I can't believe only 2 youtube channels have reacted to this movie, this is one of the best sports movies of all time. I guess it's a hidden gem

The Randy Newman score really puts the movie over the top

Sometimes life throws you a hard left turn. Not everyone gets a second chance. Some people never recover.

The music is another character in this fantastic film. I will never stop loving this baseball movie.

"Field of Dreams", though built around a baseball field, was actually a story about a man fighting with his past. "The Natural", though built around a baseball team, was actually a story about a man fighting with his past.

The movie is a compilation of actual baseball events involving various players: -In 1931 17 year old girl Jackie MItchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig on six pitches. -In 1949 Phillies first baseman Eddie Watkus was shot in a hotel room by a crazed woman and survived. -In 1946 Braves Outfielder Bama Rawell shattered a Bulova clock on the Ebbets Field scoreboard for a home run. Bulova promised a free watch to whomever shattered the clock. Rawell didn't get his watch until 1987. -Brooklyn Dodger oufielder Pete Rieser's career and health were seriously hampered by his habit of crashing into ouffield walls. -Shoeless Joe Jackson named his bats.

This film uses light and dark in a textbook showcase of symbolism. The blonde lady was named Memo, like a memory, and the color of her clothes reflected when she was bad, good, conflicted or deceptive. Glen Close stood up in the crowd and her hat lit up like a halo. Roy was trying to help Pop because he couldn't save his own dad. The breaking of Wonderboy as Roy moves on in his life. The woman in black hunting The Whammer, Bump, Roy and the others because of their hubris.

Still my favorite final line of dialog ever: "You all right, fella?" "Let's play ball." 🔥✊🔥

Fun facts: Wilfred Brimley and Robert Redford ARE the same age. Robert Redford played baseball in college. That is him hitting the balls out of the park. The announcer is the director. Like Finding Nemo the actor was a no show and he stepped to do the announcing. In Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton stepped in to do the voice of the older turtle. My cousin said he use to do that surfer voice in high school all the time. When she saw the movie it took her back to sitting with him in class.

Great movie, great hero, and great villains. Hobbs was a simple farm boy raised good. He wasn't aware of evils of the big city. He was like Samson losing his strength to Delilah. Kim Basinger was kryptonite to him. Another great baseball movie is "The Bad News Bears" - 1976. It's a baseball movie about a Little League team. But most importantly, it's about the adults around them.

Love this movie and the musical score really elevates the dramatic highs and lows. I’ve always looked at this story about the dangers of hubris , lust, and poor decision making/life choices. The movie treats it one way (overcoming those choices and personal demons) while the original short story treats it the opposite (falling prey to and regretting them). Since movies are primarily a visual medium I’m glad they went differently from the novel, but I appreciate both takes on the subject matter.

Two very overlooked movies are Airport and Roman Holiday. One is a tension filled drama, the other a unique and tender love story (Oscar winner, too!)

You were making angel and devil comparisons and I remembered when Glenn Close stood up, the sun was behind her head. She was wearing a white, wide-brimmed hat and the sun was lighting it up from behind like a halo! edit. It's probably too on the nose to be intentional, but bleeding from his left flank in a horizontal line kinda reminds of a soldier's spear.

Being a baseball fan for 55 years this is my favorite baseball movie. Great comments as always Madison. ... Other fantastic baseball movies include The Sandlot and A League of Their Own.... ❤

One of my two favorite baseball movies, it's a love letter to the mythic nature of the game. My other, Bull Durham, reflects the other side, the grit and grime of the unglamorous nature of the minor leagues. Written and directed by Ron Shelton, a former minor league player.

You should watch "The Rookie". True story.

Well done Madison. Finally someone who knows how to do a reaction video. Just the right amount of talk and just the right amount of film, and then a nice summation at the end. Keep up the good work.

The scene where he hits the home run off the clock still gives me chills, a league of their own is also a good baseball movie

"Money Ball" is a baseball movie based on real life events. "Invincible" is a football movie based on real life events also. Sort of a professional version of "Rudy".

