HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Bull Durham (Combo Pack)

Bull Durham (Blu-ray Combo Pack)
Directed by Ron Shelton

Studio: MGM
Year: 1988
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1   1080p   MPEG-2 codec
Running Time: 108 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 2.0 surround English, Spanish; 2.0 mono French 
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, Korean, Cantonese

Region:  A
MSRP: $ 24.99

Release Date: August 3, 2010

Review Date:  August 4, 2010 

The Film

4.5/5

A wry comedy that mixes sports and romance into a scintillating package, Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham is one of the most ingratiating romantic comedies of the last quarter century. Smart, sexy, and very funny, the movie doesn’t trade in sports clichés or typical romantic comedy bromides but rather explores the psyches of three interesting and real human beings with uncommon intelligence and great good humor. Whatever passes today for romantic comedies really can’t carry this film’s cleats, and its excellence only seems to magnify with each passing year.

Ebby Laloosh (Tim Robbins) has just joined the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team. He’s a major pitching find, but he’s still green and greatly lacks experience. Veteran catcher “Crash” Davis (Kevin Costner) is brought onto the team to give the young player the benefit of his years of expertise. Also more than willing to indoctrinate the young pitcher into the rituals of the game is “baseball Annie” Annie Savoy. She has typically picked a new player each season to give her own brand of seasoning to, and this season she’s picked Laloosh whom she christens “Nuke” for his atomic-powered pitches (when he has the ball under control). Together the three adults begin to make the season a memorable one for the Durham Bulls.

Ron Shelton has both written and directed the film, and in both endeavors, he’s infused such a realism into the film that everything seems of the moment, happening as we watch. One can practically taste those hot dogs and popcorn while the baseball scenes unfold, and the brilliance of the screenplay is that the game really isn’t the focus. There are no last minute home runs to win the game in the last inning or miraculous catches with the winning run sliding into home plate, all clichés that ordinary writers would typically infuse into their scenarios. Instead, we’re treated to intelligent byplay between three adults who are working at the game of baseball and the game of life. It’s far more riveting watching human allegiances change as the season progresses rather than rooting for some championship team to make the playoffs. And Shelton directs some really fascinating, intimate moments as when “Nuke” is psyching himself up for his next pitch with an interior monologue (usually a hilarious stream of dim consciousness from someone with just a tad more intelligence than the baseball he’s throwing) or “Crash” is trying to second guess the pitcher he’s facing to get a hit for the team. And there are shots of sheer poetic beauty, too, as when the sprinklers are turned on so there can be a “rain out” to give the Bulls a break or when Annie and “Crash” participate in a montage of lovemaking scenes that put the sex into sexy without ever crossing the line into vulgarity. Humor and humanity mix in delicious harmony in this superb concoction.

Having played baseball earlier in his life, Kevin Costner seems a natural behind the plate, and his charisma is at its zenith here in one of his most immediate and appealing performances. No less impressive is Susan Sarandon, an adult woman who’s sexier and more alluring than women half her age would have been in the part. Tim Robbins made his first big splash as the somewhat dim bulb who grows up quite a lot during the course of the movie and yet retains that spirit of adolescent zeal that the many young players take with them to the big leagues. Trey Wilson and Robert Wuhl are a great manager/trainer team for the Bulls, and William O'Leary is also appealing as Jimmy, the team’s resident heart-on-his-sleeve Christian.

Video Quality

3.5/5

The film’s 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio has been faithfully delivered in this 1080p transfer using the MPEG-2 codec. It’s a very frustrating video encode with good color and very accurate flesh tones but sharpness that only reaches its best in a few scenes. Otherwise, images seem a bit soft and indistinct, while black levels are acceptable but not the best. Scenes in some low lighting tend to flatten out noticeably with an increase in grain. The image is fairly clean, however, and is not overburdened by dirt, scratches, or other artifacts of age. The film has been divided into 28 chapters.

Audio Quality

3.5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is unquestionably frontcentric throughout the running time of the movie. There is nice spread across the fronts especially from the collection of standards (“Sixty Minute Man,” for example) and Michael Convertino’s rather conventional score, but except for some faint bleed into the rears, those back surround channels are shamefully ignored. Dialogue has been well recorded and resides comfortably in the front channel.

Special Features

1.5/5

The Blu-ray disc in the set contains the theatrical trailer presented in 1080p and running 2 ¾ minutes.

There are also 1080p trailers for Rocky, Hoosiers, and The Thomas Crown Affair.

The DVD copy of the film also included in the case contains the following features:

• Two audio commentaries: one featuring the director and the other featuring co-stars Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins
• “The Greatest Show on Dirt,” a 19 ¼-minute look back at the film twenty years after its release featuring the writer-director, actor William O'Leary, and other Hollywood fans of the picture.
• “Diamonds in the Rough,” a 16-minute exploration of the importance of minor league baseball, not only to this movie but its usefulness in the arena of major league baseball.
• “Between the Lines: The Making of Bull Durham,” a 29 ¼-minute featurette featuring the writer-director, the film’s major stars, and the movie’s producer discussing in detail how the movie came to be, the set’s most interesting featurette.
• A profile of Kevin Costner which is straight out of the EPK, 2 ¼ minutes with the star discussing his involvement in the movie.
• Sports Wrap, the 3-minute EPK trailer for the subject matter for the movie.

[Note: the low score for the bonus features is due to the studio's failing to port these DVD bonus features onto the Blu-ray disc opting instead for a single layer Blu-ray disc encoded with the ancient MPEG-2 codec.]

In Conclusion

3.5/5 (not an average)

The terrific script Ron Shelton wrote for Bull Durham brought him awards from the Los Angeles, New York, and National Society of film critics as well as the Writers Guild of America, all well deserved honors. The film today stands tall among the romantic comedies of the last twenty-five years, and while the Blu-ray disc doesn’t present the film optimally, it’s still a treat to see once again. Recommended!

Matt Hough

Charlotte, NC