carry an audience into a fantasy world that we all wished we were still a part of, and brings out the child in all of us. A brilliant feature for the whole family.
25 Excellent movie
Field of Dreams is one of the best movies ever made. You dont expect the ending and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. You think the whole while that he is doing everything for Shoeless Joe only to realize at the end that he was doing everything to get reunited with his father. If the ending of this movie doesn't bring a tear to your eye then you are missing the whole point of this movie. Dreams Can Come True
26 How Dumb?
It's a Costner movie so don't expect great acting
Stupid plot. Kill crops for a stupid baseball field. Think of the families or starving children in some stupid African country those crops would have fed.
Who cares about some ghost that wants to play baseball. Waste of time. If u like Feel Good moveis that don't make sense and lose any sense of reality and have and hour or 2 to waste, see this film now!
Stupid movie
27 Modern Transcendentalism
More than any other film, Field of Dreams, as presented by Phil Alden Robinson, best exemplifies the wonderfully spiritual 19th century philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau: Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism venerates nature; so do Ray Kinsella and Shoeless Joe on Kinsella's Iowa farm. Transcendentalism holds that paying close attention to intuition is an essential key to life; Field of Dreams is rife with characters following through on their intuitive insights. Transcendentalism holds that God speaks to us from within; Field of Dreams uses "The Voice" to show that Kinsella was finally listening. Transcendentalism demonstrates that everything in the universe is interconnected; Field of Dreams uses baseball and Kinsella's mystical field to show this hidden relationship among seemingly disparate things. I can think of no other movie that better demonstrates the healing power of our one true American spiritual philosophy. And I still can't believe it did not make the American Film Institute's list of the best 100 movies of all time. It is a magical experience.
28 The Father/Son Dynamic...
I first saw this film with my father when it first arrived in theaters. My father loved sports and expected me to do the same, however, I ended up loving the cinema. We always looked for ways to spend time together and with this film we were able to meet somewhere in the middle. He got to see a movie supposedly about "sports" and I got to see a movie period. I was 12 years old.
I really enjoyed the film, although it wasn't until about a year ago that I fully understood and appreciated it's true impact. I am now 27 years old and married. I lost my father in March of 2003. I watched this film recently with my wife and was stunned...moved to tears.
I don't think (in my personal opinion) there is a more appropriate and heartfelt take on the father and son dynamic. The acting is dead on and the musical score sould be placed in a museum of American art.
I hold a new place in my heart for this film and all that were involved with bringing this little slice of Americana to life. What I wouldn't give to be able to play one last game of catch with my father.
29 James Earl Jones should've won Best Supporting Actor
James Earl Jones was phenomenal in this movie. His scenes were the best in the movie. This movie should've won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor. There's just one mystery in this movie: WHO WAS THE VOICE?!?!
30 One of My Favorite Baseball Movies
This is an intriguing movie for any baseball fan, yet the story is so much deeper than that of bringing back baseball players to life who had their dreams stripped from them for whatever reason.
However, Ray Cancella, played by Costner really has a desire to see his dad who died when he was young. Ray's dad wanted to play baseball very badly and his life was different because he did not.
I had an uncle who tried out for a pro team just prior to WWII, he did not make the team and this movie makes me wonder what his life would have been like had he made the grade.
James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster in the flick made it memorable. The movie is really about choices and what you do with your life if your dreams do not happen. I think it is a watcher each baseball season. I watch it almost every year as a season opener.
31 Strikeout
Not so long ago Ben Mankiewicz, scion of the screenwriting/producing/directing family, told a great story on television: the first time he saw the 1989 "Field of Dreams" he was bawling in the movie theatre, that's how impressed he was. Ben's relationship with his father (Joseph's nephew) had always been close, and a great deal of their bonding had been associated with baseball. They had been going to games together since Ben was a kid. Therefore, as soon as Ben left the theatre, he called his father and gushed: "Dad, I've just seen 'Field of Dreams'!" Before he could go any further, the elder man growled: "Wasn't that the dumbest piece of crap you ever saw?" Poor Ben doesn't seem like a wimp, but he was so crushed by his father's reaction he had no choice but to agree. Having finally seen this fanatically idolized movie I can only say: "Bravo, Mankiewicz pre!" This is beer-sappy bilge, the type of thing Homer Simpson would sob over at Moe's. I can't imagine a baseball fan enjoying this movie, any more than I can imagine anyone who really likes children sitting through a program with that obnoxious dinosaur. Written and directed with sledge-hammer simplicity by Phil Alden Robinson (who hasn't done much since), "Field of Dreams" is the story of Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer by way of Berkeley who, one afternoon in his cornfield, hears a voice: "If you build it, he will come." That's it, but Kinsella decides "it" is a baseball field, so he plows under his corn and constructs a diamond, complete with lights. Kinsella's convinced the "he" of the cryptic message is none other than Shoeless Joe Jackson, the player who, with seven of his team mates, was indicted in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal; but Kinsella is further convinced that Jackson was railroaded, an honest man who made a mistake. (Actually, Robinson's screenplay implies that Jackson was completely innocent -- citing his batting average as proof!) Kevin Costner had already established himself as a star of Cooperesque sincerity. Unfortunately, he got the goofy charm down pat but not the rugged individualism. Amy Madigan, as Kinsella's wife, is more difficult to judge. I think her character was meant to be a hybrid of Berkeley liberalism and mid-West spunk, but what comes across is somewhat shallow. (Following "Field of Dreams", Ms Madigan did a great deal of TV.)That patriarchal character actor James Earl Jones wastes his sepulchral voice on some pretty contrived dialogue; and, even sadder, Burt Lancaster makes one of his last screen appearances in an awkward scene involving a little girl's very unconvincing crisis. Robinson and Costner, before committing themselves to a baseball fantasy about a man fighting pragmatic odds, should have studied Clarence Brown's light but spiky "Angels in the Outfield". Between "Dreams" and "Angels", I'll bet the Mankiewicz elders would have preferred the latter.
32 Emotional Masterpiece
Field of Dreams is a film that embarks on our emotions like in a father/son relationship like no other film. It is my all-time favorite baseball film and one of my favorite sports films for that matter. The story isnt just about baseball, but the relationship of Kevin Costner's character and his distorted relationship he had with his father. If the teary-eyed ending doesnt leave you completly satisfied at the end of Field of Dreams, I suggest having yourself checked out. I am very pleased & proud they are releashing this special edition 15th Anniversary of the film (it's amazing that's it been that long). I will certainly be purchasing this and adding it to my collection, I think anyone who buys it will be equally satisified as I know I will be. The special features have deleted scenes, commentary, and all kinds of documentaries. Yes I know this isn't heaven, it's DVD.
-MMF
33 Guaranteed To Make You Feel Good About life
FIELD OF DREAMS is a film about a man who pursues a big dream against heavy odds. In the process he serves as a catalyst for some remarkable events. The film is guaranteed to leave the viewer feeling good about life. It is adapted from a novel about Shoeless Joe Jackson by W. P. Kinsella.
Kevin Costner stars as the man who has the dream and the strong supporting cast includes Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffman, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster and Timothy Busfield. James Earl Jones gives a particularly memorable performance as a famous writer from the 1960's.
The movie was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Original Score in 1989. The film's director Phil Alden Robinson also directed THE SUM OF ALL FEARS.
34 People will come
I love this movie!!!!!!!!! You don't have to like baseball to fall in love with it. It's about more than just that. It's about family and love. It's so touching
35 Hey! I get it!
I'm always amazed when I hear baseball fans complain about this movie, and believe me it happens every spring. Good sports movies are few and far between, and I'd stick Field Of Dreams out at the front of the pack along with Bull Durham and Hoosiers, (with the slight overall edge to Hoosiers.) The Field Of Dreams story has been rehashed often enough in these reviews, so I'll spare you my take on it, but I have to say that the cast is what takes a pretty good story and makes it into a great movie. Only Costner's Dances With Wolves performance tops this one. James Earl Jones is likewise incredible as the sixties burn-out, as is Amy Madigan as the hippy burn-out. Honestly there isn't a weak performance in the movie, and if the Fenway Park scenes don't make you book a trip to Boston, you shouldn't call yourself a baseball fan.
