Baseball Blu-rays

[Chattery]

I'd like some American opinions on this!

I'm Australian, and baseball isn't the most popular sport here. It's not not played, or known of, it's just not as much apart of our culture as it is for Americans. Now, earlier this year I found the remake of the Bad News Bears in a cheapo shop and took a risk, can't really go wrong with Billy Bob Thornton, I thought. Loved the film, blind buy by the way. This made me purchase the full collection of the original trilogy which also included the remake (plus a collector's edition with jersey sleeve of the remake - 3 copies of the remake all up! Given my original cheapo copy away though, but I digress). Loved all four films, plus with the third film being set in Japan, with my mother having visited Japan while she worked as a teacher (just student exchange things where they needed teachers chaperoning), that extra connection made baseball more palatable.

Now I have caught bits of games on a channel called ONE HD here in Australia, but got immediately bored - and I realise it's because I have no idea who anyone is, the makeup of fans, etc.

Seeing the very alluring big box set review posted a day or two ago made me want to stock up on baseball blu-rays. I went through Amazon and put all the baseball Blus I could find and put them into my basket for later. I almost ordered The Tenth Inning, but am unsure if PBS Blus will work in a B player.

Besides the issue of region coding, where would one begin? I contemplated posting this in the sport forum, but didn't think it was relevant as I'm not necessarily asking for people's favourite teams, I just want to know if I eventually buy any Blus that I will enjoy them. I like the idea of watching full-fledged games without ads, as many times as I want, regardless of who is playing.

Thing is, because of the cultural thing, it's a completely new world to me.

Does anyone have any baseball Blus that they recommend, quality-wise, feature-packed wise, price-wise? And where to begin, straight up? As I said I put every Blu I could find into my basket (the HBO doco series, forget what it's called, sorry, as well as the Ken Burns doco are definitely appealing) but I couldn't tell one team from another. Are the releases even that diverse or is there a broad spread of teams with games on Blu?

I hope this isn't too confusing - besides regional coding I wouldn't want to waste money on Blus I don't care about!

[yojoeski]

I really wish the original Ken Burns series was on blu-ray. It was shot on 16mm film so it's feasible that someday it might come to blu-ray. The 10th Inning should simply be cast into the sea never to be seen again. It is so far beneath the original set from 1994 that it's an utter joke. It does nothing but focus on the steroid controversies and the Yankees late 90's dynasty. The game of baseball is so much more than performance enhancers (the NFL is a lot worse BTW but no one cares because it's the almighty NFL) and it's a shame that Ken Burns went down that path with the 10th Inning.

There are a few games that A&E has put out on blu-ray such as Game 6 of the 2011 World Series and the entire 2012 World Series and I can't imagine that those would be region locked. If you didn't see it or read about it though, the 2012 World Series was a complete joke because it was about as one-sided a World Series as I can ever remember(I'm only 28 so I can't speak for any World Series pre-1988 because that's the first one I ever saw) so for my money, I'd go with 2011 Game 6 because you're probably not gonna find too many other games on any format that are as good as that one.

If you can play Region 1 DVD's, A&E has quite a few boxsets with complete games in them. The 1986, 2001 and 2002 World Series sets are very good as is the 2004 World Series set(not for the World Series itself but for the ALCS which featured the greatest comeback in sports history).

PM me sometime. I'd love to talk baseball(or basketball if interested) with someone whose mind isn't polluted by the American NFL disease.

[curtistalls]

There are a few really good stories centering around baseball in the 30 for 30 set by ESPN, (Catching Hell isn't in there, but if you can download it, I'd recommend that doc too)

Major League is a must for a good comedy.

Field of Dreams is good too

[HD Goofnut]

Right up my alley. I played baseball until I was 18 and had to quit because of a knee injury. Here are some excellent titles on BD:

Major League
The Natural
Bull Durham (poor PQ)
Moneyball
61*
A League of Their Own
The Rookie (2002)
Field of Dreams (mediocre PQ)

DVD Only:

The Babe
Mr. Baseball
Little Big League
Major League II

[Chattery]

Originally Posted by yojoeski

I really wish the original Ken Burns series was on blu-ray. It was shot on 16mm film so it's feasible that someday it might come to blu-ray. The 10th Inning should simply be cast into the sea never to be seen again. It is so far beneath the original set from 1994 that it's an utter joke. It does nothing but focus on the steroid controversies and the Yankees late 90's dynasty. The game of baseball is so much more than performance enhancers (the NFL is a lot worse BTW but no one cares because it's the almighty NFL) and it's a shame that Ken Burns went down that path with the 10th Inning.

That's a shame, it looked like a classy Blu.

Originally Posted by yojoeski

There are a few games that A&E has put out on blu-ray such as Game 6 of the 2011 World Series and the entire 2012 World Series and I can't imagine that those would be region locked. If you didn't see it or read about it though, the 2012 World Series was a complete joke because it was so one-sided so for my money, I'd go with 2011 Game 6 because you're probably not gonna find too many other games on any format that are as good as that one.

Good starting point! Thanks man

[captveg]

If you're looking for an actual game in HD, then "Baseball's Greatest Games: 2011 World Series Game 6" is the disc to get. I'm unsure of the region coding.

