THE NATURAL (1984) Movie REACTION! 

I can't believe only 2 youtube channels have reacted to this movie, this is one of the best sports movies of all time. I guess it's a hidden gem

The Randy Newman score really puts the movie over the top

The music is another character in this fantastic film. I will never stop loving this baseball movie.

Sometimes life throws you a hard left turn. Not everyone gets a second chance. Some people never recover.

The movie is a compilation of actual baseball events involving various players: -In 1931 17 year old girl Jackie MItchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig on six pitches. -In 1949 Phillies first baseman Eddie Watkus was shot in a hotel room by a crazed woman and survived. -In 1946 Braves Outfielder Bama Rawell shattered a Bulova clock on the Ebbets Field scoreboard for a home run. Bulova promised a free watch to whomever shattered the clock. Rawell didn't get his watch until 1987. -Brooklyn Dodger oufielder Pete Rieser's career and health were seriously hampered by his habit of crashing into ouffield walls. -Shoeless Joe Jackson named his bats.

"Field of Dreams", though built around a baseball field, was actually a story about a man fighting with his past. "The Natural", though built around a baseball team, was actually a story about a man fighting with his past.

This film uses light and dark in a textbook showcase of symbolism. The blonde lady was named Memo, like a memory, and the color of her clothes reflected when she was bad, good, conflicted or deceptive. Glen Close stood up in the crowd and her hat lit up like a halo. Roy was trying to help Pop because he couldn't save his own dad. The breaking of Wonderboy as Roy moves on in his life. The woman in black hunting The Whammer, Bump, Roy and the others because of their hubris.

Still my favorite final line of dialog ever: "You all right, fella?" "Let's play ball." 🔥✊🔥

Love this movie and the musical score really elevates the dramatic highs and lows. I’ve always looked at this story about the dangers of hubris , lust, and poor decision making/life choices. The movie treats it one way (overcoming those choices and personal demons) while the original short story treats it the opposite (falling prey to and regretting them). Since movies are primarily a visual medium I’m glad they went differently from the novel, but I appreciate both takes on the subject matter.

Great movie, great hero, and great villains. Hobbs was a simple farm boy raised good. He wasn't aware of evils of the big city. He was like Samson losing his strength to Delilah. Kim Basinger was kryptonite to him. Another great baseball movie is "The Bad News Bears" - 1976. It's a baseball movie about a Little League team. But most importantly, it's about the adults around them.

Two very overlooked movies are Airport and Roman Holiday. One is a tension filled drama, the other a unique and tender love story (Oscar winner, too!)

Being a baseball fan for 55 years this is my favorite baseball movie. Great comments as always Madison. ... Other fantastic baseball movies include The Sandlot and A League of Their Own.... ❤

The scene where he hits the home run off the clock still gives me chills, a league of their own is also a good baseball movie

The Natural was written nearly 100 years ago as a superhero story. The lightning is the start of the superhero quest. his Dad dies under the tree he carves his legendary bat from. the strange woman with a mythical bullet is 'fate'. his path starts in a lightning storm. when people believe in him, 'hope' wins. when people attack him 'hope' loses. his path ends in a lightning storm and he achieves true mythical status. hope wins in a time of no hope, the great depression. Roy wins his true prize, a happy ending with a family that believe in him.

You were making angel and devil comparisons and I remembered when Glenn Close stood up, the sun was behind her head. She was wearing a white, wide-brimmed hat and the sun was lighting it up from behind like a halo! edit. It's probably too on the nose to be intentional, but bleeding from his left flank in a horizontal line kinda reminds of a soldier's spear.

Well done Madison. Finally someone who knows how to do a reaction video. Just the right amount of talk and just the right amount of film, and then a nice summation at the end. Keep up the good work.

"Money Ball" is a baseball movie based on real life events. "Invincible" is a football movie based on real life events also. Sort of a professional version of "Rudy".

One of my two favorite baseball movies, it's a love letter to the mythic nature of the game. My other, Bull Durham, reflects the other side, the grit and grime of the unglamorous nature of the minor leagues. Written and directed by Ron Shelton, a former minor league player.