36 Field of Dreams = Perfection!!!
Ray Kinsella ( Kevin Costner) loves baseball, and lives on a farm in Iowa. One day while he is working out in the cornfield, he hears the words "If you build it, they will come." This inspires Ray to build a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield. His wife Annie ( Amy Madigan) supports him. But the mission does not stop with building the field. Ray is given more signs that tell him to seek out reclusive novelist ( James Earl Jones), and a player that sacrificed his dream of playing baseball, to be a doctor (Burt Lanchaster). However his persistance is rewarded, when spirits from baseball's past, which include the legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson ( Ray Liotta), start to appear on the field and play games amonsgt themselves.
"Field of Dreams" is one of my favorite movies. The film succeeds on so many levels. The script is absolutely flawless. It features a wonderful mix of baseball, the relationship between father and son, determination, and the undying power of love. The cast is first rate. Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan, Burt Lancaster, Ray Liotta, and Timothy Busfield are all spectacular in their roles and really bring the story to life. In all of the films I have seen, the score to "Field of Dreams" is one of the most beautiful and powerful scores I have ever heard. The baseball action in this film is extremely fun to watch. I love how spirits from baseball's past are used, which symbolizes that the magic of baseball will never die. That was a stroke of genius! Director Phil Alden Robinson managed to actually stay historically accurate to all of the players as well. The way Ray Liotta is able to immitate Shoeless Joe Jackson down to the last detail of his playing style is amazing. One of the best features is that the film is set in Iowa. This provided for the corn field which adds a sense of magic to the film. Watching the players dissapear as they walk into the cornfield is breathtaking. But the most memorable thing about the movie without a doubt is the ending. It has to be one of the most touching and memorable endings ever captured on film.
The DVD is a treat on its own. You get commentary by director Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley, a "Field of Dreams" video scrapbook featuring new interviews with cast and crew, behind-the-scenes footage, and MORE! This is definately a must own film for anyone's DVD collection.
"America has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and then erased again. But baseball has marked the times." - James Earl Jones
37 Is this Heaven?
Field of Dreams was released in 1989. The film runs one hour and forty-six minutes. Phil Alden Robinson is the director and the Gordon Company produced the film. Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones and Amy Madigan are the main actors in the film. Field of Dreams was nominated for Best Picture of the Year. The setting of the film is on an Iowa farm in the middle of a corn field. The movie is set in the late eighties and the main theme of the film is Ray Kinsella's struggle with himself. He struggles with his need to follow the voice he hears in the corn field, saving his home and farm, and his wondering about how he could have been better with his father.
The plot of the film is that Ray is told to build a baseball field and `he' will come. The purpose of the field is to ease 'his' pain. The voice comes to him many times while he is working in his corn field. The voice then continues to guide him to Terrance Mann, a famous writer, and to 'Moonlight' Graham, a former rookie baseball player that only got to play in one game and never bat. After Ray builds the baseball field, his father's hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson, comes to play ball. Shoeless Joe and seven other players where banned from baseball for life after it is thought that they threw a World Series. Shoeless Joe brings the other banned players with him to play, eventually bringing many other dead players to have real games. Ray brings men together to play baseball, but will one of them be his father?
This drama was filmed in color and would be rated four stars. I would give it a four star rating because the film keeps you in suspense, wondering what the voice will tell Ray to do next. It keeps you wondering about what is in the corn field and whether these players are ghost or not. In the end, the field ends up easing everyone's pain. Ray gets to reconnect with his father as a young vibrant man and keep his home, Terrance Mann gets to go with the ghost into the corn and write again, Moonlight Graham gets his chance at bat, and the other players just get to play the game they loved. It is a feel good film!
38 A Touch of Magic
After seeing the movie years ago I had a chance shortly afterwards to see a Red Socks game at Fenway Park in Boston. As you might know, it is a very old ball park that appeared in the movie, and on that warm summer evening while it was still light out with the green grass and bright white uniforms, for a moment is was like being in the movie - a magical experience.
This movie/DVD was probably Kevin Costner's finest work. He could have retired after the movie and been a star. He plays an Iowa farmer (Ray) that has a dream of making a ball park on his farm - it comes to him by some sort of communication with his father a dead baseball player.
James Earl Jones plays a famous but cantankerous author - Terrance Mann - from Boston is drawn into the plot as is "Doc" Graham played and Burt Lancaster. The "Doc" who is older had always had wanted to become a player in the majors but had chosen medicine instead so it was his chance to play in Ray's fantasy park.
A very unusual and wonderful movie.
Must be among the top 20-30 movies ever made. 5 stars.
Jack in Toronto.
39 Even allowing for baseball hyperbole, a wonderful movie
Baseball is great, but you don't have to think that He invented baseball, and that everything good is because of baseball and that everything bad is because of not enough baseball to enjoy this movie. The pacing is perfect, the colors and shots are unrushed and nicely framed, and the actors are perfectly cast. There are many special moments in this film, but two of my favorite always bring a tear to my eye. The first is when Burt Lancaster's character saves Ray's daughter, at great sacrifice to himself. That always gets me. The second, big surprise, is when Ray has his catch at the end of the movie. Man, that was done just right. Could easily have been maudlin, but instead had the sense of relief, thankfulness, and love that was just perfect. This movie is aging well. So a few of the baseball speeches are over the top, it's a minor point for such a warm and good movie.
40 Pure Gold
This movie is beautiful almost beyond words. Forgive my hyperbole, but it's like it's a religious experience cloaked in the simple disguise of a "baseball movie," and I really think it transcends that category. Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones are at their best, Phil Alden Robinson's writing is great, and James Horner's score is just plain super-duper. The DVD features an hour-long documentary that exhaustively details the making of the film, and the picture and sound are good. The only way you can go wrong with this disc is if you're dead inside.
Movie: 6/5
DVD: 5/5
41 Is this Heavan....
Field of Dreams is one of the best movies you will ever see. It's an amazing tale of second chance and giving it your all.
Ray Kinsella(Costner) is a former hippie who now lives in Iowa with his wife(Amy Madigan) and daughter. He hears voices while out tending his field that tell him "If you build it, he will come." Ray thinks he's going crazy but through continuing promptings and his feelings of not wanting to be his father he builds a baseball field in the middle of his crops.
The local town thinks Ray is a nut and he doesn't stop there. One night Ray sees someone out in his field. It's Shoeless Joe Jackson(Ray Liotta) and Ray enjoys watching him play ball on his spectre field with his former teamates. The voices don't stop there and Ray is told to "Heal his Pain."
Ray then goes to Boston to find the legendary 60's writer Terrance Mann(James Earl Jones). Mann is reluctant to go with Ray thinking he is a crazy hippie stalking him. He goes with and ends up seeing another message along with Ray. They are suppose to help out Moonlight Graham, a baseball player who played in one game and never got to have an at bat. There quest sends them to Minnesotta to find him which they do. Ray talks to Dr. Graham(Burt Lancaster)where he finds out the dr had no regrets about leaving baseball, but it was his dream to do it again. In the meantime the farm is going under and Ray's brother in law is trying to get the farm to sell it.
Will Ray be able to save the farm and figure out why he built the field? Will all these guys get there second chances in baseball? That's the magic that is Field of Dreams.
Kevin Costner is great in the film. This is the one that made his a house hold name and solidified his place as a pop culture icon. He's great and is believable. No other actor has shown his love for baseball as much as Costner. This is the best sports flick he's ever done.
Mad props have to go to James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster. They are all great in there supportive roles. This is the best film Ray Liotta has done to date. Jones is great and it's great to see him act. To often does he do voices or doesn't have a main role, but his supportive role is great. Burt Lancaster almost makes me cry in the movie in the scene near the end.
Field of Dreams is one of the best movies you will ever see. It was nominated for Best Picture back in 1989 and it's easy to see why. You definetly won't regret watching this one. It's a great tale of love, second chances, and giving it all surronded by our past time baseball. One of the best sports movies and movies made ever.
42 Heaven On Earth....
This review refers to "Field of Dreams"(VHS edition)....
