The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)

A small time hustler takes the pint-sized baseball team to Japan for a match against the country's best little league baseball team which sparks off a series of adventures and mishaps.

Director:

John Berry

Writer:

Bill Lancaster

Stars:

Tony Curtis, Jackie Earle Haley, Tomisaburô Wakayama

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Curtis	...	Marvin Lazar
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Kelly Leak
Tomisaburô Wakayama	...	Coach Shimizu
Antonio Inoki	...	Self
Hatsune Ishihara	...	Arika
George Wyner	...	Network Director
Lonny Chapman	...	Louis the Gambler
Matthew Anton	...	E.R.W. Tillyard III (as Matthew Douglas Anton)
Erin Blunt	...	Ahmad Rahim
George Gonzales	...	Miguel Agilar
Brett Marx	...	Jimmy Feldman
David Pollock	...	Rudy Stein
David Stambaugh	...	Toby Whitewood
Jeffrey Louis Starr	...	Mike Engleberg
Scoody Thornton	...	Mustapha Rahim

Storyline

With all eyes on Japan after defeating the Houston Toros in The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), California's champions, The Bears, embark on a fascinating adventure in the far-off Land of the Rising Sun. Under the wing of the small-time Hollywood promoter, Marvin Lazar, the Bears face the country's all-star baseball team; however, nothing seems to work as planned. Now, against the backdrop of an insurmountable language barrier and an unforeseen romance, the Bears will have to prove their worth. Do they stand a chance against Japan's best little-league team?

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | japan | altered version of studio logo | baseball game | homerun | 

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Taglines:

They never met an adult they couldn't drive crazy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

30 June 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bad News Bears 3

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Gross USA:

$7,092,495

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,092,495

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael Ritchie Productions, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first 'Bad News Bears' movie not to feature fan favorite Tanner Boyle played in the first two films by Chris Barnes.

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Quotes

Abe Bernstein: Marvin, if I take off my shoes, I'm going to get athlete's foot!
Marvin Lazar: Well, that'll be the only part of you that is an athlete.

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Crazy Credits

The Paramount mountain changes into Mount Fuji before the opening credits begin.

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Connections

References Happy Days (1974)

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Soundtracks

The Stars and Stripes Forever
(uncredited)
Music by John Philip Sousa

User Reviews

One of the Worst Productions Ever Recorded Onto Celluloid and Released by a Studio

This--dare I call it--film is, IMHO, one of the worst productions ever recorded onto celluloid and released by a studio. Our daughter loved the original BNB, and seeing original director Michael Ritchie as this installment's Producer gave us some reason to hope, but 3 minutes of this extreme dog-of-a-movie was enough to dispel all of THAT! It's hard to believe this was made only two years after the original came out. From Tony Curtis' boozy, utterly amoral character (was this an acting job?), to the very incoherent script and equally helpless direction, this is a testament, I can only imagine, to the power of greed. Greed by a studio and production company that had had a hit with the first BNB movie and was determined to milk it for all it was worth--regardless of the #&%@! they had to serve up! Thanks folks! Save yourself the considerable bother and DO NOT watch this movie!