Madison: Both Robert Redford and Kevin Costner played baseball. Redford won a college scholarship to the University of Colorado, but lost that scholarship due to his drinking. Kevin Costner played high school baseball, but he stated he wasn't good enough to play in college. Both men were quite athletic and certainly knew their way around a baseball field, and that showed up in the sports movies that they acted in. Kevin Costner played an all-star pitcher at the end of a storied career in the movie, "For Love of the Game", which was underrated in my opinion. Hopefully, you will react to this movie. Thank you for reacting to, "The Natural", a movie I have always enjoyed.

To your point on how “different” baseball movies can be from each other, you might want to consider Bull Durham and MoneyBall. Great reaction on The Natural, it never fails to make me tear up.

Great reaction, I recommend For Love of the Game (1999) with Kevin Costner. I think you’ll really like it.

Since we now know you’re a baseball fan, there is one movie that really needs to jump to the front of the queue. Bull Durham. Mostly humor with a dash of drama. The more you know about baseball the more you’ll enjoy it. Always at the top of the list of best sports movies.

I hope Madison will do more sports films. I'll put a plug in for The Pride of the Yankees, the great Lou Gehrig story. And Slapshot, fantastic sports story with great comedy and starring Paul Newman.

"Roy as a kid" scenes were filmed in Stafford, NY a few miles from my house. One of my neighbor kids was a finalist to play Redford as a young boy. I was mildly surprised he didn't get the part because he looked exactly like what you'd expect Redford to look like as a 12 year old. Big news when Morgan Fairchild showed up to filming - she was dating someone in the production at the time, I believe.

Great story, always loved The Natural as well as, for love of the game and field of dreams, so many great movies about America's favorite past time..

I like the slow & mysterious tone of this film; which is rare for me. Sometimes, it just works. 🤷‍♂️👍

15:57 Great Michael Scott reference. I say "How the Turn-Tables" all the time.

4:18 Isn't that Babyface Nelson? 10:27 The cop from Misery? 13:27 Coach is the secret agent from REMO Williams?

I know, I know. Sorry for all of the posts but I love this film. Richard Farnsworth is such a wonderful character actor that began in films as a stuntman. Here he plays the coach "Red", and has a fantastic rapport with Wilford Brimley as "Pop", the cranky owner-manager of the Knights. Look for Mr Farnsworth as a cattle rancher with Steve McQueen in Tom Horn (1980).

Another excellent baseball/love story is FOR LOVE OF THE GAME with Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. I highly recommend it, Madison. As good as this is, I think that FLOTG is even better. It is based on a novel written by Michael Shaara (KILLER ANGELS). Augie Garrido (longtime Texas Longhorns coach} has a bit part in it. I just watched it again. It's more of a love story presented through a player's memories, within the context of a single baseball game with the Detroit Tigers at the New York Yankees. The game is called by Vin Skully. Another great sports film, though not baseball, is THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED with Shia LeBeouf. It is historical and involves turn of the 20th century golf.

The Natural was written nearly 100 years ago as a superhero story. The lightning is the start of the superhero quest. his Dad dies under the tree he carves his legendary bat from. the strange woman with a mythical bullet is 'fate'. his path starts in a lightning storm. when people believe in him, 'hope' wins. when people attack him 'hope' loses. his path ends in a lightning storm and he achieves true mythical status. hope wins in a time of no hope, the great depression. Roy wins his true prize, a happy ending with a family that believe in him.

Thanks for reacting to this movie, Madison! I first saw this in the 80s while I was in HS and we were studying Folklore and Mythology. If you look at it through that lens, it’s pretty awesome!

"Open the window Mrs. McGillicuddy, here comes Mr. Spalding."

Loved your reaction and analysis of this favorite movie of mine. I love Field of Dreams but this one always gets me more for some reason. That he finds his childhood sweetheart after all those years and finds out that he is a father. How touching. Love Glenn Close in this and Wilford Brimley. Perfect for those parts. There are too few reactions to this movie. "Pick me out a winner Bobby." "OK."

Another great Redford movie: All The President's Men.

The Natural & Field of Dreams are two of the most mythic movies that center around baseball. Don't let them set your expectations for other baseball films. Still, in their own way movies like Bull Durham, Eight Men Out and others mentioned in comments are enjoyable in different ways. Thanks for letting us watch along. (BTW - if you liked the movie, you may want to avoid the book. Hollywood changed some VERY fundamental things.)