"Field of Dreams" is just one of those films that everybody can agree on. It's like your favorite comfort food.....you just can't get enough of this wonderful feel good story that is as American as apple pie and baseball! It's poignant, funny, will warm your heart and will make you want to follow your dreams.
Ray Kinsella(Kevin Costner), graduate of Berkley University has decided to settle down to a quiet farming life in Iowa.Along with his wife Annie, and Karin, his little daughter, they settle into quiet contentment.That is until Ray hears "the voice".A voice in his cornfield,telling him "if you build it, he will come".He is confused not only to the meaning of this message, but as to why he is the only one to hear it.The voice is not going away though, and Ray finally gives in to it(after
ruling out a 60's kind of a flashback), and listens. He gets a vision of a baseball field and now knows what he must do.To the dismay of all but Annie and Karin,he turns his crop of corn into a "Field of Dreams".
It's heaven on earth, as the field comes alive with baseball ghosts of the past.But Ray is not finished yet, there's more..the voice sends another message and Ray feels compelled to listen once more,even though it may cost him his farm.
It's a wonderful story that will leave you with a smile and one that the whole family may enjoy(mild language). The cast is fabulous. Amy Madigan is the fiesty, funny Annie, a young Gabby Hoffman is Karin, and legendary greats James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster also have substantial parts and turn in superb performances.It is beautifully directed by Phil Alden Robinson("Sneakers"), and the music by James Horner is hauntingly perfect and sounds great in stereo surround.
This is one you might want to put on that "if you could only take 3 movies to a deserted island" list, as it is one that never loses it's hold on you.
Enjoy....Laurie
43 Unpredictability is its key to greatness
I agree with the many reviewers who have highlighted this movie's incredible ability to touch emotions that few films do. What I liked just as much was how unpredictable the storyline is. Most movies follow a fairly standard plot where you can see what's coming around the next bend. This is totally different. If you've never watched it, see by yourself or with someone who's never seen it either. You will be wondering through most of the movie where the story is going, but in a way that keeps you riveted to it, eagerly waiting for the payoff. Think of it as an emotional and thought-provoking rollercoaster that you've never seen, and you're riding it with your eyes closed. This is one heck of a film.
44 A Beautiful Classic
Field of Dreams is a beautiful story which addresses two fundamental aspects of the American man. One, of course, is the feeling of guilt and/or frustration over unsettled issues with one's father. The issue seems to hit home with most men as most have experienced at least a temporary falling-out with the "Old Man." It also addresses the feeling of guilt and/or frustration over unsettled issues with one's self. In Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella (Costner) is haunted by things left undone. He had broken from the relationship with his father and had quit the game he loved to spite his father who loved the game as well. Kinsella never forgave himself for failing as a son--never getting the opportunity to make amends before his father's death. When he builds a baseball field--the foundation of his childhood and his childhood-relationship with his father--he is afforded the opportunity to rest his demons. It is the ultimate story of redemption and rejuvination. I would say that if any man, or woman, does not love this film, they are simply not American. But that isn't necessarily true. If any man or woman does not love this film, he or she is simply not human. This brilliant story appeals to all human emotions. It is a true classic.
45 Cant get any better
This is what great movies are all about. A true American modern day American classic. From a great and original story line to a superb cast put together to bring the book "Shoeless Joe" to life on the big screen. Who doesnt wish for the basic premise of this movie of having second chances to right wrongs that occured in your lifetime. This movie touched me the first time I saw it and everytime since. Movies like this one just never get old.
"Dad, wanna have a catch?"
46 Jones & Lancaster Outstanding!
Two of the most underrated (or underdiscussed) performances in 1980s cinema was James Earl Jones' and Burt Lancaster's bravura supporting roles in "Field of Dreams." The entire cast was wonderful (my only favorite Kevin Costner role), and Ray Liotta and Amy Madigan were especially terrific. But Jones & Lancaster showed a truth and honesty in their performances that were unequaled, except to each other. Jones was so natural as to have actually BEEN Terrence Mann. The idiosyncracies of his movements and his speech were infectious and completely believable. Lancaster, as "Moonlight" Graham, gave one his finest performances ever and, to me, BECAME one of the most lovable screen characters I've ever seen.
See this movie for James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster but, as some others have written here, also see it because it will not only warm your heart, it will inspire you. This movie really isn't about baseball -- it's about what you dream for yourself in life, whatever it might be, and it will lift you spiritually in ways you cannot know. I watch this film at least every 6 months to revive my creativity and spirituality.
And it's just a plain good old-fashioned cinema experience!
47 Field of Dreams
For me, easily my favorite movie on all time. I've seen it maybe 50-60 times. Even though I had a great relationship with my dad, the part were Ray says "Oh my God, its my father." I cry because I think fondly of my deceased father. Many parts of the movie brings back great memories of growing up in the 60's.
48 That's my corn out there! You're all guests in my corn!
Ah, just one of many quotable lines from the movie -- from being "guests in my corn" to "Is this Heaven? -- No, it's Iowa" to the famous tagline, "If you build it, he will come." This is easily in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. The haunting music, cued at just the right times during the movie just drives home its poignancy. As stoic as a guy tries to be, if there's a bit of love for baseball or for his father in him, the line where Kevin Costner says "Hey... Dad? Wanna have a catch?" just produces such a swell of emotion, it's hard to contain. Truly outstanding performances by Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan, Burt Lancaster and Frank Whaley as the young Archie Graham make this movie one of my very, very favorites.
49 A True Baseball Classic
Field of Dreams is a classic baseball movie that any sports fan should have to watch. Based on the novel titled Shoeless Joe, the movie follows Ray Kinsella who begins hearing a voice that tells him," If you build it, they will come." The voice is Shoeless Joe Jackson. Kinsella builds a baseball field in his cornfield, yet he doesn't really know why the voice is calling him. The movie follows his journey to discover the reasoning.
This is an excellent movie with an awesome cast. Kevin Costner is his usual good self as Kinsella with Amy Madegan as his wife, Annie. The people that steal the show are Ray Liota as Shoeless Joe and James Earl Jones as retired writer Terrence Mann. Both men steal the scenes they are in throughout. This baseball classic is must see viewing for any sports fan. The DVD is very good and well worth the price. The documentary about the making of the movie is very interesting. Also, the ending to the movie will have you in tears. Just perfect. Do not miss!
50 Don't Worry- You're not crazy
I first saw this film, in the theatre, before DVD's came out. I ended up seeing it six times. At the time I thought I was loosing touch with reality, but, no, it's just that good, that poignant. I now live on a tropical island in the South Pacific, and have to special order DVD's. Field of Dreams will be my next order.
51 At least I don't burn books you Nazi cow
I was a school librarian for seven years. I wearied of the concerned parents wanting to unilaterally censor books from the junior high's library because of an opposing political view, cuss word, etc. My wife knew the drill. When the censor came calling, she'd have Field of Dreams in the VCR and queued up to the school board scene. "At least I don't burn books, you Nazi cow" became a family slogan.
Before being a librarian I was an ESL teacher. I liked this movie so much I typed up every word of the script with remote in hand, fast forwarding, rewinding, playing it over and over.
This is a film I can watch over and over.
52 A modern film classic
Some people have pointed out that in this film, Joe Jackson pitches with the opposite hand he did in real life. This character is loosely based on Joe Jackson, it is not a biography. Hollywood changes some things from time to time to in the long run make better films. This film is a classic. James Earl Jones, Kevin Costner, and Burt Lancaster are great. It is NOT a baseball movie. It is about realising your dream. It is a very well made film, and will live on as a true classic of cinema. Facts are sometimes changed to enhance a film, not because the film makers have made a mistake.
53 Baseball + Metaphysics = Perfection
I love baseball. Not only in its purest form is it the greatest game ever invented, it is also the only game that completely and thoroughly transcends and binds our country to past, present, and future--generation to generation.
Director Phil Alden Robinson's FIELD OF DREAMS pays homage to baseball's majestic, magical link to nostalgia. When a struggling Iowa farmer, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) begins "hearing voices" and subsequently plows under his cornfield and builds a baseball diamond, he becomes a pariah to his community--to his family. But Ray knows he's tapped into a special level of consiousness: a beautiful, soothing karma that slowly but wonderfully manifests itself throughout this incredible film. The baseball field itself becomes a portal to another world, enabling players from baseball's Golden Age to return. To play baseball. As the film draws to its dramatic, moving ending, Ray surveys his field of dreams and remarks, "This is perfect."