Madison: Both Robert Redford and Kevin Costner played baseball. Redford won a college scholarship to the University of Colorado, but lost that scholarship due to his drinking. Kevin Costner played high school baseball, but he stated he wasn't good enough to play in college. Both men were quite athletic and certainly knew their way around a baseball field, and that showed up in the sports movies that they acted in. Kevin Costner played an all-star pitcher at the end of a storied career in the movie, "For Love of the Game", which was underrated in my opinion. Hopefully, you will react to this movie. Thank you for reacting to, "The Natural", a movie I have always enjoyed.

The epic music at the end always gives me chills

One of my very favorite movies ever. A masterpiece.

I hope Madison will do more sports films. I'll put a plug in for The Pride of the Yankees, the great Lou Gehrig story. And Slapshot, fantastic sports story with great comedy and starring Paul Newman.

To your point on how “different” baseball movies can be from each other, you might want to consider Bull Durham and MoneyBall. Great reaction on The Natural, it never fails to make me tear up.

Great story, always loved The Natural as well as, for love of the game and field of dreams, so many great movies about America's favorite past time..

You should watch "The Rookie". True story.

Since we now know you’re a baseball fan, there is one movie that really needs to jump to the front of the queue. Bull Durham. Mostly humor with a dash of drama. The more you know about baseball the more you’ll enjoy it. Always at the top of the list of best sports movies.

Fun facts: Wilfred Brimley and Robert Redford ARE the same age. Robert Redford played baseball in college. That is him hitting the balls out of the park. The announcer is the director. Like Finding Nemo the actor was a no show and he stepped to do the announcing. In Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton stepped in to do the voice of the older turtle. My cousin said he use to do that surfer voice in high school all the time. When she saw the movie it took her back to sitting with him in class.

Thanks for reacting to this movie, Madison! I first saw this in the 80s while I was in HS and we were studying Folklore and Mythology. If you look at it through that lens, it’s pretty awesome!

Loved your reaction and analysis of this favorite movie of mine. I love Field of Dreams but this one always gets me more for some reason. That he finds his childhood sweetheart after all those years and finds out that he is a father. How touching. Love Glenn Close in this and Wilford Brimley. Perfect for those parts. There are too few reactions to this movie. "Pick me out a winner Bobby." "OK."

Great reaction, I recommend For Love of the Game (1999) with Kevin Costner. I think you’ll really like it.

I know, I know. Sorry for all of the posts but I love this film. Richard Farnsworth is such a wonderful character actor that began in films as a stuntman. Here he plays the coach "Red", and has a fantastic rapport with Wilford Brimley as "Pop", the cranky owner-manager of the Knights. Look for Mr Farnsworth as a cattle rancher with Steve McQueen in Tom Horn (1980).

I like the slow & mysterious tone of this film; which is rare for me. Sometimes, it just works. 🤷‍♂️👍

Such an iconic movie! It inspired me to turn a bat on a lathe in high school. Even burned a lightning bolt in it!

15:57 Great Michael Scott reference. I say "How the Turn-Tables" all the time.

The Natural & Field of Dreams are two of the most mythic movies that center around baseball. Don't let them set your expectations for other baseball films. Still, in their own way movies like Bull Durham, Eight Men Out and others mentioned in comments are enjoyable in different ways. Thanks for letting us watch along. (BTW - if you liked the movie, you may want to avoid the book. Hollywood changed some VERY fundamental things.)

"Roy as a kid" scenes were filmed in Stafford, NY a few miles from my house. One of my neighbor kids was a finalist to play Redford as a young boy. I was mildly surprised he didn't get the part because he looked exactly like what you'd expect Redford to look like as a 12 year old. Big news when Morgan Fairchild showed up to filming - she was dating someone in the production at the time, I believe.

"Open the window Mrs. McGillicuddy, here comes Mr. Spalding."

The Illad and the Oddesy... Homer's dream of home and what he had to get there. The Oddesy of Roy Hobbs. The Sirens sung to the Sailors where upon they cast themselves into the sea and crashed their ships on the Shoals....driven insane, but Homer plugged his ears... The musical score was supreme in evoking all the feels...

"The Natural" by Bernard Malamud is not just about baseball; it's also about the American Dream and why it often proves so elusive. Very different from the film, very much worth reading. "Bull Durham" is another excellent baseball movie that I know you'd enjoy. Lastly, if you're looking for a non-baseball sports movie, I'd like to suggest the overlooked "Breaking Away" from 1979. It's not just a sports movie, but a gentle look at 4 high school grads trying to figure out what comes next in life.

