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The Natural
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Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302662597
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 6302662591
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: English (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: June 24, 1994
Running Time: 134 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: May 11, 1984
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Editorial Review:
From the sun-dappled heartland, a young man (Robert Redford, in soft lighting) emerges as maybe the best baseball player anybody's ever seen. On his way to the majors, he is cut down by an enigmatic black widow (Barbara Hershey) and vanishes for many years. When he reemerges, a silent mystery, he lands a spot with the New York team and begins tearing up the league--he's still the natural. Fans of the Bernard Malamud novel will be dismayed at the pure mythical hokum of this film, but baseball fanatics have been known to watch and rewatch this one; after all, it's constructed as a kind of shrine to the national pastime. Barry Levinson (Rain Man) directs the movie with an unabashed devotion to the game, although the film could use more of the realities of chewing tobacco and pine tar. Redford is fine, and Kim Basinger and Oscar-nominated Glenn Close are effective as the women in his life. The crowning touch is the soaring, extraordinary music by Randy Newman, the singer-songwriter turned orchestral composer. --Robert Horton
Director Barry Levinson mentions in his video introduction the 1984 movie was rushed to theaters and this 2007 DVD is more the film he originally intended. This "director's cut" adds about 15 minutes of footage and deletes 5. It tightens the first third of the film, yet any fan of the lyrical prologue set in perfect synchronization with Randy Newman's score will be disappointed. Now the beginning is told in flashback as the elder Hobbs returns home. (It's also confusing to keep track of which Hobbs story you are watching when they are both on a train.) The changes do not improve the story or character; it simply packs in more information before Hobbs enters the Knight's dugout. After that, there are a few new scenes and many extensions, most involving Memo (Kim Basinger) and Red (Richard Farnsworth). None of the additions are exceptional. One could hope there is an Easter egg with the remastered original edition. What is on the second disc are above-average featurettes with interviews from most of the major talent. The best little ditties includes Newman's playful "lyrics" to his theme music and Levinson's divulgence that he is the radio play-by-play man. There's a good discussion on adapting (and changing) the novel, the allegorical myths, and the real-life inspirations including a heart-felt segment on Eddie Waitkus, a baseball player who was shot by an obsessed fan. A 5.1 Dolby soundtrack is now available and compliments an excellent video upgrade. --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Completely Dissatisfied!
I couldn't even play my new DVD, The Natural, in my my DVD player or my 2 computers. It came scratched in the wrapping. I have never before received a inoperable product until now. Buyer beware!!
Rating:  - The Natural
At first this movie is a little confusing, but it is still a good movie to watch. You leave feeling good.
Rating:  - Great movie, a bit slower than I remembered
Fabulous scenary and a near perfect baseball movie. Beginning was a bit slower than I remember. We had to see the past (19 years old), getting in to the club (NY Knights), and then the rise and fall of "Bump" Bailey before we could see some great moments from Roy Hobbs.
A definite must for ones collection.
Rating: - Maybe the best baseball movie of all time - but there's one glaring flaw
Let's get this out of the way: I LOVE this movie. It's one of the best, if not the best, baseball movies ever made. The sports action is believable, Hobbs (Redford) is an incredible character, and the musical score is phenomenal. Hobbs is, indeed, the natural. He can hit the ball so far and hard that the cover has no choice but to fly off, and an entire electrical system in a stadium is destroyed with a well-placed 750-foot homerun - surge protectors and transformer boxes be damned! Simply incredible, ... Read More
Rating: - One of the WORST movies I've seen
A coworker forwarded me a list of '20 movies that make men cry' and the Natural was one I hadn't gotten arount to seeing. (BTW 'Old Yeller' is the ONLY legitimate movie on the list.)
The only reason to cry when seeing this movie is from the pain caused by stabbing youe eyes out with an ice pick to avoid seeing any more. My very first impression was that Redford, besides being a terrible actor, looks about 30 years too old to play the ADULT character. Never mind the complete joke of him as a 19 year ... Read More
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