Eight Men Out (1988)

Black Eye in Baseball

Eight Men Out tells the story about one of baseball's darkest days; the 1919 World Series scandal. Eight baseball players from the White Sox team decide to throw the World Series due to the own of the team poor treatment to the players. Though one of them, Buck Weaver, defends his innocents. The movie seems to be true to fact, but it suggests it all took place in the same year. The players were not banned from baseball til the end of the 1920. If nothing else, like the period clothing back then. November 23, 2008

If You Are A Baseball Or Movie Fan

It is hard to believe that this movie is 20 years old already, it seems like yesterday that it was released, and this disc does it justice.

If you are a baseball fan of any level you probably know of the infamous Black Sox Scandel and the "fix" of the World Series, which rocked the baseball world much like the steroid issue today.

In Eight Men Out, the scandel is chronicled in a first class movie. The acting is superb throughout and the events surrounding the "fix" are well done. When the scandel is placed in the context of how baseball was during those times - players were far from having any power with respect to the owners - the nuances of how and why people reacted the way they did becomes more telling. Not as a justification for their actions, but more for how it could happen.

Even if you are not a baseball fan, this movie stands on its own and the collector's edition is one worth having. September 12, 2008

Great Movie

This is a great movie!
We watched it as a family. It has great lessons throughout. It's great to have a film that depicts such a pivotal event in sports history with such a great storyline- even better that it's not rated R!
September 10, 2008

Five star new edition!

The new edition is a nice upgrade, since it includes several behind the scenes documentaries which give a lot of background regarding the choice of actors, interviews with the director and actors, and info regarding the sets and filming of the movie. The picture looks very sharp, and the soundtrack is 5.1. If you are a fan of this film, you will find the new edition well worthwhile. April 25, 2008

My favorite baseball movie

I just read Roger Ebert's review of this movie and was amazed that he said you have to be a baseball insider to understand it. ???? I'm certainly not an insider, not even an avid fan, but I had no trouble following the story. In fact, I thought it was told with unusual clarity and elegance. And the actors were perfectly cast. Each seemed to slip into his role as comfortably as an old shoe. They weren't actors playing ball players. They were ball players. The movie flowed perfectly as the gamblers first approached a couple of the more receptive players. You could easily see the others being slowly drawn into the fix by the lure of easy money. You could also see, even before the players did, that they were nothing more than suckers themselves. They would not get the money - ever. Go to bed with criminals expect to get robbed. Roger Ebert was concerned about the way the "fix" unfolded, saying it was far too obvious. Of course it was! That's why they were caught!

Some of the other reviews here justify the actions of these players, based on the way their owner treated them. Man! That's certainly 2008 logic. They commited a serious criminal act! What's so hard to understand. Are we now at a point where unfair treatment legitimizes criminal actions? Yeah, many of the owners were most likely rotten. Yeah, the players were not treated fairly but NO, that doesn't justify their actions, including the ones who were guilty by omission. They let themselves down, they let the league down, but most of all, they let the fans down (Remember, "Say it ain't so, Joe?") Judge Landis was a tyrant but he did the right thing.

The last scene, where a much older Bucky Weaver sits in the bleachers of some nameless sandlot ballpark watching his old team mate, Joe Jackson, play is heartbreaking and sums up the movie perfectly.

The bottom line is: this movie is a wonderful example of intelligent story-telling and film-making. I'm not a big fan of Sayles usually but he knocked this one out of the park. March 27, 2008

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