Nothing was going to stop Roy Hobbs from fulfilling his boyhood dream of baseball superstardom. Robert Redford stars in this inspiring fable that begins when 14-year-old Hobbs (Redford) fashions a powerful bat from a fallen oak tree. He soon impresses major league scouts with his ability, fixing his extraordinary talent in the mind of sportswriter Max Mercy (Duvall), who eventually becomes instrumental in Hobbs' career. But a meeting with a mysterious woman shatters his dream. Years pass and an older Hobbs reappears as a rookie for the New York Knights. Overcoming physical pain and defying those who have a stake in seeing the Knights lose, Hobbs, with his boyhood bat, has his chance to lead the Knights to the pennant and to finally fulfill his dream.
1 One of the best baseball films ever produced...
Nominated for four Academy Awards, The Natural is one of Robert Redford's best pictures. The breathtaking cinematography, coupled with the bold original score by Randy Newman, makes The Natural one of the most memorable films of its time. A classic baseball film, based on the best-selling novel, the movie has managed to insert itself into the pop culture. Certainly no little league player, nor major league player for that matter, can escape the sounds of Roy Hobbs and his mystical abilities when stepping into the batter's box with the game on the line... The Natural is quite simply one of the best baseball films around - up there with Field Of Dreams, Eight Men Out, and Major League...
Written more like a fairy tale than a modern drama, The Natural follows the life and times of Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford), a man trained from his earliest days to love the game of baseball by his father. When the boy's father dies of a heart attack on the family farm, Roy uses the wood from the lightning-felled tree under which his father died to fashion a homemade baseball bat. In love with the girl next door, Iris Gaines (Glenn Close), Roy leaves the farm after promising to come back to her in order to pursue a tryout as a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. But Roy never makes it back...
Mysteriously shot by a woman he meets in a hotel room, Roy's career is nearly ended by internal injuries. When Roy reappears twenty years later as a forty-year-old rookie for a last place team, he faces opposition from the team coach Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) who believes his business partner, The Judge (Robert Prosky), is intentionally sabotaging the team in an effort to cheat Pop Fisher out of his ownership shares. But when Pop Fisher finds out that Hobbs can not only play, but is the best player to ever set foot on a baseball diamond, the team's losing ways are put to an end - at least until Hobbs decides to complicate his life further...
Involving himself with Pop's niece, Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), Roy finds the level of his game dropping off. Despite Pop's warnings, Roy develops a relationship with the girl who is in partnership with the Judge to keep the team stuck in its losing ways. However, when Iris reenters Roy's life (along with her teenage son), Roy's play begins to pick up. But the championship is in jeopardy when a familiar reporter, Max Mercy (Robert Duvall), comes dangerously close to uncovering Roy Hobbs's mysterious past and internal bleeding threatens the life and career of the game's greatest slugger...
Sporting a different (Hollywood-ized) ending from the novel which spawned its release, The Natural is nonetheless one of the most inspiring, feel good movies of all time. The 1930's setting, and the seemingly one-dimensional characters, create an innocence of times past that make this movie seem like a flashback to the Frank Capra era. The musical score will create a literal tingling in your bones, and the hero-wins screenplay is one to be appreciated in this era of cynic realism. All these aspects of the film work together to make The Natural one of the most entertaining films around as well as earn it the designation of a must-see film... Pop this one into the DVD player and go live the magic!
The DVD Report
2 Read the book
The book was one of the best sports novels I've ever read, the movie pales in comparison. Bernard Malmud deserves the recognition for this great story, not Redford. If you've already seen the movie, don't spoil it for your kids, get them to read the book first.
3 One of the Greatest
I'm an avid baseball fan. I also like movies that aren't crude comedies. This one is one of the best movies I've ever seen.
The hero, Roy Hobbs, is an over-hyped prospect. We all know what happens to those in baseball. However, he pulls an Adam Hyzdu from July 2002 on us when he is called up.
Then there's the non-baseball aspect. It shows that...well, see for yourself. It's definitely worth it.
4 Among My Top Ten of All Time
I believe the comments of others do a fine job describing this film. I would only add the following:
There is every chance that other than a mature individual will not enjoy this movie so greatly as others obviously have.
There are moments in the actors' dialogue, comments on life and its lessons, that the casual viewer will probably miss.
Robert Redford attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship.
Redford and Hall of Fame member Don Drysdale were starters on the same high school baseball team.
Don Drysdale is among the best hitting pitchers, ever. He was elected to the Hall of Fame the same year "The Natural" was released at theatres.
5 This is in my top ten of all time favorites movies.......
and it works on so many levels.There is the sporting theme(baseball the American game, set in an innocent era,) The potential, and innocence of youth. Dreams that never die, as well as an indicment of the press(build em up to knock them down) but at the end of the day it is an enjoyable film. Would have given it 5, but you could say that the end is corny, but in the same way that you are caught up in the emotion, of say a Rocky film, this film leaves you with a warm feeling inside. Try it and see.
6 The Triumphant Return of the American Hero
I have not read Bernard Malamud's novel on which this movie was based; I will admit that I have no desire to do so, as I have heard how it differs from the movie, and I am convinced that this movie is the only correct way the story can be told.
In a big country like the United States of America, we need big heroes, bigger than life, Achilleus-like in scope, touched (or at least favored) by the gods. Fairly or unfairly, since the dawn of the 20th Century, we've tended to select such heroes from the world of sport, traditionally from baseball, a game which, due to such much of it having been played before the advent of mass (or even general) media coverage, seems better given to legendary, even mythic historical representation.
The heroes from baseball's past consistently shade those of its present; the names of Ruth, Williams, Mantle, Mays, (Walter) Johnson are men whose accomplishments seem more and more impossible as time leaves them further behind...and as their successors consistently disgrace their legacy by self-centeredness, greed, and scandal -with the notable exception of Curt Schilling bleeding most "Natural"-like as commented by Bob Costas on the pitcher's mound while pitching the Red Sox to victories in Yankee Stadium and the World Series in the 2004 postseason.
In "The Natural" we have a mythical story of a fictional team, the New York Knights, a moribund franchise seemingly based on any of three traditionally bad teams, the old St. Louis Browns, the Washington Senators, and/or the Philadelphia Phillies. This team has nothing going for it; their star player ("Kill Bill" and ESPN's "Tilt" star Michael Madsen) is a whining prima donna, their manager (Wilfrod Brimley) is believed to be "jinxed", and their owner has just signed a 36-year old (well...a hard-living 36 if Redford's wrinkles are to be believed) with the intent of finishing last in order to bilk the manager out of his ownership share of the team.
But Redford's Roy Hobbs isn't the has-been/never-was he is taken for; he is "The Natural", the one for whom The Game seemingly was created. From an early age he displayed an uncanny knack for the game, a "phee-nom" of a lefthanded pitcher who, upon leaving his childhood sweetheart (Glenn Close) becomes distracted by a mystery woman (Barbara Hershey) and nearly pays with his life, losing "The Way" and floundering in obscurity for the better part of the next two decades.
In America, we not only love our heroes, we love tales of redemption. And it is this aspect of "The Natural" that is typically overlooked. We see our hero losing his focus not only on the way to realizing his dream as a young man, but also once he seemingly has his dreams realized as a supposedly more mature man (perhaps understandably under the influence of Kim Basinger). And, in his reunion with Glenn Close in Chicago, we see him again find the path, "The Way" that restores his harmonious place within the game and the universe.
Look for particularly slimy and conniving performances as well from "A Christmas Story's" Darren McGavin ("Gus") and all-career actor Robert Duvall (sports hack -uh, writer- "Max Mercy"), generally cast against type in roles that really make you dislike them; this is further proof of their genius and it only serves to make the conclusion of the story that much more rewarding.
It doesn't hurt that, aside from the glaring casting faus pas of having Redford and Close play their characters as Midwestern teenagers as well as their mature "present day" selves, Barry Levinson just absolutely shot the daylights out of this movie. Major League Baseball had a marketing campaign a few years back called "Baseball Like It Oughtta Be", but Levinson has trumped them at every turn with the cinematography that is itself every bit as much the star as the actors. The scenes that take place off the field are beautiful enough, but the game sequences are just incredible. And the score adds as much to it as the more memorable efforts of Ennio Morricone do to Sergio Leone's epic Westerns; is that REALLY Randy Newman's work? Every time Hobbs connects with the ball, the grandiose theme and slow-motion photography (very reminiscent of NFL Films' best work for the game of pro football) give the viewer the unescapable impression that there is an element of the supernatural at work with "The Natural". The cyclical rise, fall, birth, death, and rebirth (recovering from a recurrance of his earlier injury in a maternity ward? Get serious!) of Hobbs is irresistible to the baseball fan and the period of the film and the "Old Hollywood" flavor of the storytelling and pacing should be attractive to the non-sports fan as well. Entertainment at the movies just doesn't get any better than this.
7 Huge disappointment
I saw previews of this movie and thought it would be great. I love baseball and almost everything Robert Redford has ever done. After a very promising start, the movie just went way over the top and became almost a cartoon. Every time the guy hits a homerun the cover actually flies off the ball or he hits the lights, setting off fireworks or something else larger than life happens. I went into this movie with great expectations and left feeling like they blew it. If they hadn't tried to make everything so much bigger than life the movie could have been a believable story.
8 Good Baseball Movie
I love baseball movies, and especially this one!
Robert Redford and Glenn Close work so well together in this picture. I cannot wait to share this film with my soon to be ten year-old son. I would also like the see "Pride of the Yankees." One of Redford's best films is "The Horse Whisperer." Check that one out. :)
9 ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES ABOUT BASEBALL.
"The Natural" is the biggest influence of all the baseball movies that appeared after 1984, and that's because this is a very good film. "The Natural" is one of the best movies of the director Barry Levinson, and also features an all-star cast: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close & Kim Basinger.
"The Natural" has a good message: it's better trying late than never trying at all. Despite the fact that the main character Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is a 35 year old rookie, he never quits to his dream of becoming the best baseball player.
This movie is recommendable for all baseball fans.
10 Great Movie
The Natural is the best baseball movie ever made. Great for everyone in the family.
11 You dont have to love baseball to enjoy this movie
This is a great feel-good film. Why do I say that? Because it centers around a baseball player named Roy Hobbs who gets tragically sidetracked from a promising career by a mysterious woman. Lots of great actors in this one in addition to Robert Redford such as Kim Bassingr,Robert Duvall,Wilford Brimley and Barbara Hershey. This movie will inspire you to become a better person and it teaches you that no matter how old you are its never to late to make a difference in your life or someone else's. I liked the movie alot better than the book by Bernard Malamud. This is the rare case in which the movie is better than the book. Usually it is the other way around.
12 Could this be the best baseball movie ever?
Having not read the book, the movie was not a disappointment. On the contrary, I think it ranks with, if not, the best baseball movie every made. It is a story of second chances both in baseball and in love.
The movie avoids the usual Hollywood pitfalls of making a statement where no statement is needed (Holly Hunters library speech in Field of Dreams) and by avoiding meaningless cliques by the effective use of archetypes. For instance, the mystery woman who abruptly ends Hobbs fledging career is dressed in black as contrasted to Iris, Hobbs lost love, who stands in the bleachers backlighted by a halo of light. Also the use of lightening at critical movements of Hobbs life and career are but two examples of powerful archetype.
