The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, 1978 - ★★★

thunt’s review published on Letterboxd: Uh, one bad news bears film deserves another. That's why, after I watched Bad News Bears, two, return to training, or whatever, I watched Bad News Bears. Three. Bad News Bears go to Japan. I'd wanted to see this for a long time. You hear about this kind of thing on the schoolyard, almost like it's a rumor. They've made a new Bad News Bears movie where they go to Japan. Your mind instantly fill. It starts filling in all the fun things that the bears will be doing, going to Japanese sites, messing around with swords, pretending to be Samurai, all that kind of stuff. And in a way, it does pay off. The bears eat at a restaurant where they have to sit on the floor. And in the true highlight of the film, good morning the bears. They fight a sumo wrestler. All nine bears jumping and tagging on the giant man, eventually bringing him to the ground and ending up on the front cover of Sports Illustrated as though the bears wrestling. The Sumo wrestler was planned and is now. Quote, according to the cover, is this a sporting event? They're not so sure. The Bears somehow get it together to visit Japan in a shocking edition, Coach butter maker drunk in the first film, strange Vietnam related William Devane in the second film, becomes Tony Curtis, theatrical actor and agent in the third film, Tony Curtis somehow thinks he's going to make a lot of money off the bears and sends them to Japan, where they're going to compete in a competition that An American team has never won. The Japanese team is very serious about playing baseball, and they're going to tear up the bears instead. Tony Curtis manages to make friends with the very upset, angry, emotionless Japanese coach, and by the end of the film, they're referencing Casablanca walking off together into the sunset as another beautiful friendship. The boys also, after fighting and getting thrown out of the stadium, play the rest of the game in the street as a stickball competition, skewing the television cameras that Tony Curtis worked so hard to get them, because for him, it was all about the money. But for the bears, it's about the love of the game and playing baseball. Curtis even jokes that they'll be playing in Cuba next time, and they'll get Castro to throw out the ball themselves. This is the last Bad News Bears film until they would make the fourth Bad News Bears film, The remake with Billy Bob Fortin that I hope to watch next. Although so far, it seems incredibly terrible, similar to the shot for shot remake of psycho but of course, why would you do a shot for shot remake of the bad news bears? We'll have to ask Richard link later until next time. Thanks for reading. Bye. Transcribed by otter.ai