4:18 Isn't that Babyface Nelson? 10:27 The cop from Misery? 13:27 Coach is the secret agent from REMO Williams?

This is ...one of my all time favorite films. It NEVER fails to get me in my feels.

Another great Redford movie: All The President's Men.

Wow! This is a film that has very few 'reaction hosts' presenting and commenting about it. I was 25 when I first viewed this film in 1985, and it has been an ever favorite of mine. I'm glad to see Madison discovering this wonderful relic!

Great reaction Madison! This is a favorite in our family.

For some reason I find myself saying the line, "You're an impudent man, Mr. Hobbs!!" quite often

Homer is referenced near the beginning of the movie. Like Odysseus, Roy leaves his home seeking glory. On his return to his wife and son, he is sidelined by a few powerful, interesting, and dangerous women (Calypso, the Sirens). It's all very mythic and doesn't get bogged down in rationalism or sense. I think The Natural uses some of the elements from the Odyssey. For example, the gambler, Gus, with his all seeing eye, is the Cyclops. But it's not a copy of Homer's plot. There's the hospital scene where Glenn Close's character says that we live two lives, the one we learn with, and the one we live with after that, which I think is what the movie is about.

Great choice of film to react to - a classy, much underrated movie, with fantastic script, direction and acting; Glenn Close is, literally, luminous. You are right about it being full of symbolism, and a lot of it is Arthurian - The Knights, the magical bat/sword (Wonderboy/Excalibur) forged in otherwordly circumstances, Harriet saying " it was just like watching Sir Lancelot jousting", the dark woman (Morgana le Fay) and the light (Guinevere) - probably others I've missed. Love your reactions.

I'd recommend "Brubaker" for your next Robert Redford film, loosely based on a true story and one of Redford's best.

This is a so much better film than Field of Dreams IMO, so glad to see another reaction to it. Not just a sports movie but a superbly made fantasy.

Glenn Close's characters name was Iris - the same as my mother - so this movie always had a special place in my heart because of that.

*Madison, thank you for reacting to so many great movies* Two great sports movies to watch are 1) Real tear-jerker baseball movie *_"Bang the Drum Slowly"_* with kind of cowboy theme to it; 2) *_"Breaking Away"_* with teen Dennis Quaid & Daniel Stern (Home Alone crook)....

In the book , "The Natural", Roy strikes out at the end. The producers and writers were worried about the major change they made. So glad they made the chsnge - it all worked out.

Another excellent baseball/love story is FOR LOVE OF THE GAME with Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. I highly recommend it, Madison. As good as this is, I think that FLOTG is even better. It is based on a novel written by Michael Shaara (KILLER ANGELS). Augie Garrido (longtime Texas Longhorns coach} has a bit part in it. I just watched it again. It's more of a love story presented through a player's memories, within the context of a single baseball game with the Detroit Tigers at the New York Yankees. The game is called by Vin Skully. Another great sports film, though not baseball, is THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED with Shia LeBeouf. It is historical and involves turn of the 20th century golf.

Hi...Redford had a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado. His favorite player was Ted Williams- that's why he wore #9. Next Redford movie should be : All the Presidents Men.

Great reaction, Madison. It's always good when the movie gets you thinking because you always end up having something interesting to say about it.

Another great reaction, Madison. You should react to 'Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid' 1969, an excellent Western, and 'Brubaker' 1980 is another great film starring Robert Redford.

That was great! Thank you Madison!

glad you enjoy the film...both men and women can totally enjoy this one...a universal story

"The Natural" is an American Tall Tale for baseball. It was magic in it's own right. To me, the film is one of the few that was so much Better than the book it was based on. In the novel, Roy took the money, struck out and at the end was standing out in the rain, alone and crying because everyone hated him. In the film, Roy hits the titanic home run, wins the game, saves Pop's dream, then gets Iris and his son. It was and is an amazing film.

Only one player in the major leagues ever died on the field. He was hit by a wild pitch. He played for the Cleveland Indians, and it happened in 1920. Ray Chapman.

Awesome review to one of my favorite movies. I love the kid scenes "what's your name", and "pick me a winner" Classic.