Aside from a good story, this is movie making at its best. The cinematography is beautiful. Case in point: The contest between Roy Hobbs (the Robert Redford character) and the Whammer (played to the tee by Joe Don Baker). Cool summer evening, setting sun, beautiful light, the cottonwood fluff floating gently in the air and steam periodically erupting from the locomotive- it is a visual masterpiece. Add to the beautiful cinematography, the musical score from Randy Newman. Nineteen years after the making of this movie when one hears Newman's score we think- Baseball!
The attention to detail and editing were also superb. Who make those advertising signs in the outfield? Bump Baileys meeting a premature end crashing into the outfield wall next to the crying baby sign? That is what I call attention to detail. How about this? In the train scenes the train actually rocks on its tracks as it speeds along its way- Roy has to steady himself as he talks to the woman in black. The editing is surperb- especially the water stop scene and the final at bat scene. Could this be the best baseball movie ever made?
13 The Natural
'The Natural' (1984)
Robert Redford is an extraordinary guy. Never a word of scandal is written
about him. He lives quietly with his family on a ranch in western United
States. He runs the annual Sundance Film Festival and he is politically
active as a loyal democrat. He has had his share of bad films as all
Hollywood stars have but he has evened it all out with a Best Actor Oscar
nomination for 1973's 'The Sting' and a win in the Best Director category
for 1980's 'Ordinary People'. His other impressive list of credits include
such diverse films as 'Quiz Show' (1994) for which he received another Oscar
nomination as Best Director and 1988's gem and little seen 'The Milagro
Beanfield War' which squeezed its way in to win an Oscar for Dave Grusin's
music score. Redford's 1998 film 'The Horse Whisperer' should have had more
success but this film will become a buried treasure of the future and will
take its time to truly get noticed.
Redford's 1984 film 'The Natural' is a film that greatly divided the
critics. Some accused it of being an obvious soap opera while others
praised it as being an old fashioned story which brought back memories of
Hollywood's golden era. The plain truth is that 'The Natural' is a story of
lost youth with one man wondering how things would have turned out if his
life had gone in a different direction. What makes it extremely worthwhile
and fascinating to watch is the fact that the circumstances in this man's
life that hand him a sour lemon are determined by fate and not by choice.
Set primarily from the early to mid 1920's to about 1940, Redford plays Roy
Hobbs, a man who can do anything that the game of baseball requires.....and
he excels at it. As a friend of his says to a sports writer: "I thought you
might have heard of his 8 no-hitters." The story of 'The Natural' is truly
filled with fairy tale like qualities and sentimental charm. As a boy,
Roy's father helps him develop a talent for baseball and after his dad dies,
Roy makes a bat from a tree that was struck by lightning and appropriately
names the bat "Wonderboy" as he brands the name on his bat along with the
image of a lightning bolt. Roy also has a special lady in his life named
Iris Gaines (Glenn Close). Roy leaves her behind and intends to send for
her when he makes it in the big leagues.
At a carnival one fine day, after being provoked and taking on a bet, he
strikes out a heavy hitter in the major leagues whose nick name is "The
Whammer" (Joe Don Baker in a take on Babe Ruth). Traveling with "The
Whammer" is sports writer Max Mercy (Robert Duvall). The amazing feat
accomplished by Hobbs stuns everyone including the mysterious Harriet Bird
(Barbara Hershey) who is instrumental in Hobbs' future. The rest of the
story can be explored from here at your own convenience for fear of
spoilers.
Other notable members of the cast are Kim Basinger as a floozy who tries to
seduce Roy in a set up by gamblers and swindlers. Robert Prosky is the
film's villain as a judge determined to take over the team from Pop Fisher
(Wilford Brimley). A sly performance which goes uncredited in the film is
by Darren McGavin as an unscrupulous bookie who makes 10 million dollars a
year (about 100 million by today's standards).
Directed by Barry Levinson with a screenplay by Roger Towne and Phil
Dusenberry based on Bernard Malamud's novel, 'The Natural' is a fulfilling
drama of hope and inspiration that captured four Oscar nominations for Caleb
Deschanel's sunlight enriched photography and scenes of silhouettes and many
dark passages which make the film stand out in a truly visual fashion.
Glenn Close was the only member of the cast to receive a nomination, this
time in the Best Supporting Actress category and the art direction/set
decoration made the era look totally authentic as it and the triumphantly
rousing music score by Randy Newman were also nominated.
For those who have flocked away from the game of baseball in recent years
since the devastating loss of the World Series in 1994 due to labour and
management difficulties, 'The Natural' and 1989's 'Field of Dreams' are two
great films that renew your faith in the game and may draw you to it even if
you were never a baseball fan to begin with.
14 A sports hero who never was but always will be....
This film is based on but takes certain liberties with Bernard Malamud's novel of the same name, published in 1952. The focal point is Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) who encounters all manner of barriers while attempting to become the world's greatest baseball player. Both in the novel and in the film, he has critically important relationships with three women: mysterious Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey), devious Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), and "grand motherly" Iris Lemon in the novel who is renamed Iris Gaines (played by Glenn Close) in the film. The plot slowly builds to a truly exciting climax when an injured and weak Hobbs has one last chance to help his team win a championship. To this point, he has been victimized by so many people but he is sustained by Iris' love and devotion as he steps into the batter's box. (In the novel, she observes, "We have two lives, Roy, the life we learn with and the life we live with after that. Suffering is what brings us toward happiness.") Whether or not the New York Knights win, he has finally found personal happiness as he awaits the first pitch. And then....
For those who have already seen The Natural, many of their favorite scenes and images are probably the same as my own. The pyrotechnical climax, of course, but also Roy's confrontation with The Whammer (Joe Don Baker) as a train and its other passengers await nearby, the uncommonly tender relationship which gradually develops between Roy and Iris, Duvall's almost cartoonish portrayal of cynical sportswriter Max Mercy, and Darren McGavin's brilliant portrayal of Gus Sands. Other members of the supporting cast are also first-rate, notably Barbara Hershey and Wilford Brimley.
It is important to keep in mind that the film is based on a novel in which Malamud blends fantasy and reality so brilliantly that we begin to think that the highest levels of human imagination are the purest forms of reality. Phil Dusenbury's screenplay is faithful to Malamud while allowing director Levinson and his cast to present the narrative in remarkably effective visual terms. Caleb Deschanel was nominated for an Academy Award for best cinematography but it was presented to Chris Menges (The Killing Fields). My own preference was Miroslav Ondricek). One man's opinion.
15 The Natural Brew
The Natural is like a good beer. When you are young it tastes different than when you get older. As a kid, the first time I watched The Natural I dreamed to be the hero like Robert Redford, helping the losing team become a respectable and a winning team. I didn't understand the flashbacks but I believed in the magic.
The story begins with a young Roy Hobbs practicing baseball. One summer night a huge lightening bolt strikes an oak tree outside of his bedroom window. Hobbs makes a bat from the fallen oak tree. He carves a lightening bolt onto the bat and carriers the bat throughout his baseball career. This event is where Hobbs is transformed; he can play infield, the outfield and has unnatural power when at bat. Robert Redford plays the part of Roy Hobbs perfectly. He is quiet, determined and focused, he appears to be a natural athlete. The story takes a turn due to bad luck; all baseball players are superstitious as the movie gives a lot reference to that.
Women are Hobs' weakness and cause him to have bad luck in his life. This is a problem for athletes because they get distracted. Kim Bassinger plays her role well as a beautiful seductress. And the reason this story is great is that Hobbs' love for the game gives him the power to give every once of his strength to the game he loves. This story gets better each time you see it and it never goes flat. It is a classic.
16 My favorite sports movie
I would actually give it 4 & 1/2 stars, but that is not an option. I rarely give 5 stars to any movie.
The main reason for this review is to clean up a misconception. Some people think that the movie incorrectly portrays Hobbs hitting a "walk-off" home run as a visiting player.
When Hobbs hits the home run in Wrigley Field (why the two levels of seats in the outfield?) that breaks his slump, and the clock, this was in fact the top of the inning. It appears that when he goes to the stands to find Glenn Close's character, it is following his home run trot. If you notice, after he hits it, none of the Cub's players leave the field or their positions, because the game is not over. Also, the scoreboard correctly shows that the Cubs are the home team, with their score on the bottom. There is a small "cutaway" scene between when he hits the home run, and when he goes searching for her with all the flashbulbs going off.
Perhaps the editing could have been done a little better, but Hobb's home run was NOT hit in the BOTTOM of the ninth by the visiting team.
That being said, in the game the next day (where he hits 4 home runs) listen to the announcer. Right before Hobbs hits his 3rd homer, it sounds like he announces the score and that the game is in the BOTTOM of the 6th. Just a minor quibble.
Overall, a great movie.
Whammer, "Scared?"
Hobbs, "Not of you, I'm not."
17 Read the book as well!
My son recently had to read for school the Bernard Malamud novel, "The Natural," on which the film was based. I was quite intrigued to read that the book ends very differently from the film. I won't ruin the ending for you; you'll have to buy a copy for yourself! (Of course, you should order it from Amazon.com.) Having read the book enhanced by appreciation for the movie, that's for sure.
18 Coulda Been Great
THE NATURAL has some truly great elements, especially the much copied score, good cinematography, and some moments that almost capture the mythical quality of baseball. Unfortunately, it falls short of the greatness it should have achieved. Nevertheless, THE NATURAL is arguably one of the better films about baseball (along with "Pride of the Yankees"), and it's worth a look.
Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a man who truly loves baseball. All his life, he's been poised for greatness, but life has thrown him for some loops. He returns to the game in his late 30s and gets a final shot. Redford is pretty good in the role, although he's really too old for the part. Barry Levinson directs, and his direction is unusally ham-fisted...he and the actors telegraph every plot twist. Glenn Close was nominated for an Oscar, but she really isn't that good as Hobb's long-time love interest. Ultimately, the movie is too melodramatic and unfocused with cardboard characters, especially the villianous judge.
Extras: The only real DVD extra is a documentary on the movie featuring Cal Ripken Jr. It's pretty good, more affecting than the movie!
19 An ethereal, thinking-man's movie
This movie is often considered to be the greatest film ever made about baseball, but it's much more than that. To restrict "The Natural" to the genre of a sports movie is to miss its essential point and its goodness. No doubt that many will never gravitate towards this film, which is much more intellectual and adroit than other sports movies. Here the characters are muted, ethereal and other-worldly, but you understand them and their motivations.
Robert Redford is perfectly cast as the aging hero, Roy Hobbs. Never a favorite of mine, Redford delivers a stellar rendering; it's hard to imagine any other actor pulling off this role. Redford was 47 years old at the time of filming, but he's still trim, beautiful and wistful, like an aging oak tree. He underplays the role and is never likeable or knowable, but that is part of the charm. Unlike movies such as "The Pride of the Yankees," the baseball scenes here are believable and Redford looks like an athlete. The only small criticism is that they film all the pitches in slow-motion to heighten the dramatic effects.