And it is.
Kevin Costner turns in his finest performance. Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan, Timothy Busfield, and the great Burt Lancaster are exceptional. But it is James Earl Jones, who plays disgruntled author Terrence Mann and eventual soul mate to Kinsella, who is the catalyst that takes this film to a higher level. And FIELD OF DREAMS goes to that level, and beyond, like a homerun leaving the upper deck. Highly, highly recommended.
54 great, magical movie
Don't pass this movie, it's not that much about baseball (thankfully) or heaven (thankfully again, the writer was agnoistic), those are merely just metaphores, this is a movie about dreams. I could watch this movie a millions times and not get sick of it. Amazing screen play, great cast, even Kevin Costner is tolerable... it's wonderful. This movie will reinstill the importance of dreams and paying no mind to those who can't see them. If you truly deep down believe in something and go for it that you will see your own Field of Dreams.
55 great, magical movie
Don't pass this movie, it's not that much about baseball (thankfully) or heaven (thankfully again, the writer was agnoistic), those are merely just metaphores, this is a movie about dreams. I could watch this movie a millions times and not get sick of it. Amazing screen play, great cast, even Kevin Costner is tolerable... it's wonderful. This movie will reinstill the importance of dreams and paying no mind to those who can't see them. If you truly deep down believe in something and go for it that you will see your own Field of Dreams.
56 Buy This Movie And Enjoy!
I come from Australia so baseball does not have the same impact as it does in the USA.
However, we have a game known as cricket which, to us, has the same effect as baseball has to the USA.
I think "Field Of Dreams" is a fantastic movie as it moves the soul.
I lived on a vegetable farm as a boy (I'm 46 now) and we used to play cricket in the front yard.
Opposite the yard was a vegetable field and, at the appopriate time of the season, corn was planted.
Nothing would please me more than to have my father walk out and say "do you want to have a bowl son".
That is why this movie touches me so.
Buy it and enjoy!
57 Magic!
I won't do a synopsis, that's already been done. I just wanted to say that I love this movie, it is full of magic and hope. I am envious of the ability to just take off and drive across country to pursue an impulse. I love seeing the ghosts from another era come out and interact with the family. When Burt Lancaster's character comes off the field and gives up his dream for a second time, it speaks to the goodness of mankind. Except for some language, I would have no problem showing this to my kids. I now have in-laws in Iowa and Minnesota and I sure wish I could go visit the baseball diamond and am tempted to look up Chisholm when we go to visit. I'm asking for the DVD for Christmas!
58 Buy this and Bull Durham
This is worth buying on video or dvd, along with Bull Durham. And I also reccomend this to anybody under 17 that can't watch Kevin Costner's Bull Durham out the year before this. This should be under the great buy part (I didn't to see what was under great buy) Though I have warn that this movie was rated PG for language. And if you are a baseball fan, then this should be in your family's collection. And if you do have this movie but only on video, why don't you up grade to dvd?
Or are you to cheap to do that? But of course you might not have a dvd player yet, if not buy one, and must this your first dvd purhase. As the movie opens, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice and calls to his wife Annie (Amy Madigan). But she or thier daughter Karen (Gaby Hoffman) heard the voice that tells Ray "If you build it, he will come". So when Ray figures out that if he would built a baseball field in his corn, that Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) would come back and play baseball. Ray does, but once that starts losing thier savings, and now are on hte force to lose the house and the land. But what's wrose is that Ray, and his wife and daughter can see hte baseball players but his brother-in-law Mark (Timothy Busfield) does not, and believs that his brother-in-law and his family stare at an empty baseball field.
59 A must have for any DVD collection
This is one of the best baseball films that have ever been made. Its one of those films that you can watch over and over. I saw it at the movies and bought it as soon as it came out on DVD. A fantastic story, the ghosts are great. This film will make you put on a glove and go out into your backyard and play catch with your son.
I own the Region 4 version which also allows you to watch the film in Spanish or English audio (as does a lot of Region 4 DVD's), I'm not sure though if the Region 1 version offered here has Spanish audio.
In Australia many people by multiple region DVD players so it really does not matter to us where we buy our DVD's but people in the United States might like to check it out first if Spanish audio is important to you.
60 If You Build It, He Will Come
Five stars is not enough for this movie. It is absolutely excellent. The film is about baseball, but also the love of family and believing in your dreams. Kevin Costner gives a stirring performance as Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer whose love for the game of baseball changes his life forever. Amy Madigan plays Costner's supportive wife. One day while working in his field, Ray hears a "voice" tell him "If you build it, he will come". Brushing this off, Ray lets the episode pass. However, he continually hears the voice, and finally has a vision of a baseball field in his cornfield. Ray remembers that Shoeless Joe Jackson was his father's hero and one of the infamous 1919 "Black Sox" who threw the World Series. Jackson, however, didn't alter his play during the series and wound up hitting well over .300. Meanwhile, Ray figures out what the voice was telling him; build a baseball field and Joe Jackson will come back. Ray plows under his corn and builds a magnificent baseball field on his own property. Finally, Jackson makes his appearance. Shortly thereafter, the voice speaks to Ray again. This time, the voice says "Ease his pain". Coincidentally, Ray and his wife attend a schoolboard meeting that same night. The parents are upset about some of the books that are being used in the local schools, some of which are written by 1960s leader Terrance Mann. Ray makes the connection; ease Mann's pain. So, he sets off for Boston to search out Mann. Mann, Played superbly by James Earl Jones, was a baseball fan and once gave an interview expressing his disappontment at the destruction of old Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn. Ray and Terrance attend a Boston Red Sox game, and the voice speaks to Ray again. This time it says "Go the distance". There is also a message about "Moonlight" Graham, a player who played only 1 inning of 1 game his entire career. To Ray's surprise, Terrance also sees the message. Now the two head to Minnesota to track down Graham. Upon arriving, they discover Graham never played baseball again and became a local doctor. Ray steps out of his hotel room and is transported back to 1972, the year Graham died. He finds Graham, played wonderfully by Burt Lancaster, walking down the street. The two converse about Graham's playing days. I was truly moved by Lancaster's portrayal of this character. His conversation with Ray was excellent. Ray asks "Doc" Graham to return with himself and Terrance to Iowa, but Doc declines. However, later in their trip, Terrance and Ray pick up a young hitch-hiker, who announceds his name as Archie Graham!! So he really did end up going with them after all, although he was much younger. The group arrives back at Ray's farm in Iowa, and Archie happily joins the players on the field. He told Ray that his one wish would have been to bat in the major leagues, for he only played the outfield in his one appearance. He got his chance on Ray's field. Terrance has a vision of his own. He envisions people paying money to come and see Ray's wonderful "Field of Dreams". In the end, Terrance walks off the field and into the corn with the players, and Ray is left with a row of cars stretching for miles to see his field.
I can't explain enough how wonderful this movie is. The actors are top-notch, and the storyline is excellent. My favorite line from the movie is when Joe asks Ray "Is this Heaven?" and Ray answers "No, its Iowa". The sense of family and going all out to accomplish your dreams is truly heartwarming. If you are a baseball fan, or if you just like good movies with morals and values, then this is the movie for you. Watch it, you won't be disappointed.
61 Magical Movie...
"If you build it, he will come" are the words heard by Ray( Kevin Costner) in the opening scene of Field of Dreams. A movie that if you love Baseball and the meaning of family, you have to see. It stars Kevin Costner, in his one of his best proformences, shows the comic and heartfelt emotion for which he is known. The movie it self is just magical in every sense of the word. It's a moving story told in a way that might surprise you( you will never look at corn the same way again). And their is a speech about Baseball, by James Earl Jones, that only he could have done. The movie also has Burt Lancaster's last proformance. My advice... just watch and get lost in a movie that will touch your heart and fill your soul. It is a great movie!!!!!
62 "I have just built something totally illogical!"
