The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (also known as The Bad News Bears 3) is a 1978 American sport comedy film released by Paramount Pictures and was the third and last of a series, following The Bad News Bears and The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. It stars Tony Curtis and Jackie Earle Haley and features Regis Philbin in a small role and Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki.
About half of the original or "classic" lineup of Bears players return but many from the previous installments like Jose Agilar (Jaime Escobedo), Alfred Ogilvie (Alfred Lutter), Timmy Lupus (Quinn Smith) and Tanner Boyle (Chris Barnes) are not featured. Three new players are featured: E.R.W. Tillyard III (Matthew Douglas Anton), Abe Bernstein (Abraham Unger) and Ahmad Abdul-Rahim (Erin Blunt)'s younger brother, Mustapha (Scoody Thornton).
This film was followed by a 1979 CBS-TV series, and by a 2005 remake of the 1976 film.
Contents
Plot
Small-time promoter/hustler Marvin Lazar sees a potential money-making venture in the Bears that will help him to pay off his debts. After seeing a TV spot about the Bears, he decides to chaperone the baseball team for a trip to Japan in their game against the country's best little league baseball team.
As implied in Breaking Training, the Bears had to defeat the Houston Toros for a shot at the Japanese champs. In the process, the trip sparks off a series of adventures and mishaps for the boys. Team member Kelly Leak develops an interest in local Japanese girl Arika, and a cultural divide emerges in their relationship.
Cast
Tony Curtis as Marvin P. Lazar
Jackie Earle Haley as Kelly Leak
Tomisaburo Wakayama as Coach Shimizu
Antonio Inoki as Himself
Hatsune Ishihara as Arika
George Wyner as Network Director
Lonny Chapman as Louis
Matthew Douglas Anton as E.R.W. Tillyard III
Erin Blunt as Ahmad Rahim
George Gonzales as Miguel Agilar
Brett Marx as Jimmy Feldman
David Pollock as Rudy Stein
David Stambaugh as Toby Whitewood
Scoody Thornton as Mustapha Rahim
Jeffrey Louis Starr as Michael "Mike" Engelberg
Abraham Unger as Abe Bernstein
Dick Button as Himself
Kinichi Hagimoto as Game Show Host
Hugh Gillin as Pennywall
Robert Sorrells as Locke
Clarence Barnes as Mean Bones Beaudine
Regis Philbin as Harry Hahn
Michael Yama as Usher
Reception
The film has an 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 55 reviews. The consensus summarizes: "The Bad News Bears Go to Japan strikes out with its scattershot gags, blatant commercialism, and a charmless turn by Tony Curtis, resulting in a cinematic foul ball that sorely misses the insightful wit of the original." Jackie Earle Haley, who was in the movie, considered it the worst movie ever made.
Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that "the film is a demonstration of the kind of desperation experienced by people trying to make something out of a voyage to nowhere". Variety noted the "latest version is more successful than the middle outing, but the situation and characters are getting tired". Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four and wrote: "The story this time is much more confused, with plenty of subplots ... what we should be seeing is play-by-play with the kids and some baseball. There is very little of either". Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times called it "a very good second sequel" and "a wry and entertaining movie". Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote: "Every aspect of the premise that might supply a source of comic and melodramatic renewal—the conflicts that arise between kids and parents, the conflicts between kids and other kids, the culture shock of American Little League Baseball confronting its Japanese counterpart—is neglected or shortchanged in favor of lazy self-imitation".
The film opened in 300 theaters in the Southern United States in early June, grossing $910,000 in its opening weekend. In 38 days it had grossed $9 million and went on to earn theatrical rentals of $7.3 million.
Home media
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan was released on DVD February 12, 2002 by Paramount, in widescreen only.