Glenn Close and Kim Basinger are adequate, nothing more, in their roles. Robert Duvall, as the inquisitive sports writer, is excellent, which is hardly surprising since Duvall is always exceptional in any role. The cinematography is awe inspiring. Watch when Roy hits homeruns which cascade into the lights and the resulting explosions and fireworks. It's poetry and beauty all at once. Watch the shadows fall as the "Wonder Boy" bat is broken and the tubby bat boy hands Roy another stick.
The subplot of murder, avarice and revenge are omnipresent and not the outstanding portions of the movie. The greatness lies in the scenes on the diamond itself, as well as the poignant interplay between Close and Redford off the field. I've seen this film a dozen times and never fail to tear up when Glenn Close stands next to her son in the waning moments of the film and Hobbs blasts another home run. A mesmerizing movie, a true keeper.
20 If you can read, don't see this cow pile
10 reasons this movie is horrid:
1. It's Bud Selig's favorite. Enough said.
2. Redford uses it to show his "youth" by putting vaseline on the camera lens. He looks ridiculous, old, and unathletic.
3. They rip the book apart, change the real ending to a Hollywood joke, and basically insult anyone wiht an IQ above 50 (obviosuly, sportswriters not incldued in this group).
4. Sportswriters love it (see # 3).
5. Yah, these guys look like realistic athletes. Michale Madsen screams "mafia drug-addicted enforcer" not "ball player".
6. Robert Duvall, why oh why are you the stupidest reporter on the planet?
7. Cheesy. Hokum. BS. Disney-fied. Get the idea?
8. Kim Basinger does not equal femme fatal. She equals dumb blonde who can't act.
9. Did I mention the ending yet?
10. This would begin a long line of "Robert Redford Does Heartfelt Hokey Drama" that annoys the dung out of all of us (Bagger Vance? Horse Whisperer? Let's continue the list for the soccer moms and x-dominated males...)
21 One of the best baseball movies out there
This is an extrordinary depiction of Roy Hobbs' dream to be the "best there ever was" in baseball. Certainly the whole "good vs evil" concept has been done time and time again in movies, but the way this film constructs the fall of Hobbs, and tranforms him into the living legend of the New York Knights, is wonderful.
One of the paramount messages of the film is not just the story of Roy Hobbs. It is about belief in an idea and making it happen. Hobbs' quest takes him from small town guy who dreams of making it big to having to come back later to baseball because of an injury suffered. When he gets to the "show" later in life, he must restore faith in a "washed up" manager who does not think he has what it takes. To attain his dream, he also must sidestep the corruption of powerful owners and media personalities.
Critics of the film may say that some of the parts are unreal. I don't think the story was meant to be an accurate illustration of a typical baseball player's life; it is a mythological journey for Roy Hobbs to come from the depths of failure to the joy of achievement.
I think this is a great movie for anyone, especially a baseball fan, because it is inspirational and sends a positive message about achievement of one's dreams.
22 Circular Cricket
I approach reviewing the movie 'The Natural' with some fear and trembling -- not being someone raised on American sports, baseball has often held the image in my mind as being a sort of circular cricket game. However, beyond the basic mechanics of the game is the psychology, and, by and large, there is a very different mindset to athletics in America than there is outside of America (though this is changing over time); certainly as I was growing up, I had no sports-figure heroes, nor did I ever consider professional sports as a potential career even in a fantasy.
Beyond the general psychology of sports in America, baseball has a ranking with pride of place, being a national pasttime. To this end, to further my research for this review, I treated myself to that most American of activities, a baseball game, on that most American of holidays, the fourth of July. Being nearest to Indianapolis, there are no major leagues in town, so I went to the minor league game (Indianapolis Indians against the Louisville Riverbats -- the Indians won handily 7-2). I finally began to have some insights into what could be interesting and exciting and fun about baseball. I am certain that my reflections on 'The Natural' would be very different without that experience.
Perhaps it is a fantasy of many Americans to be a natural at sports in general, and some sport in particular. Baseball, having been woven into the history of the country, gives a particular insight into what can be best and worst in life through the game -- honour, glory, happiness; greed, betrayal, vice.
Barry Levinson's 1984 film, 'The Natural', shows the love of the game in full force. Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, an almost mythically inspired character, complete with mythic instruments (a bat that is made from a lightning charged tree, perhaps a bat 'anointed by the gods', as it were). Having been a natural from childhood days, he suffers an injury by a mysterious woman in his young manhood that (so far as we know in the film) cuts short a promising career. Is she the Delilah that cuts down a Sampson? If so, why (other than to set up the rest of the film).
Many years later, a much more mature Hobbs returns from out of nowhere to lead a desperate team to victory, overcoming the greed and corruption that big-time money injects into the game for a riveting, round-the-bases having hit out the lights home run that brings the fans to their feet and the puts the bad guys to shame.
What could be more natural than that?
While this is a good story and ends with a happy, yet somewhat incomplete scene of Hobbs playing ball with with a boy (will he be a natural, too?) while a rescued woman (oh yes, did I forget the love story? -- my mistake -- Glenn Close turns in a reasonable but far from her best performance as the love interest on the sidelines while Kim Basinger plays the sultry temptress intertwined in the murky dealing with the power brokers) watches, there are too many unexplained events and tenuous connexions for me to think of this as a great film. Unanswered questions abound.
However, the movie is good entertainment, even for someone who hasn't been to a baseball game. The pace is leisurely (like a baseball game), and the action goes from slow to riveting to gentle to exciting and back again. The dialogue is not inspired, but adequate for the plot. Some judicious editing might have made the movie hold together a bit better.
I can see the love of the game over all other considerations, and I can sense that in Hobbs character. And I can see the reality in many of the other characters. However, this is not executed well enough in philosophic terms to be a morality tale, and underdeveloped in human terms.
In the end, like the baseball game I attended on the fourth of July, I'm glad I saw it, but alas, I didn't fall in love with it. Perhaps I'm just a cricket man at heart.
23 When baseball was young
I liked this show although I admit I don't like some of the directions it takes. It starts out with Roy (Robert Redford) and his Dad throwing the ball around on the farm. His Dad realizes that Roy will become a great pitcher if he keeps working at it. In a "shades of Superman" scene, Roy's Dad dies of a heart attack on the farm. Years later, Roy is called up by the Cubs for a tryout. Glenn Close is his girl, he tells her the good news and she's sure he will make it big. He leaves on the train and life starts getting complicated. A veteran ballplayer called "The Whammer" (Joe Don Baker) is also on the train. He has a "Babe Ruth" sort of aura about him (except he's not a lefty). The train makes a stop in a small town, Roy's agent challenges the Whammer, claiming Roy can strike him out in three pitches. They take the contest to a nearby field and Roy strikes him out. But Roy's life takes a huge turn for the worst when he visits a woman who has it in for great athletes. His life gets sidetracked for something like 16 years. But he makes a comeback, this time as a rightfielder and comes up from the minors to the New York Knights, a pro team. Wilford Brimley is the Knight's manager. Brimley won't let Roy even participate in practice because of his age, thinks he's some kind of joke and decides to send him back to the minors. But he changes his mind and tells Roy to show up for batting practice the next day. Roy brings his own bat, a bat he made long ago from a tree on his farm that lightning struck. He starts slugging every pitch into the seats. When he finally gets to play in a real game his hitting becomes legendary. He practically becomes a cult figure with the kids. The ballpark scenes in this show are the best in the movie. It gives you a feel of what pro ball was like in 1939. It isn't all smooth sailing from there on though. Forces are at work to see that the Knights fail. Roy seems destined to thwart their plans and must be thrown off course someway. Despite an injury, he comes back to play his last game, with the pennant at stake. He's the last batter up with two outs in the 9th and two on.
24 A Naturally Great Film
To quote a review "...there's enough 'corn' in this film to fill many grain bins, but it works...", THE NATURAL is one of the truly great baseball films of recent memory due to the great performance of Robert Redford (unfittingly not nominated for an Academy Award..probably making it look "easy" again), great direction (Barry Levinson), great cast/characters (Robert Duvall, Richard Farnsworth, Kim Basinger,Wilford Brimley,Robert Prosky, and Glenn Close) cinematography, musical score, and script. A modern myth and time period film, in the guise of a baseball movie, the film works on all levels of entertainment values and is worth watching many times over. A feel good film that isn't made anymore.
25 Film maker attempts a modern myth - and succeeds
Critics of this movie have suggested that it is saccharin in its sentiment, unrealistic, and not faithful to the Bernard Malamud novel of the same name. In a sense, all of this is true.
The charge of not being faithful to the Malamud novel is certainly true. It is, in fact, sort of the polar opposite of Malamud's cynical, bitter novel, for which I for one am grateful. Malamud's novel come from a time when writers were so shocked by the essentially carnivorous business of the world that they tended to shriek in a childish wail about their own lost innocence.
Be assured, this is not a "realistic" expos on the business of baseball in America. This film is an exercise in myth making, which is always a fairly dramatic, sentimental undertaking. Folks that carp about the "hokey" quality of this film have missed the point completely and also missed a great movie.
I loved this movie. Here's why:
First, Robert Redford is magnificent as Roy Hobbs, the golden natural from the heartland whose baseball career is sidetracked by a demented fan. He vanishes for a long time, and then reappears as a middle-aged rookie, much older and wiser. This is one of my favorite Redford roles ever because the actor fits the role so perfectly. When Redford comes back to baseball as a damaged, mature man, he really shines. He has always had a talent for saying a few words that reveal whole histories, and that quality is put to great use here.
Secondly, the supporting cast for this movie has many great performances: Glen Close plays Iris Gaines, Roy's true love and guardian angel, and this, along with Dangerous Liaisons, is one of her very good outings. Kim Basinger turns in a complex performance as Memo Paris, the fatal female that is both sympathetic and poison at the same time. But my favorite performance is Darren McGavin as huckster and company man, Gus Sands. McGavin is simply great. His character will smile and tell you a dirty joke while he eases a knife into your back, and McGavin seems to have a great time throughout.
Lastly, the film is told in dramatic, heroic terms. The scenes are set up, as is the cinematography, to capture the most dramatic expects of a situation. This film really goes for the heart and makes no apologies. Roy Hobbs is a baseball myth, pure and simple. The sound track, by Randy Newman, surges and swells in epic strokes. Newman himself has said it was his first opportunity to compose a piece of music that was "heroic."
If you allow yourself the experience of this film, home runs can really give you chills.
26 So lightweight it floats
(This is the third time I am submitting this review. The editors at Amazon have consistently censored my opinion of Levinson as a hack director, the reported cost of the film, and the word "lame" for some odd reason. There is nothing libellous or obscene about any of these facts, the only reason Amazon is supposed to censor something. These are legitimate facts or critical opinions about the film and its creators. Similarly I am baffed by Amazon's editing in past reviews of the words "flaccid" and "seminal." In both cases I was informed I was not to use sexually suggestive words in reviews. I told the Amazon editor to buy a dictionary.
Amazon, this review conforms to your guidelines. Either print it the way it is written OR DO NOT PRINT IT. Your censorship is either disturbing or idiotic, depending on if the hack editors who read these reviews know what the words actually mean. Thank you.)