Over the years there have been many baseball movies. But no baseball movie will ever be like "Fields of Dreams". The story is about an Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) who one day, out of the blue, hears a voice. The voice keeps saying, "If you build it, he will come." But 'build what' and 'who' will come? Ray soon comes to realize that he must build a baseball diamond in his field. Unfortunately for him, no one believes him and thinks he's totally crazy. The only support he has is from his wife Anni (Amy Madigan) and his daughter Karin (Gaby Hoffmann). After he completes his baseball diamond, Ray meets the famous Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta). Also coming to meet Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) and Archibald 'Moonlight' Graham (Burt Lancaster), Ray learns that heaven is where your dreams come true.
A very interesting story, not at all what I though it would be. Though baseball is the 'theme' of the movie, baseball is in a way only a subplot of the story. In a way, "Field of Dreams" is a bit hard to tell 'what the story's about' but I assure you that once you watch it, you will enjoy it very much. Once you do see it, I recommend you read the trivia about the movie since it's very interesting to read about the history of American baseball and the 60's and how it relates in the movie.
The acting is pretty well done with Kevin Costner giving a terrific performance. It's also lots of fun to see two very legendary and amazing actors, Burt Lancaster and James Earl Jones. The humor is also well placed all the lines are delivered well. One of my favorites lines are:
Mark: "Admit it, Ray. You've never liked farming."
Ray Kinsella: "That's not true."
Mark: "It is true. You don't know the first thing about farming."
Ray Kinsella: "Yes I do. I know a lot about farming. I know more than you think I know."
Mark: "Then how could you plow under your major crop?"
Ray Kinsella: "What's a crop?"
The whole movie is a very heartwarming experience and I can say that most anybody will enjoy the film. The movie is rated PG though because of some language so younger children are advised to watch with their parents. Plus, I think that younger children would find this type of movie a bit boring. For those who like Kevin Costner, here are a few more movies he has played in (the first two also being baseball movies):
"Bull Durham"
"For Love of the Game"
"Silverado"
"Dances with Wolves"
63 The Unpleasantries that Crops Like To Share
This quintessential horror movies of the late 80's/90's pits Kevin Cosner against something we haven't seen the likes of since a certain Stephen King adaptation introduced us to He Who Walks Behind the Rows, a beast that lurks somewhere in the fields and promises strange phenomenon to those who abide by its wishes. We watch this epic struggle unfold as this something speaks through the corn, trying again and again to force Cosner into building something insidiously terrifying-despite the objections of his concerned family -- until, at last, this poor rural farmer succumbs and constructs his unholy shrine to the damned. It is then that the dead begin to walk the earth, invoking fashions that died with them, closing on an ending that recollects many and many a boyhood nightmare.
Its not to be watched alone (or sober).
64 A memorable must see for all.
If you believe the impossible, the incredible can come true.
"If you build it, he will come." Those words have become part of our vocabulary, words of inspiration for each of us to enjoy. Those words inspired Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella though a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. There are lessons to learn. Field of Dreams is an enjoyable and inspiring movie to share with all children. Parents sit with your children and share the magic! It will be a wonderful couple of hours together.
65 tobgan
if you are a baseball fan or not get this movie, if you dont your dumb
66 If you don't cry at the end, then you are no real man.
Everyone thinks this movie is about baseball, but it isn't, not really. It is about much more. It is about fathers and sons, and how baseball, since the early 20th century, is able to tie them together, even when they can't bring themselves to speak to one another. Every time I see this movie, I am reminded of my own relationship with my father, and the ups and downs we have traversed in our relationship. No matter how much we would argue, and antagonize each other, we always had baseball to fall back on as our common denominator. In this movie, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is so haunted by the mistakes he made in his relationship with his father, that he manifests The Voice, which tells him to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. To show you how bad his relationship with his dad had gotten, Ray tells James Earl Jones's character that he once refused to play a game of catch with him. But by building the field, Ray helps to resurrect Shoeless Joe Jackson, his father's disgraced baseball idol, and maybe make a little bit of ammends. Ray gives Shoeless Joe, and the other "Black Socks" players a chance at redemption by being able to play in this magical field. Through other acts that Ray commits on order from The Voice, he helps others fulfill their baseball tinted dreams. The others being a writer, Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones), who yearns for the days of Ebbets Field and Jackie Robinson, and a country doctor and former minor league baseball player, Moonlight Graham (Burt Lancaster), whose one unfulfilled wish is to bat against a big league pitcher. During the movie, we are led to believe that he commits these acts out of some random nature, the only reason being that The Voice told him to. But in the end of the movie, we, along with Ray, realize that everything he has done is connected, and has a reason. And it all comes back to fathers and sons, and the dreams we share, and our almost spiritual connection through the greatest game ever dreamt by God or man, baseball. If you are a man, and as a boy you ever played catch with your father, then this film should touch you in a very personal way. If you shed no tear at the wonderful ending, then you aren't a real man.
67 Incredible Movie, Even Better Extras
I got this DVD a week ago, and I still haven't gotten around to watching the movie yet - that's how good the bonus material is. The Field of Dreams Scrapbook is much more than it sounds - 30-something different chapters, each describing in detail a different part of making the movie. And the feature-length commentary with the director and cinematographer is great - lots of fun insights into how they shot different scenes. And they've even got the entire script to read page-by-page, if you're that much of a fanatic. Can't imagine how they could make this any better.
68 A Great Film
I loved it. I don't generally care for Kevin Costner, but he is actually OK in this one. Like the film. If you love baseball....you'll love this flick.
69 Is this Heaven? Yes, and It's Iowa!!!!
This is one of my absolute favorite movies. And, it showcases Iowa at its finest! I enjoy watching this movie in February, when the ground is white with snow, and spring seems a lifetime away. The lush green cornfields and grasses in this movie remind me of the beauty of Iowa in the spring and summer.
This is the story of Ray Kinsella, a man haunted by the words he never said to his father. On a sunny afternoon, walking through his cornfields, a voice tells him, "If you build it, He will come." These six words lead Ray on a journey of epic proportions, as he seeks to find what he's supposed to build, and for whom he is to build it.
This is not just a story about baseball. It's about dreams coming true, about love, and about hope. There is magic that seems so very real, so real that you wish for it to be true.
And as a proud citizen of the state of Iowa, it is a stunning view of what lush green beauty exists in this wonderful state. Yea, there is a bit of heaven here.
70 One of the Best Films of Our Time
Forget "Dances with Wolves." Kevin Costner outdoes himself as an actor in this superb Capra-esque movie that is filled with magic rarely seen onscreen. Stereotyped as a sports film, "Field of Dreams" is much much more than that. In fact, I'd classify it as a movie about the human spirit, as much about family and faith as it is about baseball, and more than anything, as a metaphoric, lyrical answer to the eternal question we as human beings ask every day - what is life all about? Cinematic fables come in all forms and shapes, from the great "It's a Wonderful Life" to the crowd pleasing "Shawshank Redemption" and the home-as-heaven "ET" and "The Wizard of Oz." "Field of Dreams" challenges one of our cultures' greatest missteps - the emphasis we place on the separation of the sexes...the sad, but true, reality of what is means to be a "man" or a "woman" to be masculine vs feminine. In a culture that holds dear the idea that "real men don't eat quiche," "Field of Dreams" tells us that that perhaps salvation awaits in men eating quiche every so often, and women running companies or even the country as leaders one day. The movie forces is to look at our own mores and values, to suspend for a few hours our earthbound logic, most of which no longer serves us as citizens of a brave new world. In doing so, it also makes us wonder what and who we ourselves would be IF our dreams really did take flight, if we "built it" would they actually come? In my opinion, thi sis a movie that ought to be required viewing in order to graduate high school - in fact, perhaps even sooner - so as to create within future generations not just a sense that hope does exist, but more than that - that it's up to each individual to persue and realize their dreams for the betterment of our common earth. Costner shines, as does Amy Madigan, and especially unforgettably Ray Liotta - one of the best actors out there, and rarely better than he is here. Shoeless Joe Jackson exists in our dreams, but our dreams cannot exist without his real, present existence. This is classic storytelling at its finest hour. And men ... bring a hankerchief, and allow yourselves a tear or two. You'll feel better, more alive than ever before, and you'll quickly realize that life canot be taken for granted. A stunning masterpiece, destined to become one of Hollywood's greatest achievements. SEE IT, think about it, BUILD IT, and guess what - "they will come."
