Hoosiers (1986) Revisited

[iamwhatiseem]

Loosely based on an actual team in a tiny town in Indiana that won the state championship in 1954.
It is not meant to be a "true story", rather a fictional tale about an event that did happen.
Anyway, it is a solid movie that stands up to the test if time 100%. Gene Hackman does a great job.
Interesting little factiod - the producer purposefully picked "actors" to play the team who never acted in their lives.
He wanted the players to appear like real small town kids. Because they were.

 

[Auld Phart]

Hackman ALWAYS did a good job.

 

[DGS49]

Along with countless other kids of my generation, I played basketball for a "maniac" who pushed us, yelled at us, demanded that we play better than we thought we could. The parents were often appalled at the things he would do and say, but they didn't mind having their kid play on a winning team - at least until we ran up against kids with actual talent.

It's the same philosophy of leading BOYS that shows up in the Jack Webb movie, "The D.I." (1957). If you haven't seen it, you should look it up.

While it's not nice, this is the best way to nurture MEN. Sorry.

 

[Flopper]

Loosely based on an actual team in a tiny town in Indiana that won the state championship in 1954.
It is not meant to be a "true story", rather a fictional tale about an event that did happen.
Anyway, it is a solid movie that stands up to the test if time 100%. Gene Hackman does a great job.
Interesting little factiod - the producer purposefully picked "actors" to play the team who never acted in their lives.
He wanted the players to appear like real small town kids. Because they were.w

What makes movie like this so good is not so much what occurs in front of the camera but what occurs behind the scenes. David Anspaugh, the director and Angelo Pizzo, the screenwriter spent two years shopping for investors, the right cast, and crew long before the first scene was shot.

David Anpaugh had directed and written sports stories for TV and movies. What makes Hoosiers special is not its story but its details and its characters. Angelo Pizzo, knew all about high school politics and how the school board and the parents' groups always thought they knew more about basketball than the coach does. He knew about gossip, scandal and vengeance. And he knew a lot about human nature. All of his knowledge, however, would be pointless without Hackman's great performance at the center of this movie. Hackman is gifted at combining likability with complexity, two qualities that usually don't go together in the movies. Hackman loved sports. He played sports in high school, raced cars, and has played in other sports presentations. This movie had all the earmarking's of a hit long before it was completed.

 

[lennypartiv]

The team tried to duplicate that feat with a movie called "The Game of Their Lives." It was also an underdog story. I'm not sure why, but it did not have the same success as Hoosiers.

Since there was already another movie with the same title, it was given a new title of "Miracle Match" when it was released on DVD.

 

[ScorpioRising007]

Loosely based on an actual team in a tiny town in Indiana that won the state championship in 1954.
It is not meant to be a "true story", rather a fictional tale about an event that did happen.
Anyway, it is a solid movie that stands up to the test if time 100%. Gene Hackman does a great job.
Interesting little factiod - the producer purposefully picked "actors" to play the team who never acted in their lives.
He wanted the players to appear like real small town kids. Because they were.

This is one of those great inspirational movies. I always enjoy rooting for the underdog. I have watched this movie probably 30+ times at least in my lifetime.