The Ken Burns documentary is a great "history of baseball" epic, and as long as one likes Burns' style of presentation is a great buy. However, only the more recent follow-up "The 10th Inning" is on BD, so you'd have to settle for Region 1 DVD if importing. I don't think I'd recommend the 10th Inning without seeing the original full documentary, especially for someone new to the game.

There are also, of course, great films that have baseball prominently in them, such as Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, The Natural, etc.

[Chattery]

Course I'm a huge fan of Eastbound and Down but that's baseball lite!

I think when I have some money free of getting the 2001 game 6, seems to be popular, along with the HBO series When It Was A Game. Maybe along with 61*. Perhaps Santa will get a belated present for me. Thanks for the opinions so far guys!

[Bark23Ln]

These are my favorite Baseball Films and the prices there going for on amazon.

Moneyball 2011 $12
Sugar 2008 $10
Eight Men Out 1988 Only on DVD
Bull Durham 1988 $8
Field of Dreams 1989 $8
Major League 1989 $8
A League Of Their Own 1992 $15
The Sandlot 1993 $6
The Bad News Bears 1976 Only on DVD
The Natural 1984 $9

[yojoeski]

Originally Posted by Chattery

Course I'm a huge fan of Eastbound and Down but that's baseball lite!

I think when I have some money free of getting the 2001 game 6, seems to be popular, along with the HBO series When It Was A Game. Maybe along with 61*. Perhaps Santa will get a belated present for me. Thanks for the opinions so far guys!

I forgot about When It Was A Game. Fantastic series as well. I didn't realize you were looking for actual baseball movies as well so I will echo some of the previous statements in recommending: Major League, *61, Moneyball, and A League Of Their Own. The others that have been mentioned such as Field Of Dreams are simply not my cup of tea so I won't tell you they're awful movies. If you read about them and they sound interesting to you, then give them a chance.

Even though it's on DVD only I will also add my endorsement for Eight Men Out. An HD master of this movie is known to exist so I imagine it will be on blu-ray in the very near future.

[HeavyHitter]

Moneyball is outstanding and gets better each time you watch it.

The Natural has a bit of magic to it.

Enough cannot be said of the Ken Burns series. Just bought it on DVD for my dad recently.

[captveg]

Fair warning about Field of Dreams - one of the few films that will get a majority of adult men to tear up.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Right up my alley. I played baseball until I was 18 and had to quit because of a knee injury. Here are some excellent titles on BD:

Major League
The Natural
Bull Durham (poor PQ)
Moneyball
61*
A League of Their Own
The Rookie (2002)
Field of Dreams (mediocre PQ)

DVD Only:

The Babe
Mr. Baseball
Little Big League
Major League II

These are all the big time baseball movies, outside of documentaries and actual game footage. Every baseball fan has to see Field Of Dreams and The Natural at least once. Major League is a hilarious movie that works for non-baseball fans.

[CM Matty]

even though it's not on blu-ray yet, i'm going to mention it here...for love of the game is incredibly underrated. it gets a lot of poor reviews, but i don't agree with any of them. it's a different kind of baseball movie than field of dreams or the sandlot, but it's still a baseball movie, made by a huge baseball fan in sam raimi. it ranks in the top 3 of my list of best baseball movies.

[jfh]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Moneyball is outstanding and gets better each time you watch it.

The Natural has a bit of magic to it.

Enough cannot be said of the Ken Burns series. Just bought it on DVD for my dad recently.

+1 on all three. Money all is a must.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by CM Matty

even though it's not on blu-ray yet, i'm going to mention it here...for love of the game is incredibly underrated. it gets a lot of poor reviews, but i don't agree with any of them. it's a different kind of baseball movie than field of dreams or the sandlot, but it's still a baseball movie, made by a huge baseball fan in sam raimi. it ranks in the top 3 of my list of best baseball movies.

It's an interesting movie, but I would only recommend For Love Of The Game to people that were already baseball fans. I don't think it works nearly as well for non-fans.

[erixon20]

Also a movie called Cobb Starring Tommy Lee Jones about Ty Cobb. NOT ON BLU and hard to find on DVD-but well worth it.

[CM Matty]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

It's an interesting movie, but I would only recommend For Love Of The Game to people that were already baseball fans. I don't think it works nearly as well for non-fans.

that's probably very true. didn't really consider that in this case.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by CM Matty

even though it's not on blu-ray yet, i'm going to mention it here...for love of the game is incredibly underrated. it gets a lot of poor reviews, but i don't agree with any of them. it's a different kind of baseball movie than field of dreams or the sandlot, but it's still a baseball movie, made by a huge baseball fan in sam raimi. it ranks in the top 3 of my list of best baseball movies.

It's on HD DVD.

[jsigafus]

There is a great blu ray documentary for us long suffering Chicago Cubs fans. It provides plenty of insight into how the team and the city are interwined. Chicago Cubs: The Heart and Soul of Chicago.
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Chica.../22381/#Review

[CinemaBlu]

Tony Scott's The Fan. Not on blu yet but you should check it out. Robert De Niro plays a psychotic baseball fan. It's great.