| | | Get Off the Bench and Get Into the Game.
Features: HD DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, Spanish, Subtitled, French, Dubbed & Subtitled
Gus and his nerdy buddies, Richie and Clark, are scouted by a millionaire nerd, Mel, who wants to form a baseball team and compete with the meanest Little League teams in the state. A stellar ballplayer, Gus becomes a role model for nerds and outcasts everywhere. But when his fans learn that Gus, himself, was once a school bully, they feel outraged and betrayed, until Gus takes extraordinary steps to win back their admiration and trust.System Requirements:Run Time: 80 MinutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC
"...a typically Sandlerian mix of the crude, the obvious, and the semi-sweet..." Jesse Hassenger, PopMatters
"...[a] morphing of "The Bad News Bears" and a "Three Stooges" episode..." Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Editor's Note
Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions--in cahoots with director Dennis Dugan (HAPPY GILMORE), stars Rob Schneider (DEUCE BIGELOW: MALE GIGOLO), Jon Heder (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE), and David Spade (TOMMY BOY)--seeks to level the eternal struggle between jocks and nerds in the raucous comedy THE BENCHWARMERS. Schneider plays Gus, a landscaper, who, along with his newspaper deliveryman pal Clarke (Heder), comes upon a hapless group of kids being picked on by a bully baseball squad on the sandlot. When one member of the squad delivers a non-culinary "beef stew" to one of weaklings, the two adults intervene. As he waxes nostalgic on the baseball diamond, Gus challenges the tough Little Leaguers to a scrimmage, and Clarke and his other uber-nerdy and decidedly nonathletic friend, video store clerk Richie (Spade), are recruited--and the eponymous Benchwarmers are formed. Soon, news of the three sissy men versus the nine jocks-in-training spreads and comes to the attention of billionaire geek, Mel (Jon Lovitz). With Mel's help, a state-wide tournament is created allowing any youth baseball team the chance to knock off the Benchwarmers. As the frenzy grows, all jocks and wimps, young and old, come out to support their side with the final verdict in this never-ending war for supremacy. While the movie features cameos from real-life sports personalities Reggie Jackson, Sean Salisbury, and Bill Romanowski, its highlights are the antics and comedic chemistry of its leads. If flatulence, juvenile sex jokes, feces, agoraphobia, robotic butlers, and baseball are your recipe for riotous belly-laughs, than BENCHWARMERS is nothing short of a grand slam.
| Features | Audio Commentary With David Spade & Jon Heder | | Audio Commentary With Director Dennis Dugan | | Audio: English PCM 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Deleted Scenes | | Dubbed: French | | Featurettes: Mr. October - Behind The Scenes With Reggie Jackson, Nerds Vs. Bullies - Whose Side Are You On?, Play Ball - Cast & Crew Discuss America's Pastime, & Who's On Deck? - Howie's Greatest Moments | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Sony Pictures |
| Release Date: 7/25/2006 |
| Running Time: 85 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2006 | | Catalog ID: 15869 | | UPC: 00043396158696 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Chinese | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"The three losers play a series of Little League teams, snatching victory from the jaws of slapstick humiliation." -- Grade: B- 04/21/2006 p.57FilmCritic.com 7 of 10
...[Heder's] a perfect fit for The Benchwarmers, the latest Saturday Night Live alumni comedy from Happy Madison, Adam Sandler's production company...It sounds terrible, but it works because everything is in proportion, especially that the three leads' comedic talents come in bite-sized portions. Still, writers Allen Covert and Nick Swardson (the guys behind Grandma's Boy) revel in their freak tendencies, whether it's a basement-dwelling pariah making peanut butter eagles or Reggie Jackson smashing mailboxes. (And their take on the Danny Almonte controversy is hilarious.) If that kind of humor is your abode, then welcome home. But what makes The Benchwarmers redeemable over other kicked in the nuts fare is the writers care about the outcasts Gus, Tommy, and Clark play for. Covert and Swardson want these kids to learn what it's like to play ball, to enjoy a game without being ridiculed...and if David Spade drop kicks a 12-year-old, even better. - Pete Croatto
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