Filmed in Buffalo. I remember them casting kids that looked like Redford. And my coach got a part as an extra on the Knights. He’s in the dugout. Our old ball field was why they came to shoot there.

Only showing 1 swing of the batting practice scene was CRIMINAL.

One of the inspirations for the story was the shooting of the Phillies young phenom Eddie Waitkus. Waitkus was a young handsome ballplayer projected to be an all-time great. A beautiful woman with a past of mental problems, lured Waitkus to her room and shot Waitkus in the stomach. There was little thought about celebrity stalkers in the late 1940's. Waitkus barely survived but was not the player he was projected to be.

11:12 For some reason, I find it just a bit funny how they got a doctor (I think it's a doctor) to help the Knights. In real life, there was an actual professional team that once tried desperate measures in an effort to win. In the early 1950s, the general manager of the National Hockey League's New York Rangers actually tried hiring a hypnotist in an effort to get them to win. It didn't help at all.

Great reaction for a great movie. Oddly this is based loosely on a true story and yes, Redford played baseball when he was younger. There was a California Angels player decades ago who ended his professional career by crashing through an outfield wall.

"Bull Durham" is another great baseball film (... although one in a very different style). Kevin Costner stars in it, too. Highly recommended.

All he needed to hear, is what Pops finally told him.

The line that everybody misses that suggests something much darker behind the woman who shot Hobbs: the gambler Gus casually says at dinner, "I once bet $100,000 on three pitches. I lost. But I ruined the guy the next week." That's what Hobbs is referring to when he says to the blonde at the climax: "You were right. We have met before."

Everytime the main musical flourish plays, I get a tear in my eye. What a fantastic movie.

Not only my favorite baseball movies, one of my top ten movies of all time.

I love baseball, and this movie, just on principle. But the cinematography in this is simply stunning. It's a master class in how to put images on film.

Happy Hollywood ending written by Robert Towne. The novel it's based on was a tragedy, where Hobbs overeats and winds up in the hospital (fatal flaw of hubris).

I have two go-to baseball movies: _The Natural_ and _Bull Durham_ . This one for its underdog nostalgia as well as its heartwarming ending, and other because, well, it's _Bull Durham_ .

SPORTS MOVIES TO WATCH - The Rookie. Draft Day. Brian's Song. (Horse/Sports movies: Seabiscuit. Secretariat. Dreamer. Hidalgo.)

Love Redford . Love The Natural. You must do The Way We Were for another ultimate Redford.

Comes from an excellent novel of the same name by Bernard Malamud. Favorite baseball movies are Bull Durham (a rom com base ball movie with Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon) and Eight Men out ( about the 1919 Black Sox scandal)

Great reaction. I wish more people would react to this amazing film. Watching this movie always reminds me of my dad.

now that's what a movie star looks like

The part of the movie at 13:30 to 14:00 in this clip is something I use in coaching my 10U-11U players. The classic scene where Hobbs has hit the cover off the ball, the rain has come, the players and umps are arguing over what the call should be, ...and we get for a moment the glorious long shot of the field with everything going on, and there's Hobbs, standing on third, by himself, waiting for the next play and ready to play ball. Always be ready, in whatever slice of life, to play ball. You would enjoy "Searching for Bobby Fisher". It's at one time a father/son, player/coach, sports movie

Studied this book in college literature. It follows the theme of King Arthur and Excalibur.

The best (and only) t-shirt to wear!!!! Go Braves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Biggest Bravos fan since Dale Murphy joined the team in 1976.

I was fortunate enough to have been an extra in this movie filmed in my hometown ... the stadium that served as "New York's" "Knights Field" was the old War Memorial Stadium (aka "the Rockpile") in Buffalo, NY where the Bills used to play in the 1960s and early 1970s until their current stadium was ready for use in 1973. War Memorial Stadium was built in the early 1930s as a WPA project, and the movie makers affirmatively chose to shoot the movie in Buffalo because of that stadium -- one of only two or three such stadiums still standing in the U.S. at the time of shooting. Unfortunately, War Memorial Stadium was torn down some 25 or so years ago. The stadium that served as "Wrigley Field" was actually All High Stadium in Buffalo, NY as well -- where the Buffalo public high schools play their football games (and where, when I was only 8 years old, my Dad took me to see my first football game. Great memories !!!

