Anyone who has ever played baseball at any level admires Bull
Durham, for its truth in portraying the soul, passion, and Zen of
baseball. I played baseball through high school, and the things that
hit home to me in Bull Durham were the scenes on the buses, the
conferences on the pitching mound, and the things the players mutter
to themselves as they walk around the field in between pitches. People
who went further in baseball will likely love the clubhouse scenes,
the barroom antics, and the girls. I may not have ever made the
majors, but everything baseball in this movie rings true.
Bull Durham tells the story of a season in minor league baseball
for the Durham Bulls. Kevin Costner plays Crash Davis, a catcher who's
been in the minors a long time, and who has been brought to the Bulls
to baby sit their hot young pitcher, Ebby Calvin "Nuke"
LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins. Nuke has a "million dollar arm
and a 5-cent head," and is wild off the field as he is on the
mound. Susan Sarandon plays Annie Savoy, the town hottie who knows
more about baseball than the coaches or scouts and takes on a player
each year for love and baseball lessons. She and Crash hit it off
immediately, but Nuke becomes her project for the season. Crash and
Annie make for an interesting pair of parent figures for young Nuke -
and a romance between them is inevitable.
This movie has
great humor, terrific baseball and tremendous performances by its
stars. Costner is something of a one-trick pony, and his pace and
delivery never change much. But when he picks his spots right, as he
does here, he's money in the bank. Robbins is all arms and legs on the
mound, and accurately portrays Nuke's physical and mental awkwardness
and quirkiness on and off the field. Sarandon's sassy Annie Savoy
steals the show- she's smart, sexy, and always hits the right notes- a
great performance from a great actress. Trey Johnson (Nathan Arizona,
hell, everyone knows who he is) and Robert Wuhl play the Bulls'
manager and pitching coach, respectively, and these guys are exactly
like the baseball coaches I remember, especially Wuhl's relentless
banter during games.
Bull Durham was a star-making
vehicle for everyone involved- Costner became a bigger star, Sarandon
started her big comeback that led to an Oscar for Dead Man Walking a
few years later, Robbins never looked back, and writer/director Ron
Shelton has been making movies in Hollywood ever since. Check out this
fine Special Edition DVD and find out why!
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Bull Durham is
presented with a widescreen version on one side of the disc and a full
frame version on the other. I would have preferred to see this nearly
two-hour movie and its extras on a DVD-9 with two layers of bit budget
instead of one, but oh well. The side of the disc I watched showed
Bull Durham framed at approximately 1.78:1 in a fine anamorphic
widescreen transfer. While this isn't the sharpest or most detailed
transfer you'll see, it is one of the cleanest and most natural
looking- and very film like. I wasn't distracted by edge enhancement
or any other transfer-related artifacts- it simply looked like film.
The colors were saturated and naturally captured the colors of the
ballparks, and the southern country sides that provide the backdrop
for the movie. I haven't seen any of the other DVD transfers of this
movie, but this one looks on the money to me.
Audio: How
Does the Disc Sound?
Bull Durham has been given a Dolby
Digital 5.1 soundtrack that leans mostly toward the front soundstage,
with some subtle envelopment in the surrounds. The music sounds OK,
and dialog is generally well integrated and always easy to understand.
Fidelity is clean overall, and never sounds harsh in any way. Bull
Durham, as the supplements reveal, was a relatively low budget film
and the soundtrack reflects that.
Bull Durham is also
presented in 2.0 Surround in French and Spanish, and Portuguese mono.
Subtitles are presented in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese,
along with English Closed Captions.
Supplements: What
Goodies Are There?
There are some damned fine extras on
this DVD, starting with the two screen-specific audio
commentary tracks, one with writer and director Ron Shelton ported
from the previous laserdisc and DVD releases, and the other with
actors Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner. The Shelton track is good, and
conveys his passions for film and sports, along with some great
stories about the production. But the Costner and Robbins track is the
real treat here. Costner opens up in a way that I've not seen in a
long time (and stands in stark contrast to the sullen, seemingly self-
important actor who appears in the new documentary I'll talk about
below.) He's funny and engaging, and even reveals that he was never
happy with his delivery of the signature speech about his beliefs in
the movie. He thinks it was written better than he could deliver, and
I think he's at least partially right. He just seems like such a
regular guy here, as opposed to recent interviews in which he seems so
aware of his big movie star status. Robbins is funny as hell, too,
very smart, and he and Costner have a genuine rapport. This is a gem
of a commentary, but if I were Tim Robbins I'd keep an eye on Costner
- he's way too into how good Robbins' wife Susan Sarandon looks
in this movie!
There are three "Documentaries"
here, two of which (the Kevin Costner Profile and Sports
Wrap) are from the time of the film's theatrical release and last
only about 2 minutes each. Most of the material is culled from the
film itself, but the Kevin Costner interviews are interesting. He's so
much looser, and laughs and smiles frequently talking about the movie
and his part. Best of all is"Between the Lines, the brand
new 30-minute documentary produced for this DVD, Costner is exactly
the opposite. He's boorish, self-absorbed, and seems to aware of his
status as a movie star to laugh or even smile, like what he's trying
to say is too important. But in spite of Costner's glower, supplement
producer J.M. Kenney has done a great job here putting together a fine
piece that does justice to this fine film. There are interviews with
all the principal actors, and filmmakers, and they're all rock solid.
This is a fun piece to watch, and is very well made. It illuminates
effectively the themes of the film, and the production. This piece
captures so well how the people who made this movie still love it.
The Still Gallery here is better than most, if for
no other reason than seeing the photos of the greased Tim Robbins
pitching while wearing just a jockstrap and garter belt- one of the
great images from all of sports films. Also included are the
theatrical teaser and trailer for Bull Durham, as well as
trailers for other MGM special editions Rocky, When Harry Met Sally,
and The Terminator.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when
you pop the disc in your PC?
No ROM extras have been
included.
Parting Thoughts
Bull Durham isn't
just a great sports movie - it's just a great movie, period. And
there's no better way to enjoy it than on this special edition DVD,
which features a terrific new transfer, and some very finely produced
extras. I don't know if JM Kinney can take credit for producing the
whole disc, but his documentary and everything else here is first
rate. Highly recommended!
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