* * * * * * * *
I am baffled by the point of this film. If it's just a "loving homage" to movies from a more sweet and innocent time (which would explain why they took Malamud's contemporary novel and reset it to the 1930s), it takes itself far too seriously. If it's symbolic, the symbolism is thin and plain. If it's just "a good baseball tale," it's pretty lame, and only plays on our sentimentality. For example, Roy Hobbs is told if he plays The Big Game, he could blow a gasket and die. He plays anyway. So intently does he play that he bleeds right through his skin and shirt. That's the Nike spirit. Yet in the end he is shown alive and okay, whatever having caused that rupture (from a bullet wound 16 years ago???) apparently healed for good. False alarm. And it makes no sense. But it gets the tear ducts flowing.
Glenn Close, whom he hasn't seen in 16 years, now has a teenaged son. The kid looks like Bobby Redford, and "has a father in New York." She practically says "...playing outfield for the Knights, dummy," because he looks rather baffled as he stands below her window scratching his noggin. Did Levinson, one of the many hack directors to come up in the 80s via Spielberg, think the audience was THAT dumb? Apparently it is, for I have sat with people who didn't get the identity of the kid!
The dialogue is painful and telegraphs the emotions of the characters in Western Union typeface. The script is a series of cliches. I know the sentiment is deliberate, but you can be sweet without being so hokey. Field of Dreams almost did that, although I concede that film owes something to The Natural in its tone and treatment, as well as simply the fact that it got made.
The central character in Malamud's book is multi-faceted and complex, causing his own downfall when faced with choices of character, and ultimately only learning from it when it was too late. Redford would never play such a rich character. Instead we get Saint Hobbs, to whom all sorts of unfair things happen, with no real [inner] struggles *that he initiates.* That's the difference between the book and the film, between literature and hackwork. There can be no redemption because there was no downfall, because there was no sin, because Redford is a matinee idol who won't permit it. This could have been an interesting movie. Instead we get a floozy Kim Basinger saying "I'm not waiting for true love to come along, Roy" as if we didn't already know that, and in case we don't, we get a "sexy" music cue at that moment to help. It wouldn't be so bad if we could laugh at it, but it's presented as a film with a Message About Integrity, as though it were something by Horton Foote.
The cinematography is excellent, though they must have gotten tired of waiting till "the magic hour" every day to do most of their outdoor filming so that Waldo Pepper's halo would look golden. I understand it drove the budget up pretty high--reportedly $32 million, a lot of money for a picture at that time. Newman's much-lauded score does the job but is derivative, and chimes in at some really painfully predictable spots. ("He's my son!") One nice touch: note the first time you ever hear the "Natural Theme," the main melody that plays over the end credits. It's at the precise moment he starts to dimly--very dimly, mind you--realize who the kid is. The kid--as well as fatherhood and redemption--are all connected to that theme. It's the glue that holds what little plot there is together. And Glenn Close is so skilled an actress, she is able to recite some cornball lines and really make them work. Wilford Brimley, for all the laudatory notices he always gets, plays Wilford Brimley. And Darren McGavin and Robert Duvall have such underdeveloped characters they don't get to do much besides wear dark clothes and look shifty.
The video transfer is very fine, the accompanying commentary interesting, and the extras are abundant. A "Making of" documentary might have been interesting. But the film itself makes Rocky look like Shakespeare, and makes me wonder if the average movie-goer is in fact about 15 years old--at least mentally.
27 "I know better."
This is another one that I recently re-watched on cable. I must upgrade my film collection to include the DVD version now. So many reviews here seem to be attacking its sentimentality; get over it!! It amazes me that so many filmgoers can't view a movie with a positive and sophisticated charm without rolling their eyes or sticking their finger down their throat. (As if we don't have enough coarse, angry, 'edgy' films in release already.) I don't mind Redford's Joe Hardy-like ability one bit, because success- for all of his skill and talent- still dosen't come to him easily. He must suffer a physical tragedy, be elusive with his greedy contemporaries, and finally deal with the past- which he spends the entire movie trying to hide- catch up to him at the end. The one nitpick I have with the whole film was the painfully obvious soft-focus photography used to disguise Redford's age throughout the film. It isn't so bad in the first reel when he's supposed to be a teenager (and the camera shoots him at length), but later, when he's supposed to be 36, he just *isn't*. Glenn Close is radiant as his love from childhood, and shines in a memorable scene when they are first reunited at one of his games. After he goes into a foreshadowed slump, it is the arrival of Close (angelically backlit, and whose presence he senses even before seeing her) that brings him back to winning. Singularly gorgeous.
28 Mythical Tale of "Good vs. Evil"
It's a story that's been told countless times: a gallant protagonist dealt a stunning blow, who is able to come back against overwhelming odds to triumph over the relentless forces of darkness. How many times have all of us seen plots like this? Yet THE NATURAL takes this story, wraps it mythically and magically around the great game of baseball, and provides an entertaining, enjoyable film.
Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is a 36-year-old athlete who has waited 16 painful years for his chance to play major league baseball. His past is dubious, ambiguous. But he posesses a "natural" talent to dominate the game--even at the age of 36. And he does. Yet his meteoric success and instant acclaim pit Roy against two adversaries: newspaper reporter Max Mercy (Robert Duvall), who is obsessed with uncovering the secrets of Roy's past; and The Judge (Robert Prosky), the corrupt owner of Roy's team. The stage is set--good vs. evil--and the battle ensues, to a mesmerizing ending.
Glenn Close as Iris Gaines, the true love of Roy's life, is terrific in this film, but by far my two favorite characters were manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) and his assistant, Red Blow (Richard Farnsworth), who virtually bring alive the game of Depression Era baseball. I could have done without the discomfort of watching Redford and Close play 18-year-old lovers at the beginning of this film (talk about suspension of disbelief), but overall director Barry Levinson furnishes a rich, well-told story. THE NATURAL hits a solid, satisfying double, right up the middle.
29 Brilliant!
Whenever I feel the need to give my self a boost, I pop in The Natural. It's a brilliant sports film.
30 Mythic baseball film
Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford), a remarkable baseball player with a rare natural talent for the game, struggles with the forces of darkness as personified by such figures as duplicitous sports writers, greedy team owners and gamblers, and various femmes fatale. Succumbing to such temptations results in a 15-year absence from the game he loves, but he returns more seasoned and mature with the knowledge that only a pure devotion to his original passion will steer him through life's perils. The mythic elements of Hobbs's story are sometimes laid on too thick, but this remains a frequently effective film that evokes an atmosphere and sense of magic that gives even a non-fan like me some insight into why baseball fans love their game so much.
31 If you thought Little Big League was longer
If Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) only wanted wanted to play baseball, they why did it take him 16 years before he played in his rookie season with the New York Knights. At first he had a tryout with the Cubs but I guess seem to quit after he got shot. And then 16 long years later he found a team. The manger tells him that he should be thinking of retiring from baseball then starting playing baseball. This movie almost runs 2 and 20 minutes. But if you love baseball, I reccomend you to watch this movie. If you like this movie check out these titles.
Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Little Big League, The Rookie, Angles in the Outfield (1994), Rookie of the Year
32 Its never too late in life to start again
A classic tale about never giving up on your dreams and overcoming lifes hurdles if you believe in yourself 100%. A great movie and not just for fans of baseball.
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.
33 A Home Run!!
Robert Redford stars as Roy Hobbs, a young golden-armed baseball player who has dreams of someday playing in the major leagues. Hobbs was encouraged from a young age by his father to pursue his dream of becoming a baseball player. He worked tirelessly trying to improve his skills. One night, a bolt of lightning struck a tree in Hobbs' yard and he uses the wood to make himself a bat. He inscribes "wonderboy" on it, along with a lightning bolt to commemerate where it came from.
In time, Roy manages to catch the eye of major league scouts, and he finally gets a try-out. While travelling to Chicago, Roy meets Max Mercy, a sportswriter played wonderfully by Robert Duvall. In the course of time, Max will eventually become insturmental in Hobbs' career. Unfortunately for Roy, he also meets a mysterious woman aboard the same train, and he suffers a tragic accident. Years pass by and Hobbs tries again to hook on with a team, this time as a hitter. He joins the fictional New York Knights as a right fielder. After sitting on the bench, Hobbs finally gets his chance to play, and a legend is born. Hobbs becomes one of the most feared home run hitters in the game, while transforming the lowly Knights into a pennant contender. The team is managed by Pop, skillfully played by Wilford Brimley. In the midst of his fine season, Roy begins having physical problems due to his encounter with the woman years earlier, and he may have to quit the game for good, but not before he helps his team play in its most important game ever.
This is a first rate baseball movie. All of the actors give top notch performances, and the game sequences are excellent. My two favorite moments are when Roy hits the clock at Wrigley Field with a home run, and when the ball hits the light stand in the playoff game. The movie also teaches people to follow their dreams no matter what the cost. I highly recommend this movie to all baseball fans. You'll want to stand up and cheer!
34 NOT JUST BASEBALL- A LESSON IN LIFE
The Naural is a film I could watch over and over, which is why I bought this DVD. My Tape was worn out. This is a story for the whole family. If you've never seen it and you dont like baseball, dont let that stop you. This is a magical story.
Roy Hobbs is a farm boy with a gift for pitching. But as his Dad tells him "It's not enough". He gets a chance to try out with the Chicago Cubs, so He leaves his best girl with a promise of marriage and heads off for the big city. He meets a beautiful temptress on the train and being young and naive lets temptation lead him astray.
Because of the incident with the woman his baseball career was put on hold for 16 years, until at 36 he gets a chance to play for the Majors. The manager of this loosing"dead from the neck up" team is reculant to put this old rookie in, but his assistant goes to bat for Roy (excuse the pun) and he finally gets his shot.
We watch as Roy has a great season, goes into a slump, gets mixed up with the wrong woman again and tries to save the team for the manager from the corrupt owner and his partners.
His past comes back in 2 forms, first his girl is now living in Chicago, and has brought him good luck, it is a magical moment in the movie when he is in a slump and she stands in the bleachers looking like an Angel, and his energy is renewed, and second he is being blackmailed about the unfortunate incident 16 years earlier.
After all these years though Roy has never lost his honor, his values, or his love for the game. He also learns that wanting to be "the best there ever was" is not as important as doing the best you can.
The Cast is fabulous in their rolls, you have Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Wilfred Brimley, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall, Barabra Hershey, Joe Don Baker, Robert Prosky and the late great Richard Farnsworth. No more needs to be said there!
The DVD itself is a must have. I was reluctant to buy it at first because it was only 4.0 and 2 channel sound but this is not a film where you need to have dinosaur steps shaking your water glasses. The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the musical score is all great. It is in Widescreen and the cinematography is wonderful. Usually the "Extras" is not what impresses me when I buy a DVD but this one has a not to be missed 45 commentary from Cal Ripken Jr. that's as poignant as the story itself. There is also included in the documentary Director Barry Levinson"s views
By the way you will also love the ending of the story!
Enjoy---Laurie
35 Robert Redford, natural talent
I have loved this movie since the eighties. I have finally added it to my home collection and never tire of the plot, the characters or Redford. If you like watching an underdog get his chance to shine as a star then this flick is for you. Redford plays Roy Hobbs, who due to a bad decision misses out on his chance to play in the majors. He finally makes it, as a "down and out" older player, with not much hope given to him. He shines on the diamond, and we see his rise as a baseball star, and his cold streak, and how he truly loves the game.