Hahahah yeah, the writer(s) of this movie really hit the ball out of the park when they decided to go all in for the Bump Bailey/Roy Hobbs transition. Get REKT Right Fielder RIP!😂

I love this movie just as much now as the first time I saw in in the 1980s, the mythic qualities mixed with Randy Newman's amazing score makes the story much bigger than life.

Another way to look at the difference between "The Natural" and "Field of Dreams": "The Natural" is meant to be mythological, like "The Odyssey" on a 1930s baseball field. (Think of the evil characters like the sirens, cyclops, etc.) "Field of Dreams" is meant to be a fantasy, with a supernatural element of time travel and righting past wrongs. Beyond that, just appreciate both for the amazing goodness and joy they give us.

I haven't seen this movie since the eighties. I'm going to have to watch it again soon

"But baseball is forever, not ending in one game, so the losing of that cup should not be one of shame."

Can't think of this film without hearing that theme music in my head.

Redford was a classmate with HOF Dodgers’ pitcher Don Drysdale at Van Nuys HS

Almost 40 years later and I’m still effected by this baseball fantasy. I saw it upon release, had the movie poster, soundtrack and VHS cassette. Redford’s golden hair and million watt smile are on full display, and yet Roy has many flaws. Love that! And yes, Harriet is a serial killer. Also, I don’t think Memo poisoned him at the party; it was his stomach lining and silver bullet situation (but we all make that leap at first). Let’s not forget that Roy is a teenager when he has his encounter with Harriet, and he’s super green. I really appreciate how we never quite get the full story of how he’s spent the previous 16 years, except a few sotto voce-delivered lines. I love everything about this film, from score, cinematography, costume, screenplay to acting! Look for a very young Michael Madsen as Bump.

This happens to be one of my very favorite movies, it's almost Shakespearean. Barbara Hershey's (Harriet Bird) character always intrigued me. At the beginning of the film it was mentioned about someone shoot sports figures (which was her stalking and killing sports players). Did she think they would be so egotistical, that she was slaying them before they became monsters. Who knows. It you are not familiar with Shakespeare, or Homer, most people don't get the feel and pace of this movie. I absolutely love the relationship between Pops and Red, their friendship is just spectacular. Robert Redford's acting in this movie is next leve.

4:40, 6:07 Barbara Hersey and you can see more of her in The Return To Lonesome Dove as Claire who replaced Anjelica Huston, Gus McRay's love of his life, the sequel to Lonesome Dove that you are definitely missing out on.

Kirk Gibson's 9th inning game winning homer for the Dodgers in the '88 World Series was the closest thing to the drama of the final game of this movie. But also very good analysis of the movie. Roy's weakness and faults in the 1st half come back to still haunt him in the 2nd half of the film.

The Natural is a nice movie reflecting the legendary angle of baseball.

The Homerun scene always gives me the tingles..

I've always thought the young pitcher for the Phillies at the end was the young boy he had thrown the ball to from the train in Nebraska. They stated he was from Nebraska.

Madison, you are absolutely correct on the whole good vs evil impression. The moral of the story is morals and ethics. Now, for my ultra wild theory that everybody hates but I tell it anyway: Robert Redford in The Natural, The Great Waldo Pepper, and The Sting are all the same guy, a trilogy. In 1923 Roy Hobbs is shot. He disappears re-emerging as Waldo Pepper in 1926, the fake name he used to be a flyer in WWI, who was born in 1895 and only presumed dead, not confirmed, at the end in 1931. He then disappears again re-emerging as Hooker in 1936. After the sting he resumes his original, true identity, Roy Hobbs, re-emerging in 1939 to try baseball again. I wrote a very lengthy explanation about all this, but that was 2 or 3 laptops ago, but I'm pretty sure it all checks out. Those 3 films can be tied together very neatly as a 1920s-30s trilogy. See, back in those days you could absolutely get away with identity changes easy peasy.

Just to add you like Redford he's also directed and two of my favorites are A river runs through it staring Brad Pitt and Ordinary People. Not only is he a great as actor but director as well.👍

Fun fact: Robert Redford was only two years younger than Wilford Brimley (Pops) IRL when they made this movie.