71 i can watch it over and over
a truly great story, one that can be watched over and over and not get boring
72 Excellent moviemaking
This one is a classic! =) I started to watch it, thinking it would be stupid, but I was wrong. It's an outstanding movie. When Ray Kinsella starts hearing voices, he disregards them for a while, but they become impossible to ignore. He builds a beautiful baseball field in accordance with the wills of the "voices," and things really start heating up when famous, deceased baseball players from the past like "Shoeless" Joe Jackson come to play on the field. The discovery of a famous, yet secluded author and an elderly doctor who never got anywhere in baseball heightens suspense and excitement in the movie. You don't want to miss this one--it's great. =) Amy Madigan does well in her role as Ray's supportive wife, and Gaby Hoffmann is adorable as little Karen, the daughter of Ray and Amy who is a faithful believer of everything that happens as soon as Ray starts hearing the voices. It is actually her faith that may help some other headstrong characters to believe! =) What can I say? It's an awesome movie and you gotta see it!!!! It really is just as good as all the critics have said.
73 touching, well acted and produced, a little sappy
I like this movie, but I reserve 5 stars for things like "Citizen Kane", and I don't feel that this movie is quite of classic stature. I find it touching, but a little too earnest and simple-minded to be a real classic.
The plot has been explained repeatedly in other reviews, so I won't bother with that. And I find no fault with the performances of any of the stars of the movie -- Kostner, et al, do excellent work. My complaint is that the movie doesn't convey the "magic of baseball" -- it rather assumes that you understand (and feel) that, and proceeds from there. (At least it doesn't just milk that magic the way "The Natural" did -- that was a beautiful movie, but a total mess otherwise.) Perhaps you had to play baseball as a kid to have this sort of nostalgic feel for the game (for me it's tied up with memories of magic hour at the end of long summer afternoons and trying to play one more inning before nightfall), and while I think that the movie uses those feelings honestly and fairly, it doesn't (to me) seem to be able to recreate (or even explain) them to someone that doesn't feel this way about baseball.
It's a very pretty movie, and it does a great job of giving the authentic feel of an idealized midwestern summer. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could vote that here.
74 Incredibly DUMB!!!!
Allright I've read almost every review about this movie, and I must say I'm certainly surprised about how many good reviews it got. I practically fell asleep during this movie, thats how dumb and boring it was! This is one of those movies you watch that starts out slow, but like a fool you just keep watching hoping it will get better. Well I must say it did not get better it only got worse. The reason I even gave it two stars is because it had Kevin Costner in it. If your looking for a good movie you can look elsewhere. It was certainly a waste of my time. Of course thats my opinion. Like I said there were alot of people that gave this movie 5 stars.
75 didn't really do it for me
This movie tends to win raves from men, so this is primarily addressed to females who are interested: It's an entertaing flick, but you may be disappointed, cause it's not all that. I just didn't feel touched by the whole father/son thing, and the movie just felt overly sentimental. I give it three stars because it's not a bad movie, just one I didn't relate to. I say see One True Thing instead.
76 A Great Film that Changed my Career...Sort of.
Having just seen John Cusack in Say Anything a week before and followed up with Field of Dreams I just had stop selling stereo and work in movies. I said a little prayer and out of the blue two days later I got a call to work on Total Recall. I know its sounds as improbable as following a vision to build a baseball field in your cornfield but its true. But my little life is beside the point. This is a terrific film with sentiment and warmth on par with the great classics of Frank Capra. This film washes its themes of baseball and following your dreams with unabashed romance that makes you want to believe in the impossible for a couple swell hours. As much as I would like to wax nostalgic over the joys of watching Field of Dreams, I have a more important message to relay. Universal has been holding a lot of its great and not-so-great titles hostage for unreasonably high prices out of step with the rest of the marketplace for too long and its time to call them to the carpet for it. Field of Dreams is one of the worst inflation examples for a modern film as the DVD was released back in 1998. But the saddest thing is older classics and non-classics are difficult to collect. Because given the choice between buying three new films with great sound and in depth features from other studios vs. buying two older Universal titles for the same cash outlay, as much as I would like to own films like Bride of Frankenstein I tend to go for quantity and value. As one fan of Field of Dreams the message I would like to whisper in the ear of Universal DVD sales execs is "If you lower them, we will buy."
77 Possibly the best. . .
. . .baseball movie of all time.
I saw this movie in the theatres back when it was first released (and nominated for the Academy Award). I now own it (and have for years) and re-watch it periodically.
The movie succeeds on a number of levels.
First, it shows great love and respect for the game of baseball -- the National Pastime. (Yes, I enjoy other sports as well -- but there is something very nearly religious about baseball -- and this shines through in the movie).
Second, the cast is wonderful. This is possibly Costner's best role -- certainly his best baseball role. Amy Madigan was perfect in this picture as well, as was James Earl Jones (always a treat) and Burt Lancaster. Even Timothy Busfield (whom many of us loved to hate in "Thirtysomething")is wonderfully despicible. And Shoeless Joe could not have been depicted better.
Third, the movie demonstrates what many of us truly believe in our hearts: Fairy tales are real, and dreams do, indeed, sometimes come true.
Can a true lover of baseball get through this movie without emotion? Doubtful.
78 Magical
I am not a huge Kevin Costner fan, but this movie goes way beyond the actors. As a avid baseball fan, this movie stirs the imagination! What baseball fan doesn't dream of being Ray and have this miracle happen to them? I can't say enough about how special this movie is, it's about baseball, family, love, trust and most importantly - the love of the greatest game and it's heros! A must see!
79 If you build it, etc.
This classic movie is of course adapted from W.P. Kinsella's baseball novel Shoeless Joe. And it features Kevin Costner in one of his best (if not best) roles as Ray Kinsella, a struggling Iowa farmer. He hears a voice one night in the corn fields telling him to build a baseball field. Several days later, he hears the voice again and as he looks over to the field, he sees a vision of the ball field and Shoeless Joe Jackson staring back at him. He realizes he needs to build that field, so that Joe and many other old-time players can have the chance to again play the game they love. So in spite of the odds against him and everyone (except his wife played by Amy Madigan) thinking him nuts to build it, he does it anyway.
He then discovers he must travel to Boston to meet reclusive 60s writer Terry Mann (James Earl Jones) and then to Minnesota to meet "Moonlight" Graham (Burt Lancaster in his last role before his death), who gave up his baseball career to become a doctor. The one thing that ties them all together is the opportunity to have that second chance to play again, and for Terry Mann to finally realize his own dreams, and for Kinsella to make amends with his dad, who he never forgave for having Shoeless Joe as his hero....
This is a movie about following your dream, in spite of how crazy and seemingly insurmountable they may be to pull off and a movie about getting that second chance to do what you previously loved or always wanted to do. It's one that makes me cry every time I watch it.
80 "Is this heaven?"
I think it is.
When a movie come showing us the simple and in the same time fascinating side of the life, living in harmony with the nature, playing sports with family and friends, without all that complicated and grotesque felling of trying to be so profounde and in the same time scarying people so many movies did. The only thing I'm sure this is a innocent movie. People are humans, they work, they smile and they cry, and they could be happy in the most coomns moments of their life, that's all this movie is about. In the metter fact, the story is so simple, it make you think what's this movie is trying to tell you, and doing only this, you already knew this movie isn't here for money, it's here to be a truly masterpiece without trying to be for itself. Thinking of this, the answer about "is this heaven?" is, yes, it is. Heaven pure and clear.
Looking into the movie in the other side, you find a wonderful soundtrack that help you fell more grateful with the movie in the most touching moments, like in the end, in particullar. Good actors and a beautiful landscape that make you wish you were there, in the middle of all that magic.
The movie have great morals that goes along with the story, and right after seeing it, when the credits come, you only fell how simple was this movie and how honest and brilliant it was too.
81 Field of Dreams is a fantastic movie.
Just a note to those of you like myself who have seen the movie hundreds of times...look who the credits list for "the voice"... it makes a movie that I thought couldn't get any better...do just that. One of the greatest movies of all time.