The Illad and the Oddesy... Homer's dream of home and what he had to get there. The Oddesy of Roy Hobbs. The Sirens sung to the Sailors where upon they cast themselves into the sea and crashed their ships on the Shoals....driven insane, but Homer plugged his ears... The musical score was supreme in evoking all the feels...

In the book , "The Natural", Roy strikes out at the end. The producers and writers were worried about the major change they made. So glad they made the chsnge - it all worked out.

I'd recommend "Brubaker" for your next Robert Redford film, loosely based on a true story and one of Redford's best.

Another great reaction, Madison. You should react to 'Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid' 1969, an excellent Western, and 'Brubaker' 1980 is another great film starring Robert Redford.

The best (and only) t-shirt to wear!!!! Go Braves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Biggest Bravos fan since Dale Murphy joined the team in 1976.

Such an iconic movie! It inspired me to turn a bat on a lathe in high school. Even burned a lightning bolt in it!

"The Natural" by Bernard Malamud is not just about baseball; it's also about the American Dream and why it often proves so elusive. Very different from the film, very much worth reading. "Bull Durham" is another excellent baseball movie that I know you'd enjoy. Lastly, if you're looking for a non-baseball sports movie, I'd like to suggest the overlooked "Breaking Away" from 1979. It's not just a sports movie, but a gentle look at 4 high school grads trying to figure out what comes next in life.

"The Natural" is an American Tall Tale for baseball. It was magic in it's own right. To me, the film is one of the few that was so much Better than the book it was based on. In the novel, Roy took the money, struck out and at the end was standing out in the rain, alone and crying because everyone hated him. In the film, Roy hits the titanic home run, wins the game, saves Pop's dream, then gets Iris and his son. It was and is an amazing film.

Hi...Redford had a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado. His favorite player was Ted Williams- that's why he wore #9. Next Redford movie should be : All the Presidents Men.

SPORTS MOVIES TO WATCH - The Rookie. Draft Day. Brian's Song. (Horse/Sports movies: Seabiscuit. Secretariat. Dreamer. Hidalgo.)

For some reason I find myself saying the line, "You're an impudent man, Mr. Hobbs!!" quite often

Only showing 1 swing of the batting practice scene was CRIMINAL.

Only one player in the major leagues ever died on the field. He was hit by a wild pitch. He played for the Cleveland Indians, and it happened in 1920. Ray Chapman.

This is a so much better film than Field of Dreams IMO, so glad to see another reaction to it. Not just a sports movie but a superbly made fantasy.

"Bull Durham" is another great baseball film (... although one in a very different style). Kevin Costner stars in it, too. Highly recommended.

glad you enjoy the film...both men and women can totally enjoy this one...a universal story

Great choice of film to react to - a classy, much underrated movie, with fantastic script, direction and acting; Glenn Close is, literally, luminous. You are right about it being full of symbolism, and a lot of it is Arthurian - The Knights, the magical bat/sword (Wonderboy/Excalibur) forged in otherwordly circumstances, Harriet saying " it was just like watching Sir Lancelot jousting", the dark woman (Morgana le Fay) and the light (Guinevere) - probably others I've missed. Love your reactions.

Glenn Close's characters name was Iris - the same as my mother - so this movie always had a special place in my heart because of that.

Great reaction Madison! This is a favorite in our family.

This is ...one of my all time favorite films. It NEVER fails to get me in my feels.

11:12 For some reason, I find it just a bit funny how they got a doctor (I think it's a doctor) to help the Knights. In real life, there was an actual professional team that once tried desperate measures in an effort to win. In the early 1950s, the general manager of the National Hockey League's New York Rangers actually tried hiring a hypnotist in an effort to get them to win. It didn't help at all.

*Madison, thank you for reacting to so many great movies* Two great sports movies to watch are 1) Real tear-jerker baseball movie *_"Bang the Drum Slowly"_* with kind of cowboy theme to it; 2) *_"Breaking Away"_* with teen Dennis Quaid & Daniel Stern (Home Alone crook)....

One of my very favorite movies ever. A masterpiece.

Filmed in Buffalo. I remember them casting kids that looked like Redford. And my coach got a part as an extra on the Knights. He’s in the dugout. Our old ball field was why they came to shoot there.