Close plays his love interest, and she and Redford compliment each other nicely. Overall, The Natural is a good movie, that puts the story ahead of the action, and is worthy of 5 stars.
36 Thoroughly engaging.
Had to read the book for an American novels class and it was just so-so, but the movie...is great. Not only is Robert Redford simply irresistable as Roy Hobbs, but Glenn Close is good as well. The book had many deeper meanings and morals and interpretations and we spent weeks taking it apart, but the movie is not so philosophical. It's just entertaining, has a moral, and the ending is better than the book's. I don't know if I would have enjoyed the film as much had I not read the book but I think so. The movie can stand on its own.
37 Wonder Bat
In "The Natural" Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is an over-the-hill ball player who comes from nowhere to lead the fictional New York Knights in their pennant fight. Hobbs uses a bat he made as a child (from a lightning destroyed tree) and an endless reservoir of talent to capture the nation's attention as "The Natural".
Hobbs comes along at a propitious moment for the Knights' manager, Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley). Pop is co-owner of the Knights with The Judge (Robert Prosky). The Judge is a smarmy, nogoodnik who would like nothing better than to deprive the likable Pop of his share of the team for nothing.
Of course, no one knows where Hobbs came from, which leads one curious reporter, Max Mercy (Robert Duvall), to delve into his past. Max constantly pesters Hobbs about his past and where he had been playing all his life if he were always this good. Max's curiosity is compounded by a feeling that he's seen Hobbs before and just can't put his finger on where and when he ran into him.
At heart, "The Natural" is a story about baseball. This may seem obvious for a baseball movie but many "baseball movies" are really just typical movies with a baseball setting. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it doesn't really make them baseball movies. "The Natural", like "Field of Dreams", is about the joy one gets from playing the game no matter what your age. It's also about the forgiveness of baseball. It's a sport that gives you a long time to redeem yourself for wasting talent or for not appreciating the game when you are young.
"The Natural" is my second favorite baseball movie and one that has and will continue to stand the test of time.
38 Greatest Baseball Movie That Ever Was
I've been crazy about Baseball movies ever since seeing Gary Cooper in "The Pride of the Yankees" and Jimmy Stewart in "The Monty Stratton Story". I can't resist these film tributes to America's Pastime, and I've watched "The Natural" a hundred times...wore out the VHS, bought the unbelievable soundtrack by Randy Newman, and rejoiced when it was released on DVD.
What makes this movie so special? Well, first of all, it reminds us of how Baseball ought to be...before the corruption of our modern era of strikes, multi-million dollar deals, steroids, corporate named stadiums & television & cable rights. The Natural, is all about loving the game. The love affair with baseball and its history oozes in every frame. It depicts the triumph of good over evil, and success rising out of tragedy.
The casting director deserves an oscar. He or she was dead on! Robert Redford is ideal as Roy Hobbs. Often backlit, he looks ethereal. Fans of Redford will witness his all time greatest on-screen smile when Wilford Brimley tells Hobbs to "suit up" towards the end of the film. Speaking of Wilford, he was born to play the role of the Knight's manager! Also perfectly cast are the roles of heroine, Glenn Close and femme fatale Kim Bassinger. Richard Farnsworth has a sweet role. I especially loved the genuine scene when he takes a grateful Roy Hobbs out to an Italian restaurant for his first major league dinner. "I can't spell it, but it sure does eat good"! I could go on and on ...Duvall, Prosky...every role superbly cast!
The greatest visual snipets are the reaction shots from the audience and fellow ball players when Roy Hobbs displays his NATURAL abilities. The film is full of "little things" that puts it over the top.
The film score must be mentioned! I know that Randy Newman FINALLY won an oscar for some Disney movie...but I think it was payback for his being ROBBED in 1985 for Best Score. His score is magnificent, and is a key reason this movie viewers respond so emotionally to this film. My teenage daughter often requests I put this CD on in the car...that is how good it is!
Based on Benard Malamuds novel by the same name, (it does have a different ending), The Natural is about choices made, the things done for love. Its about purity, devotion, good over evil. It's about baseball... When baseball was great. Watch it, and learn about a time in America's past when baseball truly was the nation's pastime.
39 The Natural
The best baseball movie out there. A must for any sports and baseball fan out there.
40 You don't have to know the Game to love this movie....
You don't have to know anything about the game of baseball to love this movie, you just have to know the difference between Good and Evil. That is because this film is really about the eternal struggle between purity of purpose and corruption. It is the same heroic story whether you are dealing with Camelot or the New York Knights. Whenever I get too depressed about the way the world seems to be poisoned by money grubbing reptiles running the world from shadowy back rooms, I get this DVD out and watch it alone. I watch it alone because it never fails to make a grown man cry. You see, the only reason evil exists in the world is to provide a good man with something to struggle against to reaffirm the eternal truths. And when evil gets the upper hand, then the creator steps in to even the playing field....
41 Play Ball
No Question, by far the best baseball movie to ever hit the screen.Robert Redford delivers one of his best performances of his career as Roy Hobbs, a gifted semi pro baseball player who has the talent to break every record in the book.A flawless written script about Roy's love for baseball, his devotion to the team, and the courage to overcome all odds to be the best in the game.A beautiful musical score that makes me shed tears evertime i watch this movie.If you love the game of baseball as much as i do, then you wont want to miss out on this movie magic...
42 A Natural Winner
IF you love baseball, you will LOVE this movie. If you love sports, you will LOVE this movie. I consider this to not only be one of the best (if not the best) baseball movies, but one of the best sports movie of all time. It is just a feel good movie and one that I never get tired of watching. This film stands out almost the crowded sports films. But this isn't just another sports movie. It is a very nice and well told fable. Everyone dreams of hitting the game winning homerun. This just visualize that dream for all of us and it is marvelously well done. It's about getting a second chance at something and seizing it and what could be a better story than that. No cynicism in here, no evil, no bizarre plot twist, it just a nice simple story that just happen to use american's past time as a backfield.
43 Redford surprise !
Robert Redford surprised with his role in the Natural. With an outstanding way of acting. He seldom played a hero role but he shows in this movie he can play anything. Robert Duvall also had a good performance as the journalist.The movie is well filmed with nice shots.Wilford Brimley as 'Pop' is perfect. This movie needs to been seen not only for the great cast.
44 Naturally Absurd!
Robert Reford's dream of a baseball natural is absurd on many levels.I dont mind fantasy type films at all..HOWEVER, they have to have some characters that an audience can have some connection with.
Roy can hit the cover off a baseball..and Mr. Brimley and co...drop their jaws in amazement. Roy can pitch better that Cy Young...and Mr. Brimley's jaw also and again drops in amazement.
( hackneyed dialogue) How many ways can one say WOW!
Many of the fine suppporting actors deliver their lines in amazement..( Robert Duvall etc). Using the game of baseball as a base for all the other insufferable nuances attempted by this film is truly sad indeed.
Jimmy Piersall had nothing on Mr. Roy here! Mr. Reford has been out in the sun a bit too long..perhaps he should learn how to hit a cut off man from the outfield. Maybe he has kryptonite in his bat...you know the one he made as a kid...and still uses now to Nuke any baseball..thrown at him. Gosh...There are zero authentic... in tone baseball scenes..who cares...this film hits the triple crown for infantile dialogue, absurd staging and general hokum.
There are many great fantasy films out there..this is not one of them.,...perhaps Mr. Reford,'next film will have Charles Van Doren pitching!!
CP
45 Good film but rips the novel to shreds.
As a baseball fan and film buff, I always loved this film: a wonderful cast, brilliant photography, inspiring musical score, and deeply cool NY Knights baseball uniforms. Then I read Bernard Malamud's novel and discovered something rather disturbing: the film is not only unfaithful to its source, but in a way completely reverses the author's thematic intentions, so much so that I'm surprised Malamud allowed his name to be attached to it.
Malamud based the novel on the tale of Sir Percival, the Grail-Knight, who made his own sword and was ultimately defeated for his arrogance and vanity. Malamud's Roy Hobbs is shallow, vain, materialistic, hungry for the glory and admiration that come with stardom but unmindful of the responsibility, constantly making wrong decisions (especially with regard to women) and never acknowledging his own failures and limitations. In the end, he strikes out, the Knights lose, the scandal hits the papers, and Roy, crushed and broken, realizes that he never learned from his mistakes and weeps "many bitter tears." In a way, Roy was like the Mighty Casey, a hero who proved to be fallible even as the hordes cheered him on.
Barry Levinson's film offers a completely different take on the myth of the American sports hero, turning him into more of a Sir Gallahad, noble and pure, golden-haired and chiseled, who rescues the sad-sack Knights from oblivion and leads them all the way to the promised land, in the process rediscovering his long-lost love and thwarting the evil plans of some shady characters. The light-shattering home run that ends the film, and the pastoral wheat-field scene in the coda, punctuate the feel-good, all's-well-that-ends-well Hollywood fantasy.
Malamud's theme was that heroes are not all they're cracked up to be; flawed, selfish, ordinary human beings whom we probably ought not to hold in such high regard. Levinson's film eviscerates that theme and replaces it with something decidedly less literary and more "entertaining."
That said, it is a fine film in its own right, and some of the novel's characters (especially Wilford Brimley's Pop Fisher, Robert Duvall's Max Mercy and Joe Don Baker's Ruth-like "Whammer") and moments (Roy knocking the cover off the ball) come through brilliantly. It's just disappointing that it's ultimately so different from the novel; perhaps it should have been re-titled.
Read the book.
46 Great Baseball And Fine Story-Telling
"The Natural" is a another example of fine story-telling brought to the big screen. Like "Field of Dreams" this film is fine story-telling from beginning to end. Actually, while "Field of Dreams" comes closest to it, "The Natural" has a feel uniquely its own. It has an ethereal, dream-like feel to it and, for anyone who has seen this movie even just once, I would bet that they would recognize it from a ten-second clip taken from any part of the movie. Robert Redford is not my favorite actor; I don't dislike him - I'm just not usually impressed by him. In "The Natural" he finds what I think is his defining role. If I were his agent, I'd advise him to study his performance in this movie and use it as a model for all of his work. For all of the supernatural components in "The Natural", Redford is entirely believable in his search for simple truth, honor, and decency. The viewer can tell that this movie is based upon good literature because almost everything has layers of meaning to it, which is another reason why Redford's straightforward, no-nonsense character shines like a beacon in a cloud of scheming and personal politics.
47 How many things are wrong about this movie?
In no particular order:
1. Redford is too old for the role (wouldn't Hobbs be about 34? Redford appears to be late 40's)
2. The Herculean feats became silly. Tearing the cover off the ball -- good fun. Hitting a foul tip that breaks the pressbox window -- stupid. How the heck does a player hit a foul tip faster and harder than anyone in history?
3. The movie was overly solemn -- except when it was weirdly funny. What was with the black humor in the middle when the player crashed through the wall and died?
4. Glenn Close as a love interest? Unbelievable! The woman gives me the creeps (inexplicably, she later again played a supposedly sexy character in "Fatal Attraction". Personally, I think Cruella De Vil was the role most suited for her).
5. I said overly solemn -- also overly melodramatic. The climactic home run was a bit over the top, with the slo-mo, sweeping score, and showers of sparks that somehow fell from light towers onto the basepaths that were two or three hundred feet away.
