Jack Elliot, once a great baseball player, is forced to play in Japan where his brash, egotistical ways cause friction with his new teammates and friends.Jack Elliot, once a great baseball player, is forced to play in Japan where his brash, egotistical ways cause friction with his new teammates and friends.Jack Elliot, once a great baseball player, is forced to play in Japan where his brash, egotistical ways cause friction with his new teammates and friends.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Kôsuke Toyohara
- Toshi Yamashita
- (as Kosuke Toyohara)
Naoki Fujii
- Takuya Nishikawa
- (as Naoki Fuji)
Bradley Jay Lesley
- Niven
- (as Bradley Jay 'Animal' Lesley)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe rookie who pushes Tom Selleck's character off the Yankees roster was played by Frank Thomas, who went on to become one of the best MLB hitters in the 1990s. He won two MVP awards and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
- GoofsIn the locker room when "The Chief" (Uchiyama) is fining Jack for disrespect of equipment, Jack hands him an additional 10,000 Yen. The Chief asks in Japanese (and Yoji translates into English) "What is the second one for?" Jack replies, "That's for the next time." Yoji doesn't translate Jacks answer into Japanese, yet The Chief asks (again, in Japanese and Yoji translates) "He wonders when the next time will be." He inadvertently reveals that he understands/speaks English, long before when he reveals it at the grandparents' home.
- Quotes
Max 'Hammer' Dubois: Max Dubois. Around here they call me Hammer. Don't ask me why.
Jack Elliot: Jack Elliot.
Max 'Hammer' Dubois: Yeah. I know who you are. I've been in Japan, not dead.
- Alternate versionsThe Japanese theatrical version had three additional scenes. The first additional scene is following Jack and Hiroko's first dinner together, where she drops him off at his apartment building. The second scene is an extension of Jack and Hiroko visiting a shrine. The third has Jack and Uchiyama at a graveyard.
Featured review
Actually, a very very good film.
I lived in Japan at around the period in which this film is set, and I must say--this film does an OUTSTANDING job of capturing the "feel" of what Japan was like. Unfortunately, the accuracy of this is not appreciated by most viewers. Whoever chose the shots and locations really understood Japan well.
The movie itself should rate among the best baseball movies EVER, but doesn't because it's not about American baseball. Take "field of dreams" or whatever. That basically boils down to some plot contrivance about ghosts and whatnot and is only REALLY about the game at a very superficial level (despite pretentions otherwise). This one has an intelligent and realistic view of many aspects of the game--clubhouse behavior, on-field action, player-manager interactions, the business of sports, and so on. If you're into baseball movies, view this one--and if you don't like it, I challenge you to find ONE other baseball movie that does as well as capturing so many aspects of the game intelligently with a minimum of sap.
Characterizations in this movie: yes, we all know that by the end of the movie the Tom Selleck character will do something to redeem himself. In this regard, except for one interesting plot nuance (not really a twist), the plot itself is straightforward. But the characters all stand on their own--I dont think there is a single bad characterization there with the possible over-stereotyped American agent. From Yoji the interpreter through the teammates who are Japanese jocks to the strong female love interest.. well.. let's put it this way.. if you still think all Japanese look and act alike, see this movie.
Clearly this isn't the best movie ever made, but I really like it on a lot of levels enough that on a scale of one to ten, I honestly have to give it a 10 (and I rate a lot of movies poorly). You probably won't like it quite that much, but I think you will enjoy it--whether you are male OR female, by the way. Definately a good rent.
The movie itself should rate among the best baseball movies EVER, but doesn't because it's not about American baseball. Take "field of dreams" or whatever. That basically boils down to some plot contrivance about ghosts and whatnot and is only REALLY about the game at a very superficial level (despite pretentions otherwise). This one has an intelligent and realistic view of many aspects of the game--clubhouse behavior, on-field action, player-manager interactions, the business of sports, and so on. If you're into baseball movies, view this one--and if you don't like it, I challenge you to find ONE other baseball movie that does as well as capturing so many aspects of the game intelligently with a minimum of sap.
Characterizations in this movie: yes, we all know that by the end of the movie the Tom Selleck character will do something to redeem himself. In this regard, except for one interesting plot nuance (not really a twist), the plot itself is straightforward. But the characters all stand on their own--I dont think there is a single bad characterization there with the possible over-stereotyped American agent. From Yoji the interpreter through the teammates who are Japanese jocks to the strong female love interest.. well.. let's put it this way.. if you still think all Japanese look and act alike, see this movie.
Clearly this isn't the best movie ever made, but I really like it on a lot of levels enough that on a scale of one to ten, I honestly have to give it a 10 (and I rate a lot of movies poorly). You probably won't like it quite that much, but I think you will enjoy it--whether you are male OR female, by the way. Definately a good rent.
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- LydiaOLydia
- Jun 26, 2001
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,883,046
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,240,375
- Oct 4, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $20,883,046
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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