Wow! This is a film that has very few 'reaction hosts' presenting and commenting about it. I was 25 when I first viewed this film in 1985, and it has been an ever favorite of mine. I'm glad to see Madison discovering this wonderful relic!

One of the inspirations for the story was the shooting of the Phillies young phenom Eddie Waitkus. Waitkus was a young handsome ballplayer projected to be an all-time great. A beautiful woman with a past of mental problems, lured Waitkus to her room and shot Waitkus in the stomach. There was little thought about celebrity stalkers in the late 1940's. Waitkus barely survived but was not the player he was projected to be.

Great reaction for a great movie. Oddly this is based loosely on a true story and yes, Redford played baseball when he was younger. There was a California Angels player decades ago who ended his professional career by crashing through an outfield wall.

The epic music at the end always gives me chills

Homer is referenced near the beginning of the movie. Like Odysseus, Roy leaves his home seeking glory. On his return to his wife and son, he is sidelined by a few powerful, interesting, and dangerous women (Calypso, the Sirens). It's all very mythic and doesn't get bogged down in rationalism or sense. I think The Natural uses some of the elements from the Odyssey. For example, the gambler, Gus, with his all seeing eye, is the Cyclops. But it's not a copy of Homer's plot. There's the hospital scene where Glenn Close's character says that we live two lives, the one we learn with, and the one we live with after that, which I think is what the movie is about.

Happy Hollywood ending written by Robert Towne. The novel it's based on was a tragedy, where Hobbs overeats and winds up in the hospital (fatal flaw of hubris).

I have two go-to baseball movies: _The Natural_ and _Bull Durham_ . This one for its underdog nostalgia as well as its heartwarming ending, and other because, well, it's _Bull Durham_ .

Awesome review to one of my favorite movies. I love the kid scenes "what's your name", and "pick me a winner" Classic.

I love baseball, and this movie, just on principle. But the cinematography in this is simply stunning. It's a master class in how to put images on film.

Love Redford . Love The Natural. You must do The Way We Were for another ultimate Redford.

Hahahah yeah, the writer(s) of this movie really hit the ball out of the park when they decided to go all in for the Bump Bailey/Roy Hobbs transition. Get REKT Right Fielder RIP!😂

Madison, you are absolutely correct on the whole good vs evil impression. The moral of the story is morals and ethics. Now, for my ultra wild theory that everybody hates but I tell it anyway: Robert Redford in The Natural, The Great Waldo Pepper, and The Sting are all the same guy, a trilogy. In 1923 Roy Hobbs is shot. He disappears re-emerging as Waldo Pepper in 1926, the fake name he used to be a flyer in WWI, who was born in 1895 and only presumed dead, not confirmed, at the end in 1931. He then disappears again re-emerging as Hooker in 1936. After the sting he resumes his original, true identity, Roy Hobbs, re-emerging in 1939 to try baseball again. I wrote a very lengthy explanation about all this, but that was 2 or 3 laptops ago, but I'm pretty sure it all checks out. Those 3 films can be tied together very neatly as a 1920s-30s trilogy. See, back in those days you could absolutely get away with identity changes easy peasy.

Another way to look at the difference between "The Natural" and "Field of Dreams": "The Natural" is meant to be mythological, like "The Odyssey" on a 1930s baseball field. (Think of the evil characters like the sirens, cyclops, etc.) "Field of Dreams" is meant to be a fantasy, with a supernatural element of time travel and righting past wrongs. Beyond that, just appreciate both for the amazing goodness and joy they give us.

Not only my favorite baseball movies, one of my top ten movies of all time.

Studied this book in college literature. It follows the theme of King Arthur and Excalibur.

4:40, 6:07 Barbara Hersey and you can see more of her in The Return To Lonesome Dove as Claire who replaced Anjelica Huston, Gus McRay's love of his life, the sequel to Lonesome Dove that you are definitely missing out on.

Great reaction. I wish more people would react to this amazing film. Watching this movie always reminds me of my dad.

I've always thought the young pitcher for the Phillies at the end was the young boy he had thrown the ball to from the train in Nebraska. They stated he was from Nebraska.