There were some good performances -- by Wilford Brimley, and by the mustachioed coach whose name escapes me. But overall, this is on my list of 10 all-time most overrated movies.
48 A Great Baseball Movie
"The Natural" - a story about an aging man's fight to hold on to the game he loves so much. Robert Redford, playing Roy Hobbs, a man in his mid thirties tries to break back into major league baseball after a sixteen year absence. Fans of the novel, by Bernard Malamud, have righty critisized the ending of this movie, which is nothing like the ending in the book. Still, it is powerful, over-all, with great performances from Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger, and Wilford Brimley.
The movie begins with a young Roy Hobbs, playing ball with his father on the family farm. We can see how well a pitcher young Hobbs it, and it is his father's dream he become a baseball player. The man never lives long enough to see the dream realized, however. Still grieving his father's loss when lightening strikes a tree on the farm, Hobbs is drawn to make a bat out of one of its branches. "Wonderboy" he calls it. Success follows, as Hobbs is offered a contract to play ball. The night before he leaves is spent with his sweetheart, Iris, played by Glenn Close. He never makes it to his destination.
Along the way, Hobbs meets up with a mysterious woman who sees in Hobbs a greatness, and she asks him if he will be the greatest ball player ever. When he responses yes - out of some twisted feelings she shoots him, thinking she will gain some kind of fame herself. Her plot backfires, but so to does Hobbs dream of playing ball; at least, for sixteen years.
The screen fades to black, and the words "sixteen years later" appear. Hobbs is older, and has been assigned to play with the New York Knights, a lackluster ball club in last place that can't seem to do anything right.
The Knights manager, Pops, played by Wilford Brimely, quickly develops a dislike for Hobbs, and refuses to let him play. He has made a bargain with the team's owner, the Judge, that if they win the penant, Pops will control the ballteam. But if they lose, he is out, and the Judge Takes full control of the team.
When the leading star for the Knights, Bump Bailey, and Pops argue over a call, Hobbs is called in to replace Bump. Lightning strikes, and Hobbs hits a home run, literaly knocking the cover off the ball. After Bump suffers a fatal crash through the ballpark fence, Hobbs takes over his position, and the homeruns start stacking up, all with wins. Suddenly the New York Knights are contenders for the penant, thanks to Hobbs and his miraculous bat.
Memo, played by Kim Basinger is called in to use Hobbs, to distract him from the game so the Knights will start losing again. Her "special" techniques work, and soon he is striking out at every at bat; but only until Hobbs meets up with his old sweetheart, Iris, again. Their romance is rekindled, and Hobbs begins to play better ball.
When his sixteen year old wound begins to bother him again, he is sent to the hospital. Without him in the line up, the Knightss begin loosing. The penant is almost out of reach for Pops. Hobbs makes a decision to return to the game, sore as he is, knowing how much the team, and Pops, need him. Everything is relying on this one game ...
If you look beyond the "hokum" as some people call it, "The Natural" can be a very enjoyable baseball movie. The happy ending is certainly typical of Hollywood, but at least it is better contrived than other of Hollywoods happy endings.
49 Every Baseball Fan's Dream
I've heard many critics deride The Natural as hokum. They dismiss the film as well crafted, but criticize it as too long and too overblown. To be sure, The Natural doesn't bear much resemblance to the novel by Bernard Malamud in which Roy Hobbs takes money, strikes out to lose the pennant and is forced from baseball in disgrace. However, the film, as presented, is a wonderful realization of every baseball fan's dream. What baseball fan ever dreamed of winning the World Series with a sacrifice fly? When children dream of baseball, they dream of hitting a massive grand slam in the seventh game of the World Series with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the home team trailing by three runs. The Natural is the visual realization of every baseball fan's dream. Roy Hobbs hits the monumental home runs that every fan dreams about -- shots that destroy clocks, literally knock the covers off balls and annihilate light towers. Just as with all our goals in life, we, as baseball fans, don't fantasize about just barely clearing the outfield wall, we want to blast each pitch into outer space, ensuring that everyone will remember our moment of glory. So few of us ever come close to realizing even a fraction of our dreams. Unless they are a New York Yankees fan, every baseball fan has many more moments of heartbreak than exhiliration. The Natural allows all baseball fans to realize, however fleetingly, the sheer joy of seeing their dreams realized.
50 No longer baseball fantasy
I must say, when I first saw this movie, I thought it all fantasy. A brilliant movie, yes, but the final scene was pure cotton candy, the suffering ball player moved to perform extraodinarily. The feeling I have, however, is that this movie is not anymore one based in fiction.
There's a feeling that baseball, long in the dugout for the past decade, has left the on-deck circle, strolled to the plate, wiped clean the batter's box chalk , tapped it's cleats, surveyed the field and coiled to swing at the first pitch, ready to take flight. The heroics of games 4, 5 and 7 of the World Series seemed to tip their cap to the heroics of this movie, and to times gone by.
After all, the last time I can remember enjoying this much the events of the Series was the parallel non-fiction event to "The Natural": Kirk Gibson's dramatic, limping gimpy all-arm 3-2 walk-off home run of Game 1 of the '88 series vs. the dreaded bash brothers and Dennis Eckersley.
A classic movie of times gone and hopefully times to come.
51 Quite good, but...
Quite a good film. But it ages as time goes by. It's HILLARIOUS to see Redord and Close try to act as 18 year olds -- bwa ha ha! But this is ... a classic, so memorable that the Simpsons have parodied the final scene, so you know it's good. Just because I have to get it off my chest, I will point out that someone named "Murikami" in the ending credits is a mistake -- it is Murakami. Murakami is a Japanaese name but there's no way to write it in kanji.
52 Perseverance, Devotion, Honor
This is tied with Field of Dreams for one of the most sentimental films about baseball of all time. But I am a sap for sentimentality, and I loved them both. The story is about a ballplayer who, even though he is shot by a vengeful woman, still tries to achieve his dream. Along the way he will meet many characters, from Robert Duvall's outstanding journalist character to the dirty owner and a manipulative woman. When he hits a slump, he keeps trying, reconnects with his teenage sweetheart and aims to turn his life around. I would buy this movie on DVD even though I own it on VHS already.
53 Worth the wait
Where are the US online reviews for this DVD? Aren't there any baseball fans with DVD players? It has been out for some time now. Well, it certainly was worth the wait as this transfer is quite decent. I'm sure you're familiar with the story. With a superb cast, cinematography and sound track this is a must for anyone who appreciates superb story telling (regardless of whether you're a sports fan or not).
54 A great film with missed opportunities
This is a wonderful period film which suffers from "star mentality." The whole show is built around Robert Redford and everyone else is a throw-away character. You have outstanding players like Wilford Brimley and Richard Farnsworth who's appearance add great strength to the story, but are never really allowed to "shine" in their roles. You wonder how much of their performances wound up on the cutting room floor. What could have been a story about a "team" finding their soul(with help from Roy Hobbs) turns into a self-serving story about a baseball "one man" show.
55 One of the best baseball movie out there!
I saw this movie a few years ago and just recently bought the DVD. I forgot how good this movie is. Rebert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, A Natural, a person that can do almost nothing wrong in the sport of baseball. I wish some of today's players would watch this movie. Roy plays for the fun of the game, not for the money or anything else. I didn't understand the woman shooting him in the beginning until I read the book, that is the only flaw in this movie. That whole part of movie kind of leaves you wondering, "What was all that about?" Anyhow the movie really makes up for it, with Roy coming back to baseball sixteen years after the incident. He alone brings a team from the gutter back to respectability. A very emotional ending makes you feel really good. I always try to watch this movie every now and then. It is one of those movies that the more you watch it, the more you like it.
56 great baseball story
If you like baseball, this movie is for you. this is a story about a man who is considered the best baseball player ever, but in the process is shot and disappears for years, and the appears again and goes on to greatness in the majors. A great story for anyone in the family to watch.
57 The baseball Gods gift to world.
This movie is what the game is about. A young man with hopes and dreams, having them shot in a fleeting moment, returns years later to allow the world to realizes that he is the best there ever was. The Natural shows the artistic side of baseball, it is not about money or fame, but for winning and the pure love of the game. It shows how baseball was meant to be played, on grass, in the open area, and with the heart of child and not a money grubbing ego filled player. Redford once agian gives his stellar preformance. If you love baseball, this is your movie.
58 The Natural, DVD review....
I just received this movie on DVD this past week and I have to say after all these years it is still a "Awesome movie". With the DVD comes a commentary by Cal Ripken Jr. discussing the movie. Barry Levinson the Director of the movie also adds some additional commentary regarding particulars scenes. Both of these commentaries definitely add to the enjoyment of the DVD. With the DVD version you also gain more deeper colors in the film which is a big difference from the VHS version.
59 There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game!
I don't care for baseball. Never have. Truth be told, I would rather watch a meaningless pre-season football game than game 7 of the World Series. I've even tried watching it in person, but the game still seems about as dull as watching the grass grow.
That said, it is ironic that this is my all time favorite sports movie. The cast is top notch; Robert Redford, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall are all cream of the crop actors. As the best sports movies do, the story transcends the game itself & uses it as a metaphor for life. Unexpectedly, the film also includes unmistakable mythology imagery regarding a hero's quest. Some of the symbolism is obvious, some of it is not. The majority of it, however, does not take a Jungian analysis to understand. Barbara Hershey and Kim Basinger play their parts well as two sultry sirens who attempt to lure unsuspecting men to crash into the rocks.
The story takes place in the late 1920s; a simpler time, when some professional athletes had the audacity to play for the love of the game rather than the intention of getting a signing bonus with their next team (gasp!!! what a concept!!). Robert Redford plays an incredibly gifted baseball player whose life goes awry due to the adversity posed by an unexpected incident. He finds that he must struggle to keep playing the game he loves. I don't cry at movies very much, but I will admit I did cry the first time I saw "The Natural." OK, I also cried the 2nd time I saw it, too.
The DVD release boasts useful documentary by Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles, probably the closest thing to a genuine hero that baseball has to offer. All in all, a worthwhile DVD for the sports fan and non-sports fan alike.
60 The Natural Widescreen DVD Baseball Story, gets it right !!!
This is one great baseball movie. It has all the right ingredients to join a childhood dream, baseball "The National Past Time" (circa 1940's post World War II), an array of interesting characters and you the audience on a journey of emotion enlightment & family fullfillment in the circle of life.
This widescreen (16:9) is the perfect format to watch this movie. The cinematography is amazing and adds the necessary tempo for the equally sensational musical score by Randy Neuman.
Robert Redford does a credible and believable job protraying this exceptional fictional baseball player, Roy Hobbs.
In summary; The movie opens with the classic father & son playing catch, bonding and the fathers encouragement to his sons exceptional "Natural" ability in the game of baseball. The "gift" he called it. Events occur where the father dies of a stroke under a tree which is shortly after struck by lightning. The son Roy Hobbs, Makes a bat from the fallen tree in rememberence of his father. He burns the name, "WonderBoy" & a bolt of lightning into the bat. Years later Roy leaves his family, girlfriend (he receives a very passionate sendoff) & home to seek his dream of being the greatest baseball player of "All Time". Roy's dream begins with nothing to stop him but quickly turns into a nightmare when a brief encounter with a 'La Femme Fatale' short circuits his dreams. The rest is "The Natural's" ability to come back.
