Brings back memories when I started little league my dad took me to buy a real glove at Roger and Rays hardware store in Bay Village Ohio he rubbed it with neatsfoot oil wrapped a ball in wax paper and stuck it in the sweet spot then he wrapped rubber bands around it to form a pocket can still smell that neatsfoot oil miss you dad
Movie Magic right here... the shots. Him rounding approaching third... approaching home and the reflection of the lights off of Pops' glasses...and the theme music swelling.. Just magic.
Field of Dreams, Eight Men Out, The Natural and Major League I. Four Baseball Films made and released during the 1980's, they don't make them with this quality anymore.
When Bobby hands Roy the "Savoy Special" and a camera flash goes off. You never see the newspaper picture, but you know it's a classic. My favourite moment in my favourite baseball movie.
I was in high school in 1985 when this came out in video. So... As part of our American Literature lesson, we had to read the book and then watch the movie in class. I remember tearing up when Robert Redford hit that homer
One of the greatest sports film endings ever. Too bad this wasn't in widescreen. The "Wonderboy" bat was birthed during a lightning strike, and died during another. The "Savoy Slugger" was an unexpected twist. This movie spoke to the purity of a playing a sport cleanly and morally. An allegory for living a life devoted to a life unpolluted by money and greed. One of a kind.
The reliever who came in the game. The lefty who has best fastball in league. That was Roy Hobbs before he got shot. Thats what he was gonna be and now he was facing him with game on line. Fascinating
I always imagined he was the kid Roy threw the ball to from the train after beating the whammer. Roy inspiring him to be the best he could be. No real reason to believe it was so. Just my imagination :)
Fantastic observation. Thank you! We forget to apply "literature" analysis to movies, but they are stories with intertwined themes, and you nailed one.
Who are they that their opinion would matter? Nada, your opinion is what matters. Each of us individually matters. Forget the academy awards, critics smitics. We’ve allowed others opinions to matter more than what we individually care or think or want.
I agree @tomseferovich5725. Anyone who watches Siskel and Ebert reviews on RU-vid can see they had a lot of stupid opinions and reviews that don't hold up well over time. Much like all liberal newspaper hacks.
My father loved baseball, and for the longest time I didn't understand why. It seemed tedious to me, lots of waiting with not much happening, unlike football with all the drama and action. Then I saw this movie, and I never wondered again why dad loved the game so much. To this day, long after he has passed, I'm connected to him through this story.
Chills. Every. Time. Saw this as a young kid in Pony League and enjoyed the happy ending. As an adult now, I understand that Roy did not survive this game, and he dies after his home run. That strange scene of him, back in the golden garden, with his son and wife, are quite literally, his heaven.
Interesting observation. The movie doesn't move beyond winning the pennant, so your perception is a fascinating one. What struck me was the time period - just before WWII. I thought of his son as being draft eligible after Pearl Harbor; another hole in Hobbe's life, that might not be reparable, if his son lost his life in the war.
The book was quite different. No homerun. He took the bribe. I prefer the movie adaptation. A lot of symbolism. Who knew Barbara Hershey would be in my two favorite sports movies. The Natural and Hoosiers
Now that’s a theory I never even imagined. I always thought the ending was simply Roy playing catch with his son and old girlfriend most likely his wife then after he retired due to him being unable to continue playing. Roy dying then being in Heaven…..fascinating!
The best part of this clip from The Natural is that home run Roy hit into the lights because that sent the Knights to the World Series. Too bad one of the foul ball broke the window next to the radio booth but at least nobody got hurt. That was only an accident.
I grew up in Buffalo and remember this movie being filmed. I went to War Memorial Stadium many times to watch the Bills… Every time I see this beautiful film, I’m reminded of my childhood- growing up in that special city that’s still I’m my heart to this day…. This is truly a wonderful film…
That last shot, of Roy and his son playing catch, was filmed at a farm just a few miles away from the small town I live in near Batavia, NY. Occasionally I will take the country road the farm sits on just to say “ Yup, that’s where the last scene of The Natural was filmed” in my mind as I drive past.
But I think there's a continuity error when the bat breaks. Right after he hits the ball, the bat is clearly intact. But when he walks back from 1st base, the bat is broken.
It added drama and suspense. It created the thread that said, "once your dreams to become a hero were centered in this bat. Now you have become all that, and you no longer need that bat. And in Bobby's bat, the dreams of another generation, now become your tool. "Bobby, pick me a winner."
Everyone ignores the great acting of Barbara Hershey, in her few scenes as the mentally ill woman who shot Roy in her hotel room. And that was just a tiny example of how much better story telling and script writing was then it is today. It was told perfectly, no more and no less then it had to be, for us to understand why it took Roy so long to find his way back to baseball. If The Natural was written today, half the movie would “feature” the Barbara Hershey character’s back story of how she came to shoot Roy, because great story telling has taken a back seat to “why do they feel this way or that way?”
What ever happened to happy endings in sports movies.. too many new ones about losing the final game and stuff.. we love heroes and winners damn it not almost tried hard
In the book Roy strikes out to what would have been himself if he was never shot. The movie is so much better imo as young Roy & Old Roy both win. Old Roy knew exactly what he was gonna throw because he would have thrown it himself
Although the ending is very different from the novel, there are very few baseball movies with the kind of emotional pull as The Natural. Tour de force performances from all the actors in this excellent movie.
Hollywood doesn't make more than one or two very good movies in a year these days. This moment and scene is one of the great moments in cinema history. It's a master scene meant for time. 😊
I saw this movie about 15 times at the theater and more times on television. The neighborhood theater was a discount at 2.00 a movie. Why not? It is an excellent 👌 👏 👍 😊❤ movie that tugs at the heartstrings .
Quote: Thanks IMDb Bull Durham and Annie? Sorry Rev Al. Trust but verify. Quote: The bat that bat boy Bobby Savoy gives Roy is called the "Savoy Special". The Savoy Special was a brand of beer in the 1930s, and was made by the United States Brewing Company. This bat is now in the collection at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, displayed along with Roy Hobb's jacket in an exhibit titled "Baseball and the Movies".:Unquote
I believe whoever wrote this script wrote in the pirates losing to a new York team is a Yankees fan and totally can't deal with pirates beating yanks in 1960. Mazeroski's walk of homer to beat Yankees. Classic pirates
That's how it goes the yanks had the better team and the better team does not always win I was 8 at the time and seen a good # of Yanks winning world series greatest franchise in sports
Anyone else notice? The first pitch to Hobbs was a strike call. Second pitch was a ball. Third pitch (from the reliever), was fouled off, (hitting the press box) for strike TWO. The fourth pitch was a swing and a miss, which should have been strike THREE.
I'm not a fan of Robert Redford as a person but he's a great actor and has starred in some great movies This is one of them. The final scene is incredible.
I always tried to play baseball but just was not good. My Dad took me to St. Louis for a weekend series and Ive been a fan since 1958. This film was beyond description and continues to be so stirring.
Oh I didn't notice it all of the years that I have watched this film, but they changed the pitcher during and at bat. That's not permitted unless there is an injury.