Redford was a classmate with HOF Dodgers’ pitcher Don Drysdale at Van Nuys HS

The Natural is a nice movie reflecting the legendary angle of baseball.

Memo (Kim Basinger) is one of the best femme fatales. She was so corrupt, but her soul was not totally lost. She truly loved Roy, but she couldn't free herself from the Dark Side (Gus & the Judge). She told Roy "I hate you".... but I think she really hated herself for not being strong enough to support him. Kim Basinger had clashes with Robert Redford during filming. Redford was so stoic and dispassionate, and Basinger was the opposite. She even yelled at him during rehearsal, "Don't you feel ANYTHING?!" That's not a criticism of either actor; their acting styles were just total opposites.

The line that everybody misses that suggests something much darker behind the woman who shot Hobbs: the gambler Gus casually says at dinner, "I once bet $100,000 on three pitches. I lost. But I ruined the guy the next week." That's what Hobbs is referring to when he says to the blonde at the climax: "You were right. We have met before."

Fun fact: Robert Redford was only two years younger than Wilford Brimley (Pops) IRL when they made this movie.

All he needed to hear, is what Pops finally told him.

Comes from an excellent novel of the same name by Bernard Malamud. Favorite baseball movies are Bull Durham (a rom com base ball movie with Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon) and Eight Men out ( about the 1919 Black Sox scandal)

Just to add you like Redford he's also directed and two of my favorites are A river runs through it staring Brad Pitt and Ordinary People. Not only is he a great as actor but director as well.👍

You may not have noticed that the director, Barry Levinson, also directed 'Rain Man'.

Another great baseball movie is " The Rookie " with Dennis Quaid which is based on a true story. I really think you will enjoy it.

Kirk Gibson's 9th inning game winning homer for the Dodgers in the '88 World Series was the closest thing to the drama of the final game of this movie. But also very good analysis of the movie. Roy's weakness and faults in the 1st half come back to still haunt him in the 2nd half of the film.

Everytime the main musical flourish plays, I get a tear in my eye. What a fantastic movie.

7:59, the late great Wilford Brimley. Another great movie to catch him on is Cocoon (1985) directed by Ron Howard (Apollo 13) and starring a list of great actors. "Oscar-winning fantasy in which the residents of a Florida rest home get a new lease of life when they stumble across an alien "fountain of youth" in a disused holiday home. Unbeknown to them, aliens have been using the swimming pool in the house to store their cocooned brethren, giving the waters a powerful, rejuvenating quality". Another wholesome great movie you should check out.

Rewatch the opening on the train and pay attention to the sports reporter talking about multiple athletes being killed

Love, love this movie. Another fave RR (sort of) is A River runs through it. RR narrates & directs. With a young brad Pitt who resembles a young RR.

I love this movie. It’s baseball-as-myth, the idea that baseball is a larger-than-life story of heroes (the Knights) and villains, and all the symbolism that entails. I strongly recommend Bull Durham as a baseball-as-profession perspective, just working Joes grinding it out.

That was great! Thank you Madison!

This was filmed in Buffalo NY at the Old Rockpile. After filming it was torn down to be replaced by what is now known as Coca-Cola Field. Nice field but doesn't have the same charm as the Rockpile

Robert Redford played baseball at The University of Colorado in Boulder, CO in the mid 50s. Apparently he was kicked off the team and had his scholarship taken away for being drunk all the time.

I was fortunate enough to have been an extra in this movie filmed in my hometown ... the stadium that served as "New York's" "Knights Field" was the old War Memorial Stadium (aka "the Rockpile") in Buffalo, NY where the Bills used to play in the 1960s and early 1970s until their current stadium was ready for use in 1973. War Memorial Stadium was built in the early 1930s as a WPA project, and the movie makers affirmatively chose to shoot the movie in Buffalo because of that stadium -- one of only two or three such stadiums still standing in the U.S. at the time of shooting. Unfortunately, War Memorial Stadium was torn down some 25 or so years ago. The stadium that served as "Wrigley Field" was actually All High Stadium in Buffalo, NY as well -- where the Buffalo public high schools play their football games (and where, when I was only 8 years old, my Dad took me to see my first football game. Great memories !!!

The Homerun scene always gives me the tingles..