The movie is one you'll enjoy over & over again. The extra "The Heart of the Natural" with Cal Ripkin Jr. is the perfect frosting on the cake featurette.
So, "Take me out to the ball game. Take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts & cracker jacks. I don't know if I'll ever get back!!!!" So root, root, root for "The Natural", if you don't when its a shame. For its, One....Two....Three Strikes your out at the old ball game!!!!!" Enjoy this grand movie !!!!!!
61 A Spiritual Experience
The new DVD release of The Natural is everything I'd hoped for. The film itself is brilliant and the acting is superlative. The script retains all of the spiritualism and self-searching personal turmoil that affect everyone (not just ball players) who has a goal that seems unattainable. An extra on the DVD is a documentary narrated by Cal Ripken, Jr., which gives interesting insight into the creation of the film as adapted from Malamud's book, as well as how the film has the power to affect each of us personally. Buy the DVD, a memorable addition to your library.
62 Beautifully made, almost etheric
This is one of my favorite movies. It has an almost etheric quality. Robert Redford is superb in the role of Roy Hobbs, an aging player with natural ability. Unlike most baseball movies, Redford is actually believable as an athlete. He has good moves and doesn't look awkward swinging a bat. All of the actors are great, and the dialog is superb. The director altered the horrible ending in the original book by Bernard Malamud, sparing us Malamud's dark vision of the "real world." This movie works on all levels -- the characters are all believable and the Hobbs character is all too human, even with his wealth of talent. Hobbs never gets full of himself, into a big ego trip, like almost all of today's athletes. You come away from the movie wondering what he could have done in baseball had he not played for 15 years, but this movie is more than just about baseball, it's about life and finding what is truly important in life. Hobbs knows himself, demonstrates integrity and ultimately finds true happiness, the happiness that can only come from knowledge of Self.
63 One problem...
As much as I love this movie, Watching Robert Redford (who was in his mid-forties when the movie was made) trying to pass for a teenager is painful to watch. Even with the soft lighting, his leather face just doesn't fit in. They should have cast a younger man who closely resembles Redford to do the first 15 minutes of the movie. Other than that, it's a gem.
64 If only baseball was this interesting....
I agree with the reviewers who say The Natural has nothing to do with real baseball. Having sat through my share of no-hitters, I can say this beautiful and uplifting movie is far better than the real thing! Better music, too.
65 The Natural
I've waited for 2 years since I bought my DVD player for this movie to be issued on DVD. I just bought it today, and must say it was worth the wait. I've worn out copies on both BETA and VHS tape so needless to say I'm excited to have it on DVD. The video transfer is in flawless widescreen format. The audio, while not in 5.1 Dolby Digital, is in a very acceptable 4.0 Dolby Digital format that more than adequately transmits the true sounds of baseball. There really are only a couple of extras included w/ this DVD. There are the ever present Theatrical trailers, Cast biographies, and an excellent 45 minute documentary on the movie with Cal Ripken, the future Hall Of Famer from the Baltimore Orioles. This is a DVD that any sports fan MUST HAVE. Along with Hoosiers, this is one of the greatest sports films of all time.
66 DVD is gorgeous!
Great reviews are already posted on the content quality, so I' just mention the DVD itself.
I just received my copy of "The Natural" on DVD this morning and the quality of playback is fantastic. This did this one right!
Buy it!!
67 Baseball before egos took over
For everyone who as a kid who stood in the outfield, held a baseball glove to their face and connects the smell of well dressed glove leather to their youth and summer on the diamond ... this movie is for you. I bet that almost every kid who played baseball at any level, had many day dreams of being "The Natural", playing at a level above all others, and getting the "big hit" or making the "big play". The Natural isn't reality, and it shouldn't be. It's about the "what if" of baseball that reaches into the soul of the former sandlot player, adds some adult twists, and connects the childhood dreams to the adult cinema. I enjoy this film, not because it's about the way it is, but because it's the way I dreamed it could be. Roy Hobbs (the main character played by Redford) appears to have it all. Looks, incredible talent, big league prospects, when his life takes a sudden unfortunate turn. He returns to baseball and against the odds, lives a baseball dream. Dramatic? Yes. Realistic? Not really. But I'd rather be entertained by this baseball fantasy, than watch the biography of today's typical player. It's more pleasurable to watch Roy Hobbs overcome his baseball challenges, than to watch a player go though drug rehab and salary arbitration while batting .260.
On the cast, Redford is perfectly cast, and Wilford Brimley as Pops the Team Manager is right on the nose. This is a very good baseball film that deserved better treatment by the critics. If you're sick of "shoot 'em ups" and pointless shock films, watch "The Natural" for a nice break.
68 Wonderfull movie about Baseball
I saw this movie in the theatres when it first came out. I was enchanted with the idea of Roy Hobbs being a real american hero in one of the nations most beloved sports. The cast was outstanding, many of the actors/actresses are veterans of the film industry. The ending is one to remember, the emotion was overwhelming. By far my favorite movie of all time.
69 It's A Natural, All Right - A Natural Pleaser
For its rather blatant and somewhat hokey liberties with the actual ending of the Malamud novel (if you haven't seen or read either, I'll not spoil it, but put it this way - in the novel, the title character doesn't exactly come out as a saviour in the end), it is tempting to dock a star and a half. But why quibble? You will see few films that take hokum from melded reality (Roy Hobbs, after all, is a hybrid of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Waitkus, the postwar infielder stalked and then shot by a disturbed female fan) and make it work as embraceably as this film does. Nor will you see very many baseball films which actually do cut to the indescribable (though God knows many have tried) grip which the game has kept upon a nation for almost a century and a half and expose it with such sinuous aplomb.
For that matter, Robert Redford fans will never see his wry understatement put to better use than as the star-crossed Roy Hobbs, or Glenn Close fans her almost ethereal passion better than as Iris. I'm not entirely sure why Darrin McGavin elected to go uncredited, though, since he damn near steals the show as the cagey bookmaker we presume is a stand-in for Arnold Rothstein, the early mob boss who likely bankrolled the 1919 World Series fix. Kim Basinger is better than she gets credit for being as the narcissistic Memo Paris, while Robert Duvall isn't as out of sync as you might otherwise expect as the amoral, self-congratulatory Max Mercy. The sleepers: Robert Prosky as the avaricious jurist who co-owns the home team, and Wilford Brimley as the folksily bruised manager who wants nothing more than to win one pennant.
70 A lyrical fantasy about the best ball player who ever lived
This is one of those films where you heart loves it despite what your head might be telling you. Barry Levinson's 1984 film abandon's the Shoeless Joe Jackson ending of Bernard Malamud's novel, choosing to go in a totally different direction, and I have to tell you I have no complaints (I even have a Roy Hobbs baseball card!). "The Natural," more than any other baseball film, attempts to deal with the game on a mythic level that can really exist only in the poetic world of fantasy.
Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, who is given a second chance to be the best baseball player who ever lived. The early part of the film where you have to believe Redford is a teenage phenom is a bit of a reach, but the film seduces you into a willing suspension of disbelief with its glowing images and sentimentality. As the older Hobbs, Redford's quiet desperation plays nicely. The supporting cast of Glenn Close as Iris, the girl Roy left behind, Robert Duvall as the cynical sports reporter, Wilford Brimley as the crusty manager, Robert Farnsworth as the affable coach, and Robert Proskey as the malignancy who owns the team are all treats. Barbara Hershey is memorably remote as the dangerous Harriet Bird but Jon Don Baker plays the mythical Whammer as if Babe Ruth was channeling Ty Cobb. Only Kim Basinger seems out of place, and this is more because her character is so clearly bad news for Roy that you can never understand what he sees in her given what happened in his past. Redford is the calm at the center of the storm, dignified in his efforts but boyish in his love for the game.
The film is essentially a collection of carefully crafted scenes: The opening vignette of Roy playing catch with his father, his first at bat in the majors, Iris refusing to see Roy fail in Chicago, his last at bat of the season and the dissolve to the final images as the circle is completed. The cinematography by Caleb Deschanel needs to be enjoyed widescreen (I have my laser disc), while Randy Newman's score, easily one of the most memorable in movie history, adds something to virtually ever scene (I have the CD). Every spring I watch "The Natural" and Ken Burns' "Baseball." Sometimes, those are the best parts of the season for me.
71 Defies definition, logic or reason. The movie's a Natural.
When it comes to computers, my ex-boss used to call me "wonderboy"... so named after the baseball bat the starring character hits his 'homers' with... when everything else goes wrong, "wonderboy" can hit the home run.
There's so much in this movie that makes it a bases loaded favorite.
If you like sports, get it. If you are into a touching story with true meaning and depth, characters that have been painted as deep as the scenery... there's so much to love about it.
I guess the most wonderful thing I liked about this movie is that it has many wonderful philosophical/religious/mystical messages, so many meanings, so many great things... and there's no hammer over each message slamming them brutally out to you, screaming "Look at me, Look at me..."
The messages come across in such subtle ways, when it finally catches up to you, you gotta slap yerself on the forehead and say "DUH"... Not one of the messages was telegraphed across before it's time.
A home run. A must have. Maybe someday you'll have the name "wonderboy" and truly know what it means.
Get it.
72 Naturally Entertaining
Not only is this film extremely entertaining, but each individual actor or actress was casted perfectly. It so much more than a movie about baseball.
Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a young pitching prospect that gets caught up in an unfortunate situation with a mysterious woman played by Barbara Hershey. Sixteen years later, he is signed to play with the New York Knights' baseball team as the league's oldest rookie. He becomes a middle-aged baseball phenom, tearing up the league (and a baseball or two), and bringing the Knights out of the celler. Hobbs inspires all of his teamates, and helps bring about one spectacular ending.
The acting is superior, and Redford is at his best. Kim Basinger plays the perfect "bad girl," and Glenn Close is the ultimate "good girl." Throw in an incredible performance by Robert Duvall, and then there is Wilford Brimley, who steals the show as the Knights' manager, Pop.
This film is fantastic, and the musical score by Randy Newman is breathtaking, and amazingly appropriate. This movie displays the classic conflict of good vs. evil, and it is never more perfectly portrayed. This is one film that you will not want to miss.
73 Great Movie / Myth on Baseball
This movie is ranks 11 on the "Best Movie I Ever Seen" list. It is a wonderfully contructed presentation of Baseball in its golden era. It has the look, the feel and the sounds of everything we dreamed or hoped baseball to be.
The only drawbacks is that the movie at time tends to be slow moving, but its pace is right for this era in time. The excellent casting and wonderful warm colors (which remind one of the color of the 1950's baseball cards) gives the movie a real, yet dreamlike quality. I recommend it.
74 Can't rationalize it, I just Love It
yes, redford is too old here, yes the plot strains all credibility, and yes there is some "corn" mixed in... but if you put all cynicism aside, this film will transport you... its lyrical, moving and powerful, full of strong visuals and heartfelt emotions... it is a fable, and as such it merits suspension of disbelief...allow yourself to follow it and you will be rewarded...