82 If you build it, he will come....
This is a wonderful movie for anyone who has or had a dream. Kevin Costner portrays small town Iowa farmer, Ray Kinsella, who hears a voice urging him to build a baseball field. The townspeople think that he's crazy, but he knows its his destiny. His wife, Annie (Amy Madigan) supports him fully at first. Ray Liotta is excellent as Shoeless Joe Jackson, who one day shows up at Ray's baseball field. Shoeless Joe is joined by numerous baseball players from the past, who just want to have the chance to play baseball again.
Ray heads out on a journey to track down writer in seclusion, Terry Mann (James Earl Jones). After a lot of hemming an hawing, Terry joins him on his qwest. They next encounter Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, who is brilliantly portrayed by legendary actor Burt Lancaster. Ray, Terry, and Dr. Graham all have a common interest, though. They all yearn for the years past, what used to be...to have that second chance to fulfill their dreams.
**On a side note, this was one of Burt Lancaster's last screen roles before he passed away. It was wonderful to see this accomplished actor in such a role, as the wise older physician who gave up his dreams in order to help others. This is a must see film for anyone who has not yet realized their dreams, or maybe you have - it'll bring back memories of those times.
83 Field Of Dreams
Field of Dreams is an epic movie. Ray Kinsella a farmer in the mid west. The movie is based on the plot of Ray hearing voices that convince him to build a baseball field on his farm. It goes though Rays journey of what the voices are telling him to do with his baseball field the reason for this journey is why you must watch this movie. This is an excellent movie because it deals with a mans struggle to find himself in life also dealing with his relationship with his father and, his family life. This is a very heart touching movie and do not think you have to love baseball just to watch this movie though it does help. It is a funny but yet a very heart warming movie for the whole family. I would give a five star a must buy.
84 There's just something about it
I don't know what it is about this movie. I am not a baseball fan, but there was something in it that made one of my all-time favorites. Also, on the vhs version my parents had, there's a note at the end of the credits that says "for our parents", I thought that was pretty cool.
85 Baseball, Dreams, Magic, and Fine Acting
"Field of Dreams" is one of the finest movie-tributes to a sport that exists. The movie has a dream-like quality, with supernatural touches and magic here and there. Besides a fine story, good acting, and beautiful scenery, it is clear from the first moment of this film that the people involved - behind the scenes and on stage - have a deep, abiding love of baseball. Along with that, you have a man struggling to understand and to find himself in a way that is healthy, productive, and true to himself and others. He not only finds himself, but his father, in the process. Besides good film-making, this is simply fine story-telling. The two keywords for this movie are craftsmanship and heart.
86 Outstanding in its field
Depending on your world view, you'll either dismiss "Field Of Dreams" as cloying new age hokum for aging hippie NPR-supporting lefties, or you'll find it a magical,emotionally resonant modern-day Capra-esque fable. Although star Kevin Costner gives one of his more appealing performances (before his ego got the better of him), it's the venerable presence of both James Earl Jones (quite memorable as a J.D. Salinger-type author) and Burt Lancaster (a class act as always, in one of his final screen roles) that give the movie some real heft. Ray Liotta and Amy Madigan are both cast against type as a benevolent ghost and Costner's feisty yet unconditionally loving wife, repectively. A definite one-of-a-kind movie experience, despite several attempts since by other filmmakers to capture the same magic ("Contact" and "Frequency" were nice tries, but fell short of the mark).
87 The mystic power of baseball.
Great fantasy of baseball nostalgia, family relationships, and unfulfilled dreams. The key word is "fantasy." Forget logic, suspend disbelief, and you will do fine. The gentle sentiment and warmhearted humor of the movie cover a multitude of unlikely plot developments. Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), sort of an updated version of Jimmy Stewart's "every man," embarks on a seemingly foolish task inspired by a ghostly "voice" to convert his cornfield into a baseball field. Amy Madigan is both comical and frustrated as Ray's wife, an aging activist from the '60s. As a kooky ex-radical, she initially supports the goofy idea. Upon mature reflection, however, she worries about the income needed to save the family farm. Things take on a definite other-worldly quality when Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and other old-time players appear on the mist-shrouded field and play ball. Adding to the mystery, the "voice" directs Ray to a reclusive writer (James Earl Jones). He is drawn kicking and screaming into Ray's real-life fantasy, until he becomes intrigued by the possibilities. Burt Lancaster is excellent as Doc Graham. Doc's demise 16 years before our story doesn't stop him from playing an essential role in the plot. 50 years ago he yearned to be a baseball player, but a career in medicine got in the way. Ultimately, the mystic ball field represents the yearning in everyone to find a peaceful place where dreams come true, and lost opportunities are found. The fade-out displaying a long line of cars driving to Ray's field makes this point nicely. Relax and enjoy the fantasy. ;-)
88 If I could give it '6' -- I would.
As the title implies, this is a 'magic' film. Not that the movie is about sword & sorcery -- it's not. It's about the magic of believing in a dream and following through.
Touching without forced sentimentality is how I guess you might best describe the story. It's about an Iowa farmer (Kevin Cosner), estranged from his father (now deceased) from the age of 17, who mananges a second chance to make amends by building a very special baseball diamond on his farm.
I won't go over the story line. I'm sure one of the 67 previous reviews has already done that. Instead, let me assure you that this is a film you will not soon forget, nor regret having bought. And while you might not be willing to accept that this story could actually happen, the sheer humanity of it will overwhelm you -- possibly to even shedding a tear during the ending scenes.
The action flows smoothly with little or no wasted footage. The movie's message comes through loud and clear, the acting is suberb and the directing is unmatched. Yes, Hollywood can still make 'em.
The DVD itself is bright and clear for both picture and sound. I don't know why they are rated so low in those two categories above. The disc comes with an added bonus "scrapebook" with the story behind the story. Yes, it's pricy at almost $30, but I think you'll find that the DVD is worth it. Definately a film you'll watch more than once.
Bottom line? Great (and I do mean great) movie at a somewhat high price -- but worth the admission. Definitely a 'keeper'.
*** Highly Recommended ***
~ P ~
89 This movie almost made me like baseball!
I never liked baseball, because I was always so bad at it. Let's put it this way: If you like baseball, you'll love this movie. If you DON'T like baseball, you are likely to STILL love this movie! "If you build it, they will come" changed my life--I never forgot it--somehow, it just seemed like such a wonderful way of thinking, a good way to live life. (If you haven't seen the movie yet--you're in for a treat, and you'll see what I mean.) It's an excellent movie, and one of very few that I've ever bought. (My husband never liked baseball, either, but to my astonishment, I found that he shares my love for this baseball movie!)
90 WANNA HAVE A CATCH?
Okay, this is a feel good movie. You cry at the end because you are happy for Costner's character for having this supernatural chance to meet again with his father and "have a catch". They, beyond the grave, reconcile differences they had in life. The plot is fantasy at its best, very far-fetched, but with an excellent cast, which makes the story engaging and heartfelt. It is one of the few movies in which I have enjoyed Costner's performance and found him warm and likeable. Although at first his pairing with Amy Madigan as his wife seemed a bit strange, I came to appreciate their functioning as a family unit. Madigan and Costner are passable as 60s liberal leftovers who try to make a life as farmers in Iowa, but somehow are missing some magic that leads Costner into a quest for himself (midlife crisis, you could say) that makes him hear voices and obey their commands. James Earl Jones is excellent as Terrence Mann, and it was nice to see Burt Lancaster play the small but pleasant role of Archibald "Moonlight" Graham. Ray Liotta was actually also a joy to watch as Shoeless Joe Jackson. I genuinely enjoyed the picture and appreciated that it did not try too hard to teach any lessons nor did it try to be anything more than it was. It also has at its heart a healthy love for American history and baseball's place in it.
