rcress8872 Years later, Tony Curtis admitted that at this time he had a major drug problem and went broke, so he agreed to do this movie only because he needed money to buy cocaine. Since they needed to attach a name star as the coach to get the film green lit, this movie literally only exists because of cocaine. The most interesting part of the film is the Antonio Inoki stuff, as he's supposed to have a match on US TV against an American martial artist as part of his push towards getting a rematch with Muhammad Ali. Not that it's good (neither was Ali vs. Inoki) but with that match taking on retroactive historical significance following the rise of MMA/UFC (it's now considered the "first MMA fight") it's interesting to see it referenced as a plot point in this film here. So pro wrestling and MMA fans may want to see it for the inclusion of Antonio Inoki and Judo Gene LaBell.

Seth Nelson ...in the sequel to the very good and marvelous dark baseball comedy "The Bad News Bears!" In this movie, the baseball team with hard-cussing coach we all have known and loathed cross the date line to play, well - baseball - in the country of...Japan! Yes! What I like the best about this movie is how the two cultures - American and Japanese - come together in this wonderful time! Yes, we Americans love our baseball, and so do the Japanese - and they love some of our Western cultures and stuff, despite them being Eastern! And "The Bad News Bears Go to Japan" is such a marvelous example of this, and this movie might as well have started the "American Invasion" on Japan much like the Beatles made the "British Invasion" on our country back in the 1960s.

jrs-8 It had to happen. After the success of "The Bad News Bears" and "Breaking Training" the film execs at Paramount knew they had a goldmine on their hands and couldn't leave well enough alone. They started on the right track by enlisting Bill Lancaster to write the script. He also authored the original. Sadly that is where the similarities end."The Bad News Bears Go To Japan" is one of the worst films of the 70's. It's so bad the many of the kids from the first two don't even appear in this one. The ones that do are given little to do save for team leader Kelly Leak who gets to romance a young japanese girl. The love story is laughably bad.The coach this time around is Tony Curtis playing a con man looking for his next score. Curtis looks as if he is in a trance as he sleepwalks thru the film.And the worst part? There is very little baseball in a movie about little leaguers!!! We get more scenes of sumo wrestling. The one baseball game we DO get is badly directed and comes so late in the film you may have either fallen asleep or turned it off.And why send the kids all the way to Japan? A bit far fetched don't you think? Apparently the first film was a smash hit in Japan, playing in one theater for over a year. That says it all. The filmmakers knew that no matter how badly it bombed here (and it did) that they would have a hit in Japan (and it was). Too bad they didn't care that the product they were presenting was no better than a student film on a tiny budget. No. Take that back. A student film on a tiny budget would have to be ten times better than this pathetic "comedy."

chubbybunnyjim This film didn't follow-up to the first two successful sequels! John Berry, was not a good director, and especially a bad script!!!Tony Curtis (Father of Jamie Lee, starred in "Halloween" the same year), did an Ok job, and I say that this film was disaster!!!NO STARS!!!