Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)

Major League: Back to the Minors (1998) BOMB (out of 4)The third and to date final film in the series is without question just a poor attempt to make some cash on a popular film. This time out a washed up pitcher (Scott Bakula) is hired as a AAA coach to try and turn some losers into winners. They eventually get their chance when they get an exhibition game against the Minnesota Twins. MAJOR LEAGUE: BACK TO THE MINORS is without question one of the worst sequels in the history of sequels. Throughout the 100-minute running time there wasn't a single time that I laughed and even worse is that there wasn't a single smile on my face at any point during this disaster. Most sequels are just watered down or poorly-written versions of an original that makes money but this here even gives those types of films a bad name. There's really not a fresh or original idea to be found here and what's worse is that the film simply runs so long for no reason. Every single thing that happens here is nothing more than a cliché of a cliché and to make matters worse is that you'll see every predictable moment coming from a mile away. Bakula has had a few decent moments in his career but this here isn't one of them. Clearly this was a paycheck as he walks through the role without much energy. Corbin Bernsen and Dennis Haysbert are on hand for a connection to the previous films but they do nothing in their roles. Even Bob Uecker is wasted in his bit. Ted McGinley of 'Married...With Children' fame is given nothing to do as the Twins head coach. This film here really had no reason to be made unless the goal was to become one of the worst films ever made.

"Hey Mr. Berenger! Would you like to play your character Jake Taylor in Major League 3?" "No thanks." "Please!" "Nope." "Mr. Sheen, would you consider reprising your role as Wild Thing in Major League 3?" "Nope." "Please!" "Nope." "Mr. Bernsen, would you like to reprise your role as Roger Dorn for Major League 3?" "Why not?" "Yeah, we can make an unnecessary sequel!" That my friends is quite possibly how Major League: Back to the Minors got made. Or was it the fact that around the time this film was made the Cleveland Indians were winning and making a film about a group of misfit underdogs on the same team that is really doing well in real life would be a curse? Regardless, it should've been left alone. Now we got a nice, nearly unrelated sequel leaching off of the Major League.David S. Ward, director of both previous films, as been docked down to co writer of this mess. Something told me that even he wasn't fully on board with this film. Back to the Minors turns the tables from the Indians to the Minnesota Twins, the team Roger Dorn (Bernsen) now owns. The film focuses on Gus Cantrell (Bakula), a minor league pitcher for a team called the Fort Myers Miracle.Roger offers Gus a job coaching the Twins' minor league affiliate the South Carolina Buzz. Two of the members from the Cleveland Indians team return. Those are Pedro Cerrano (Haysbert) and Taka Tanaka (Takaaki Ishibashi). Wonderful because I wasn't too big of a fan of Cerrano and couldn't stand Tanaka.When you can't get the two leads who made a film what it was, don't make a sequel to a film without them. Don't think a crappy spin off is treating the fans to something special. It isn't.Thank the lord Bob Uecker reprises his role as the alcoholic Indians announcer. But this time he is announcing the Buzz? The film doesn't even provide an answer to why Cerrano, Tanaka, and the announcer are now with the Buzz. They all looked great last season, why did the Indians trade them? Is Jake Taylor still the manager of the Indians? Did the team trade Wild Thing? Did they win the World Series? The film doesn't provide the answer to questions fans are asking.Major League: Back to the Minors is now the big wart on the entire franchise. There never needed to be a third film. The idea should've been scrapped when Berenger and Sheen said they wouldn't return. But of course, the money is what matters. Not even James Gammon comes back as a cameo. This film is one of the most tasteless and lackadaisical sequels I've ever seen.Though it was this film that made me realize Corbin Bernsen, Roger Dorn in the film, would later go on to play the father in I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, my favorite holiday film. It was good for that.Starring: Scott Bakula, Corbin Bernsen, Dennis Haysbert, Ted McGinley, Takaaki Ishibashi, and Bob Uecker. Directed by: John Warren.

Perhaps not the big names as the first two installments of the series, but an enjoyable movie that teaches that you don't have to be biggest or the best, as long as you give it all you've got and have fun. Scott Backula gives a great and convincing performance as a minor league coach, Ted McGinley does what he does best, play a self centered egotistical, overbearing idiot. He has been brilliant with the same type character in vehicles like "Married With Children." Who else could have pulled this character off. This movie delves into some of the situations faced by both major and minor league players. There are good players who spend their entire baseball careers in minor league. In the days we live in of multimillion contracts, and players who think they are gods, it might be better to see men who play the sport more for fun than money. Perhaps if some of the Major League stars in real life would learn to have fun playing, then we as fans would get a better game.

I've never seen the first two "Major League" movies, and I have no interest in seeing them. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of Scott Bakula. So why did I watch "Major League: Back to the Minors"? Why did I go so far as to BUY it?! Because of an actor named Walton Goggins, that's why. Familiar to most people as Shane on 'The Shield', Goggins appears here as an arrogant baseball player named Billy 'Downtown' Anderson who proves to be the true talent in his minor-league team (the Buzz). Bakula stars as the coach of said team (downgraded from the major leagues). Also appearing (although I wasn't familiar with him at the time I purchased this) is Kenny Johnson (Goggins's co-star on 'The Shield' and former real-life housemate). Johnson portrays, rather hilariously, a team member named Lance "The Dance", who uses his former ballet skills to help him play ball.Other team members include a pair of twins with the same first name, a guru-type guy who wears a black hood, a surfer dude, and a geek named Doc who looks quite a bit older than most of his teammates. They're misfits, to be sure, but they have heart and spirit and all that good stuff, and throughout the film it's up to Bakula's Gus Cantrell to put these things to good use. Will he? I'll just say "guess" (and something tells me your answer will be correct)."Major League: Back to the Minors" doesn't quite make it up to hilariously bad caliber; however, it does manage to pass the time. I was quite amused by Johnson, and snickered at silly aspects like subtitles when a foreign man was speaking perfectly understandable English. I would like to have seen more of Goggins, but his few scenes with Bakula are genuinely good for a movie such as this. (However, Bakula's character tended to annoy in his other scenes, particularly by making dumb statements like the one about his "large white buttox." I also didn't care for the scenes where his tertiary Love Interest tried -- and failed -- to have a personality.)All in all, worth a look if you're a Bakula fan, or a fan of 'The Shield', or just a "Major League" completist.