91 Costner Hits A Home Run
After Kevin Costner had a huge hit with the romantic comedy Bull Durham which was about a minor league baseball team, people though he was foolish to follow it up with another baseball movie. They couldn't have been more wrong as Field Of Dreams was a smash hit and the finest role of his career. Mr. Costner is Ray Kinsella, a Iowa corn farmer struggling to get by. He keeps hearing voices that say "if you build, he will come". He figures out through a vision that it is a baseball field that is to be built. Everyone except his wife Annie (Amy Madigan) thinks he nuts. After the field is built, players start coming out the field to play on it. Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) is one of them. No one but Ray and his family can see them. He has another vision that leads him James Earl Jones, a reclusive writer from the 60's, living in Boston. Along the way back, they pick up a young ball player. The player then turns out to be a doctor (Burt Lancaster) who saves Ray's daughter from choking. The film is a real fantasy and has an oddball plot, but all the actors give likable performances. The film, despite its plot revolving around Baseball, is not a sports movie. Baseball is used as an allegory for life. On the field, players who have had checkered pasts or left life with situations unsettled have a chance at redemption. One of the most touching scenes is where Ray has a catch with his father on the field. His father had past away and they never had a chance to resolve their differences, but on the field, everything is okay. His father is younger and doesn't know Ray is his son. He is just another ballplayer who has come to the field. Field Of Dreams is one of the most original movies to come out in the past twenty years and is a real American classic.
92 A truly great movie
It's hard to describe in words the deep meaning and the true greatness of "Field of Dreams." Ray (Kevin Costner) is a farmer who keeps hearing an inner voice say such things to him as "if you build it, he will come" and "go the distance." Ray soon finds out that all these inner voices have something to do with an old Chicago White Sox team that featured many great players such as "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Ray soon understands these voices and cuts a lot of his corn crop in order to build a baseball field so "Shoeless" Joe Jackson can come back and play baseball along with other great baseball legends, and even maybe somebody even more special from Ray's life. However, after he builds the field, Ray and his family have to worry about bankruptcy due to the loss of most of their corn crop. Ray soon understands even more about not only baseball, but of the glory days of the past.
"Field of Dreams" is a one of a kind movie about baseball, reminiscing, and enjoying life for the better things of it instead of the obvious. Whether you like baseball or not, if you like movies that have a lot of meaning to them, I definitely recommend getting "Field of Dreams." It features a great performance from Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, and everybody else that was in the movie. "Field of Dreams" is definitely one of the best movies ever made.
93 My all-time favorite movie
The quintessential baseball movie... Anyone longing for the days when it was still "A game" will love this one. Costner goes above and beyond in his role as a baseball fan. This is a must for baseball purists, and for anyone that has ever tossed a ball with his Dad in the backyard. James Earl Jones' "They will come" speech is a classic. I can't say enough about this movie... A MUST SEE!
94 Benign adaptation.
Kinsella's novel, "Shoeless Joe," was archetypal in its quest theme, welding Ray's odyssey with that of America's favorite literary hero, Holden Caulfield, as well as with the favorite sport of an idealized past. In the novel, the game is elevated to theological status, and Kinsella's prose rises to evangelical fervor in praise of the redemptive powers of the game. By comparison, the film is tepid, prosaic, and forced. It's one thing to IMAGINE the heroes of yesteryear walking out of a cornfield to resume their sport, but quite another to see this event documented by a camera. Far more successful is the film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's "The Natural," because the scriptwriters revise the novel's complexities of story, symbolism, and language into terms that are purely cinematic.
95 It's my favorite and here's why
I don't remember the first time I saw this movie or exactly how many times I have seen it since or when I truly fell in love with it, but I know that I recommend it to everyone I know. As a baseball fan, it is hard to watch this movie without some thought of the heros of the past. The main baseball character is Shoeless Joe Jackson(Ray Liotta, mentioned also is the black sox scandal, and throughout the movie there are other references to famous ballplayers. When you watch this movie, you also begin to realize that the field itself is a character of it's own. You get to see where the idea came from, how it was lovingly constructed and then how it becomes so important to the plotline. The field itself is magnificient surrounded by the fields of corn stalks. There are even a few scenes in the movie where you may think that the sky is painted because it is too beautiful to be true. It presents the perfectly safe place for the events of the movie to unfold. This story is about baseball, but also about family. It begins with a monologue from Ray Kinsella(Kevin Costner) who introduces us through a scrapbook to his family life up to the point that the story begins. We follow this farmer through an amazing journey where he receives messages from a "voice" that he has to decipher and then follow. And in the end Ray and the audience puts their meanings together. This adds a sort of mysticism to the story, where although it is truly a work of fiction, you will want to believe it could be true. Another superb performance is turned in by James Earl Jones who is playing Terrance Mann a writer from the 60's. The speech that he makes during the movie is truly powerful and very memorable. Without giving away the whole movie, I just want to say that if you have any interest in baseball, or just remember playing catch with your father, please get this movie. You won't be sorry.
96 field of dreams
It's a great movie K C plays the part well It's a "Dream" I wish I could fulfill!!!
97 Greatest Movie Ever
I met W. P. Kinsella, the author of "Shoeless Joe," at a book-signing in Dallas.Since "Field of Dreams" is my favorite film, I naturally asked him if others were as deeply affected by it as I was. He said that he still gets a couple of calls every week from viewers who fell under the spell of the film. His favorite was a call from a man in Houston who told Kinsella, "I saw your damn movie, then drove a couple of thousand miles to Seattle to visit my dad and tell him I love him. I damned near lost my job. I hope you're happy, Kinsella." Well, that's the kind of movie this is. It tells each of us a little about ourselves and makes us better individuals just for having watched it. Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones give unforgettable performances. Why Jones has never won an Academy Award is beyond me. The final scene is so moving and so uplifting, it is hard to imagine anyone not moved by it. Do yourself a favor. Buy the DVD and get ready to watch this film over and over again.
98 Listen to your inner voice.
Most of the time we're told that God moves in mysterious ways. There is a grand plan but it is too complex for any one person to understand. Well, that has never sat comfortably with me and it is this feeling that "Field of Dreams" addresses. We watch spellbound as one act on the part of an Iowa Farmer, brings about positive changes in a great many lives. What at first seems a crazy act, blossoms into a miracle, as the full scope of the plan becomes apparent.
This movie speaks to many parts of the human heart but the common theme is redemption. Most of us have regrets, some big, some small. But all we can usually do is dream about the world of "what if". When Ray Kinsella, (Costner), starts to hear voices, "what if" starts to become very real indeed. Psychiatrists would not hesitate to diagnose a farmer, who hears voices and then plows his corn crop under to build a baseball diamond, as schizoid. But Ray has more faith than most doctors, and his wife, Anni, supports him all the way.
Despite the financial problems of the farm, Ray listens to the voice and takes off on a road trip. He aims to find Terrence Mann, (James Earl Jones), a famous writer from the 60's who has dropped out of the public eye. Interestingly, the voice never told him to do this. It tends to be very general about things, saying "If you build it, he will come" or "Go the distance". But Ray becomes adept at reading the signs and interpreting the specifics.
As he travels across the country, Ray picks up partners. And in the end he manages to participate in several transformation which are much more remarkable than a cornfield turning into a ballpark. A burned-out writer gets an injection of passion. A small town doctor gets to play out a lost opportunity. A disgraced ball player is able to pick up the bat one more time. Ray is finally able to forgive and apologize to his father, and his family farm gets a new lease on life.
It's true that "Field of Dreams" is a feel good film with a happy ending but it's more than the standard Hollywood treacle. Powerful themes are woven amongst some very real characters. Themes like faith, trust, perseverance, selflessness and hope. Of course it also says a lot about baseball, which is not surprising given that Kevin Costner is the star. You walk away from this movie believing in miracles and suspecting that God may know what he's doing after all, at least when he's not busy playing ball down in Iowa.
99 there is nathing better
this is the best of Kevin Costner. Do not matter how many times I see it is never to much. you will fall in love with it
100 The best baseball movie ever made
Troubled farmer Ray Kinsella(Kevin Costner..who has never been better) keeps hearing voices telling him, of all things, to build a baseball field in his back yard! Far-fetched? sure, but few movies combine fantasy and emotion as well as this one. The voices and visions continue until Kinsella takes a field trip to team up with a well known author(wonderfully portrayed by James Earl Jones) the skepticism resides and the two take a magical journey that will change their lives forever. I will tell no more, it would be a sin. Grown men be warned however, if any movie is sure to bring a tear to your eye, it's this one.
