| | | 20th Century Fox Family Feature.
Features: DVD, Sensormatic
The ultimate fantasy for a Little Leaguer comes true and a whole city is electrified with baseball fever in actor/director Daniel Stern's "grand slam for baseball fans of all ages!" (WBAI Radio)When the cast is removed from his broken arm, clumsy 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is shocked to find his arm has become a 100-mile-per-hour thunder bolt. His throw from the bleachers directly to home plate alerts the last place Chicago Cubs and before you can shout "play ball" he is signed as their new ace pitcher. With a few pointers from an aging star pitcher (Gary Busey), young Henry actually manages to pull off the impossible. Daniel Stern co-stars in this winning stand-up-and-cheer tale about one boy's dream. Bonus disc includes John Walsh of America's Most Wanted introducing over 40 minutes of live-action safety scenarios targeted at teaching kids and parents how to be safe. Plus, DVD-ROM feature contains interactive, animated lessons from AMW's The Lookout League safety team!
"Good family fun with a side-splitting performance by Stern..." Clint Morris, MovieHole
"You'll have a ball! A stand-up-and-cheer fantasy for the entire family." Larry Ratliff, NBC News Channel
"...makes all the right moves to entertain the youthful audience it's aiming for." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"Two thumbs up!" Siskel & Ebert
"Enjoyable family outing..." VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
Editor's Note
A broken bone turns into a lucky break for a twelve-year-old Little Leaguer when his healed arm is capable of delivering a 100 m.p.h. fast pitch! Soon the pint-sized dreamer is the Chicago Cubs' new star, and his last-place team is headed for victory.
Plot Summary
Henry Rowengartner is a 12-year-old Little Leaguer whose love of baseball far outstrips his prowess on the field. Everything changes, however, after Henry breaks his arm during one of his Little League games. When his arm heals, Henry discovers that he has been magically transformed into an unstoppable pitching machine. Suddenly, the once-klutzy kid is pitching for the Chicago Cubs and everyone wants a piece of the action.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo | | Audio: French Dolby Digital Stereo | | Bonus Disc Includes John Walsh Of America's Most Wanted Introducing Over 40 Minutes Of Live-Action Safety Scenarios Targeted At Teaching Kids & Parents How To Be Safe. Plus, DVD-ROM Feature Contains Interactive, Animated Lessons From AMW's The Lookout League Safety Team! | | Dubbed: French | | Featurette | | Includes Both Widescreen & Full Screen Versions Of The Film! | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French | | Theatrical Trailers & TV Spots |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 8/14/2007 |
| Running Time: 103 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1993 | | Catalog ID: 2245523 | | UPC: 00024543455233 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen/Standard 1.85:1/1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...A slick featherweight comedy.....An appealing central performance by [Nicholas]..." 07/07/1993 p.C14Sight and Sound
"...The whole film wants to carry the viewer along with the soft, warm charm of a daydream. Adding to the thrill is the employment of former and current baseball players in cameos..." 06/01/1994 p.58 Entertainment Weekly
"...ROOKIE is a diamond daydream made of enduring stock parts..." -- Rating: B 01/21/1994 p.58 Variety 8 of 10
"Rookie of the Year" aspires to be a pint-sized "It's a Wonderful Field of Dreams," and largely succeeds in minor league fashion. A warm, comic "what if" yarn, it's rife with humor and sentimentality but is just one run away from the game-winning score. As such the film is solidly played and should rank among the summer's top second-stringers without quite reaching Hall of Fame status...First-timer Stern has adroitly chosen his technical team, with ace credits throughout, especially Jack Green's gliding camera and Bill Conti's big, emotional score...Recalling the emotion of "The Karate Kid,""Rookie of the Year" is a die-hard upbeat opus. To its credit the fantasy-comedy breezes right along to home plate with so much goodwill that audiences will unabashedly cheer it on to the finish. - Leonard Klady
Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
The structure of the movie is fairly predictable. We get to meet Henry's parents and some of the other players, and a Cubs announcer who is played by John Candy - who tries, but is unable to achieve the surrealistic voice effects provided every day by Harry Carey...Everything leads up to the end of the season, with the Cubs fighting for first place, and then the movie shows some creativity by not having Henry pitch a no-hitter, or hit a home run. How he does try to win the game is unlikely, to say the least, but entertaining...Look, this isn't a great movie. If you're not a kid, don't go unless there's a kid you want to take. But if you are a kid, and you have ever for a moment wondered what it would be like to play major-league ball at your age, then take it from the old Little Leaguer and see this movie. I really shouldn't give it three stars, but I'm going to anyway. Call it a form of revenge for all those hours of dread I spent in right field. - Roger Ebert
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