75 A Magical Sports Tale
"The Natural" is a majical tale that spotlights the most identifiable characteristic of Baseball, imigary and superstition. That's why those with less imagination taint their review with useless comparisons to logic and realism. The Natural is a resounding, magnificent drama about a sports legend who never was. He was pound for pound the best pure hitter ever to enter the game---he was a "natural". He literally hit the leather off the ball, threw 100 mph fastballs, struck out the "Boomer" (sort of a Babe Ruth), but he never made it to the big leagues until he was "middle aged", 36. Even so, he launched a legendary comeback with a happless last place team that catapulted them into first place. It's the kind of sports experience every kid dreeams about in summer sleep. It's pure baseball tradition, superstition, comeback, and superstardom. The cinimatography and muscial score are as dynamic as Redford's humble, but awesome, character. You see Barbara Hersey, Glen Close, Daren McGavin and Kim Bassinger---whose characters take sides in this good vs evil sports drama with a great ending. See it!
76 WONDER-FULL
This mythic take on Malamud's novel is spectacular. Though the movie uses the game of baseball as its heartbeat, it is much more than a sports movie. Robert Redford, in probably his last perfect role to date, is dashing and winning in the lead role; Kim Basinger, as the "bad girl", and Glenn Close, as the "good girl", are both wonderful and evoke much emotion. The music, by Randy Newman, which you have heard a thousand times without knowing it, is stunning, beautiful, moving -- and those moments on the field, where extraordinary things happen, make your heart leap.
77 NOT Overrated
By far the best baseball movie and sports movie of all time, IMO anyway. In fact, I'd rank it in my top five movies of all time. To each their own, of course. So, it may not be for everyone. But for those that preach about it's unrealistic story, I say: DUH. It's pure fantasy, pure romance. It's written, directed, and filmed with superb adult wit and creativity, but almost as if seen through a ten-year-old little leaguer's eyes. It's spectacular pop fiction from the first half of the 20th century. Enjoy it for the fantasy that is. And don't judge it against any other movie. Apples and oranges. What a cast! If you don't trust me, rent it first. If you're a die-hard, true-blue, baseball purist (and a lover of fine films), you'll buy it afterwards. Oh, and the soundtrack is excellent, too.
78 Beautiful and Horribly Overrated
I love baseball. To my mind, there's never been a more perfect sport. So when I see a 'baseball movie', the first thing I ask is 'was this movie REALISTIC about the game?' It's important to me that the film-makers respect the game as much as I do. "The Natural" is perhaps the most UNREALISTIC baseball movie ever (rivaling "Major League", but at least they didn't take it so darn serious). And allegory shmallegory -- if the only way to pick up on all the references is to read the book first, then why make the movie at all?
This kid starts out as a better pitcher than Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Lefty Grove all rolled into one. He doesn't have the body of a home run hitter THEN, much less decades later, when he suddenly becomes the equal of Babe Ruth.
And the team! They play worse than your average semi-pro team until he arrives, and then suddenly they have the grace and talent of the '27 Yankees. This technique has been used in all kinds of sports movies, but none of them pretend to be realistic, as this one does.
I could go on and on (the lightning strike, the blood through the uniform, the halo on Glenn Close in the stands, yada yada yada), but I sum it up thusly:
"The Natural" LOOKS great -- it is a supremely beautiful film. But as Roger Ebert said, "Why didn't they make a movie about baseball?"
79 Quite possibly the best baseball film of all time
This film is what made me remember what baseball is for, after losing all faith in the game after the strike. It brought me back to the ballpark, for no other reason then a want to be closer to the past. Robert Redford is the quintisential Natural, which all adds up to a film that brought tears to my eyes. This film is neck and neck with Field of Dreams for best baseball film of all time.
80 AWESOME!
This is one of the best baseball movies I have ever seen. Robert Redford is great! The exciting thing about this movie is the ending. Wonderful score, great acting, and a good cast. This is a great movie to own.
81 What a Movie!
This was by far the best baseball movie I have ever seen. For a fan and former player it brings you back to what is good in baseball!
82 The greatest baseball film
When Roy Hobbs states that he wants the walk down the street and have people say "There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was", he depicated the dream of every human being on this earth. This movie shows how we can all dream, lose that dream and then gain back more than we ever thought possible. One of Mr. Redford's best performances.
83 A great Film
Baseball is the Greatest Sport ever and this film works because it reflects that and so many other themes of Life together really well.in fact this film came to life for me when Kirk Gibson hit that Home run in the 1988 world Series with a two strike count when he was with the Dodgers vs.the A's.the power to dream came with that Homerun.this is one of Roberet Redoford's best.
84 Wonderful
I love this movie. It is moving, and shot beautifully, and has subtlety. It wasn't a big hit, and some people I've recommended it to think it's slow. But I don't agree. A lot of it is understated (although, certainly not the ending!), and if you're used to over-the-top ARMAGEDDON type junk, then this might not be your cup of tea. But if you have a mind that can perceive subtleties in life, then you should love this. Incidentally, the original novel, THE NATURAL, was inspired by a real-life incident, where a baseball player was shot by a twisted fan.
85 One of the best American films ever made.
Leonard Maltin is all wet. He like other critics, at the time, missed the whole point of the film; which is to present an American-style mythological tale of heroism. It is Beowulf and Camelot in a genre that out society can understand, which is baseball. It is a film that gets better as the years go by, and one I never tire of viewing.
86 My god what a movie!!!!!!!!
This is an ode to baseball and life, the scenes in this movie are a masterpiece. This is a film that people will be watching for years to come as a tribute to americas game. If you have a pulse you'll be moved by this film.
87 A brilliant slice of Americana
What a film. Stunning cinematography, excellent acting, and well-thought-out direction by the great Barry Levinson (of Rainman fame) add-up to create this film student's all-time favorite work. You can smell the infield dirt, and hear the sharp crack of horsehide on Ash while watching this film. To me, it's about as close to a "full" sensory experience as a film can come. Lest we forget, Randy Newman's soundtrack surely ranks as one of the top two or three of all time (With deference to the great John Williams). The music itself is what first drove me to collect soundtracks, and indeed, provided me with much of my love of film, and of the national pastime.
88 I want my DVD
My favorite movie of all time period! I am looking to get this in DVD format... any info?
89 Best Baseball Movie Ever Made
Best Baseball Movie Ever Made!!!!!!!! God We ALL love Baseball!
Young boy grows up wanting to be the best...meets obstacles but continues on his quest.
90 Excellent Baseball Movie
Would love to watch this movie on DVD. Does anyone have any information about plans to release this movie in DVD format?
91 The second best movie ever made.
The Natural is the best sports film of all time and is the second best movie I have ever seen. Every single line has an undertone, and you could watch the movie 100 times and pick up something new each time. The ending and the scene at Wrigley Field make me cry every time I watch it. If you have ever participated in sports or even watched an athletic contest, you will love this movie. Robert Redford is awesome!! The music is unbelievable. This is one of those movies that becomes part of you while you watch it. You don't want it to end.
92 In my opinion, it was the best baseball movie ever made.
Robert Redford is stunning in this flick, and it was one movie that I wanted to see over and over again.
93 One of the best movies ever
The movie is touching and i couldn't have asked for much more out of this masterpiece.
94 If you enjoy sports, you can't help but love this movie!!!
I saw this movie when I was 8 and have loved watching it ever since. If you enjoy sports at all you will love this movie. I give the acting a 3, but the plot and the drama deserve 6 stars. This movie will grab your heart and make you wish you could play baseball again. Its my favorite movie of all time. If you liked Hoosiers or Rudy, you will enjoy this.
95 The Natural is supernatural fantasy.
The Natural is one of the best examples of missed opportunities you are ever likely to see. It pits a baseball hero against all odds and nearly keeps you in suspense up until the ridiculous final third of the film. The whole plot falls apart when Hobbs becomes Superman, and begins skinning baseballs with his fantasyland bat. The climax, which involves a Grand Slam into the floodlights, is really silly, and would be better served in a Three Stooges comedy. A terrific buildup to a goofy climax. A real disappointment.
96 One of the greatest baseball movies ever made.
A movie I watch 2-3 times every year right about spring training time to get myself into that baseball mood. It really gives you that feel for baseball and why people dedicate their lives to it- in whatever capacity. The color and camera work captures the feel of baseball in yesteryear. So much of this story is told without detailed dialogue- a sign of a great movie. And so many words of wisdom - trueisms, are uttered so casually that if you miss them, you miss so much of the very essence of this film. Redford is perfect as Roy Hobbs, as is Wilford Brimley as manager of the lowly New York Knights. But DuVall and Kim Bassinger play great supporting roles as well. A great movie with a great ending, that was almost reenacted in the 1988 World Series with Kirk Gibson's magical game winning home run in game one against the Oakland A's. A must watch for even non-baseball fans.
97 My father's America
Remember James Earl Jones' soliloqy in "Field of Dreams"? "The Natural" is what he was talking about. Every March since this flick came out, my son and I watch this movie. All-Star cast- Redford, Close, Duvall, and especially Wilford Brimley. Go to a ballpark and holler "I should'a been a farmer!", and watch the heads nod. Don't miss this. NEED THIS ON DVD!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!
98 Biblical & More unforgettable lines than "Animal House"
Watch it and: count how many times Iris says, "gotta go."; This movie is like the Bible - lots of little stories and one big one. Instead of spouting scripture like a couple of characters I know, I tend to preach the significance of "Pick me out a winner, Bobby." - "Greenest stuff I ever saw." - "You know. We have met before." - "I like the action." - "Think of all those young boys out there." - "You've got a gift, Roy." and the key to life: Iris: "You know, I think we have two lives." Roy: "Huh?" Iris: "The one we learn with, and the one we live with after that."
And a quiz: Who is Sibby Sisti and why is this question in this review?
99 A Classic Baseball Fairy Tale!
This fictional 1920s fairy-tale-style film is about a guy named Roy Hobbs (played by Redford) who is a great baseball hitter... thanks to the bat which he made as a kid from a tree that was hit by lightning. Hobbs' career gets sidelined for about 15 years due to an "encounter" with a mysterious woman. The tragic results cause a dark spot in Hobbs' past. Now older, and considered over-the-hill by the baseball community, the sports press, and his soon-to-be manager (wonderfully played by Wilford Brimley), Hobbs unpacks his "Wonderboy" bat and proceeds to decimate ballfields at seemingly every at-bat! Filmed in a retro 1920s style, this is one of the best baseball films ever made. It's not a true story obviously, but you won't care. Was it his "Wonderboy" bat that made Hobbs a star?? Great music by Randy Newman too (high praise coming from me, since I can't stand Randy Newman). If you are undecided on purchasing this one, definitely rent it and check it out... you'll be coming back to watch this one again and again! A great film to curl up and watch with the kids too.
100 One of the best baseball movies ever
Watching "The Natural" with my father is one of our most favorite things to do together. When I was a kid, I had the opportunity to go to either "Ghostbusters" or "The Natural," both of which were released in the summer of '84. While most kids would have picked "Ghostbusters" in two seconds, I'm proud to say that my father convinced me to see "The Natural" and it's been one of my most favorite movies ever since. The fictional Roy Hobbs came back in the summer of '98 in the form of home-run icons Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who, like Redford's character, are heroes on and off the field. "The Natural" is clearly one of the greatest baseball movies of all time. 'Nuff said.
