The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977)

A troubled, rebellious teen drives his rambunctious baseball team out to Houston where they play an exhibition game and the boy meets his estranged father, and hires him as the teams coach.

Director:

Michael Pressman

Writers:

Paul Brickman, Bill Lancaster (characters)

Stars:

William Devane, Jackie Earle Haley, Clifton James

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Devane	...	Mike Leak
Clifton James	...	Sy Orlansky
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Kelly Leak
Jimmy Baio	...	Carmen Ronzonni
Chris Barnes	...	Tanner Boyle
Erin Blunt	...	Ahmad Abdul Rahim
George Gonzales	...	Miguel Agilar
Jaime Escobedo	...	Jose Agilar (as Jaime O. Escobedo)
Alfred Lutter III	...	Ogilvie (as Alfred Lutter)
Brett Marx	...	Jimmie Feldman
David Pollock	...	Rudi Stein
Quinn Smith	...	Timmy Lupus - The Big Looper
David Stambaugh	...	Toby Whitewood
Jeffrey Louis Starr	...	Mike Engelberg
Lane Smith	...	Officer Mackie

Storyline

Sentimental sequel film finds the Bears, somehow, the little league champions of California. As a result, the team is invited to play a between-games exhibition at the Houston Astrodome with the local champs, the Toros. Kelly Leak, the Bears' star player, decides to rejoin the team and go with them to Houston to make amends with his estranged father, Mike.

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Plot Keywords:

little league | astrodome | baseball | houston astrodome | sequel | 

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Taglines:

They've fired their coach. They've "borrowed" a van. They're on their way to the Houston Astrodome...with girls on their minds, cops on their tails, and the game of their lives at stake.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bad News Bears 2

Filming Locations:

Mason Ave. at Devonshire St., Chatsworth, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$19,104,350

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gary Lee Cavagnaro played Engleburg in the original The Bad News Bears (1976). By the time it came to film 'The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training', he had grown about 4 inches and lost a tremendous amount of weight. Since he no longer looked like his character, the part had to be recast.

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Goofs

In the game between the Toros and the Bears, a Bears player is seen up to bat with an aluminum bat but the camera angle change has him swinging a wood bat.

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Quotes

Mike Leak: Listen it's been a long time...
Kelly Leak: It's been eight years. You know why I know that? You know why I know it's been eight years? Because on the day left you gave me this little blue bicycle, I was five years old, some little punk kid, and you have me the bike thinking that if I accepted the gift, I'd accept a deal, well you were wrong! I didn't except that bicycle, it's eight years old, it's untouched and it's still in my basement...

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1991)

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Soundtracks

Lookin' Good
Music: Craig Safan
Lyric: Norman Gimbel
Sung by: James Rolleston

User Reviews

One of those "You had to be there" films

Folks, There is only one group of people who will truly enjoy and think this is a great film-the group who it was intended for: those of us who were in our pre-teens or early teens who saw this when it first came out in the Summer of 1977.

The tale is pretty much the kind of thing that every red-blooded American boy of that age would dream about. The little leaguers fire their tyrannical coach and "borrow" a van to play at a little league championship in Houston. To avoid spoiling it, I'll just say that this deals with their adventures along the way and the results. A "Huckleberry Finn" of the 1970s, to be generous.

The overprotective parents and PC squads of today would have heart attacks at the scenes of the kids' foul language, cigarette smoking, chasing a grown woman, committing grand theft auto, and swiping Playboy magazines. But most of us who saw it at the time knew that this was over -the top and didn't take it that seriously.

Yeah, an adult viewer would agree that the story, writing, and acting are atrocious. But this wasn't intended to be Shakespeare. See it with a 13 year old mind and trust me, you'll "get it." For those of us who saw this as 13 year olds in 1977, leave your brains at the door and enjoy the nostalgia and the theme song "Looking Good." To everyone else-you've been warned!