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Summary: A movie for family traditionalists
Review: For every man or boy who has the wonderfulness of memories or actualities of playing catch with "your old man", this is an event which you must not miss. A movie that touches you whether it is the first or thirty-first viewing. If you have sons, show this to them. Memories do last forever.
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Summary: A great story beautifully told
Review: I'm not exactly objective - this is my favorite movie. The magic starts when Ray hears "The Voice" in his corn field and the roller-coaster journey of discovery sweeps along as Ray first builds the baseball field and then is given more instructions which sends him to Boston and Minnesota and back to Iowa.The original book (Shoeless Joe) is good, but the movie moves beyond that into greatness. The movie just proves that not all conversions from a novel to screenplay needs to be a backward step.
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Summary: Mystical, a celebration of tradition, family and life.
Review: The final 32 minutes of this masterpiece reveal the soul of the movie -- the dialogue, the imagery, the haunting musical refrains. "Maybe this is heaven."
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Summary: It's (Still) a Wonderful Life
Review: Enough time has passed since the 1989 release of this film that there is now a whole generation of young moviegoers who have never seen it. I heartily recommend this movie to anyone. It's about a Dyersville, Iowa farmer who has a vision that commands him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield. Despite neighborhood scorn, he does so, and sets off a wonderful chain of events. Warning: at the time of this film's release there were a lot of people who found this film "sappy." All I can say is this: Field of Dreams is a sweet, heart-warming film, and if the phrase "a sweet, heart-warming film" makes you cringe, then this movie probably isn't for you. As for me, this is my favorite film of all time. END
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Summary: 1989 Classic And Kevin Costner's Best Film
Review: On DVD, the movie is loaded with extra features including commentary, interviews, trailer, etc. This was on Channel 7 last week. Kevin Costner stars as a suburban family man who is hearing voices. "If you built it they will come". The voices keep changing their messages and lead him in pursuit of the gathering of baseball legends who have passed away. The goal is to establish a "field of dreams" a baseball park with old pros playing and a magic working on its audience. And it did for many people when this movie was released in 1989. Too many, it was a movie about hope, following your dreams and persistence. Kevin Costner is doing a terrific performance and is perhaps doing his greatest role. He was merely a romantic lead in the early 90's "The Bodyguard" with Whitney Houston and he was not as committed in "Dances With Wolves" which though the right kind of movie for him was not as interesting enough a character as he is in this movie. Other than this movie, his only fine role was in J.F.K. In this film, he plays a dedicated and persistent dreamer who discovers that indeed dreams come true if you hold fast. A great job by all the actors, including James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars) as the hermit and elusive author Terrence Mann, who wrote books in the 60's advocating love and peace. He is supposedly modeled after J.D. Salinger. The chemistry between James Earl Jones and Kevin Costner, especially in the scene in which Costner attempts to pursuade him to join him to a baseball game is exceptional. Magical and unexpected things start to happen as the voices carry him onward through his mission, including a trip back in time to 1972. Bring the magic home in this remarkable DVD. It's as much an adult's movie as it is for the whole family. It's almost a Disney film. Five stars.
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Summary: Grand Slam
Review: On the surface, Field Of Dreams, seems like it belongs as an epidsode of The Twilight Zone. The cynic in me takes it one step further, and says, "there's no way I can buy into this sentimental hockum". As I watched the film for the first time, all of those concerns melted away, leaving me with a sense of wonder...normally reserved for children Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is inspired by a voice he can't ignore that will take him on a journey that will change his life forever. Supported by his wife Annie (Amy Madigan), Ray begins his special quest by turning a portion of his cornfields into a baseball diamond. Along the way he meets reclusive activist Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), the mysterious 'Doc' Graham (Burt Lancaster) and even the legendary 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson (Ray Liotta). Adapted from W.P. Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe", director Phil Alden Robinson, has created a fine tribute to the sport of Baseball, the fans who love the game, and more importantly, it's a metaphor about father's and sons everywhere. Aside from a handfull of films, I don't really think of Kevin Costner, as a good actor. As Ray though, he gives one of the best perfomances of his career, ideally capturing the sense of wonder I talked about earlier. Of course it doesn't hurt that James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster are there to back you up. Both men add so much to the film, giving a sense of realism and warmth, that may have seemed artificial had lesser actors been cast. As Joe Jackson, Liotta is very effective and I had forgotten just how good he can be in a non gangster/bad guy role. For more on the life of Joe Jackson and the World Series scandal that rocked the sport, be sure to watch Eight Men Out, another winner. Field Of Dreams also boasts one of composer James Hornor's best scores. I don't really know why I never picked up the Collector's Edition of the DVD. But after watching the Anniversary Edition 2 disc set, all I can say is, I'm glad I waited. The remastered picture and 5.1 sound very clean transfers and work well on either my TV, or, my speaker enhanced PC. The audio commentary with Robinson and the film's director of photography John Lindley is very good. Both men are well spoken, never dull, and clearly respected the source material In keeping with the father/son themes I spoke of, I especially enjoyed "...Passing Along the Pastime" - memories of father and son baseball as recounted by the director, star, and major league baseball players. The newly discovered deleted scenes are mostly throwaway stuff that was wisely cut. I was surprised to learn while watching "The Diamond in the Husks", that the baseball set made for the film still exists, and attracts tourists every year. We also get to visit the Minnesota home town of Moonlight Doc Graham. "A Look Inside Field of Dreams is a new 90-minute documentary on the film and its lasting appeal. Also included is a 48 minute segment of the Bravo channel series "From Page to Screen" on the movie. The "Field of Dreams Roundtable", with Costner and former baseball players, including Bret Saberhagen talk about the state of the game and the film. Trivia buffs will really like the topper to the set, fun facts about America's stadiums. Field Of Dreams is not your typical "sports" movie. Indeed, it's much more than that...Even though, I never had the chance as kid to pitch baseballs with my dad, the movie allows me to dream that I can...
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Summary: One of Costner's Best Movies
Review: This ranks as one of my favorite movies of all time. You don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the nostalgia and warm heartedness this movie brings to the big screen - well little screen in the case of the DVD. It's part ghost story, part fantasy, part nostalgia. It's also about redemption and the fulfillment of dreams. The story begins when Ray Kinsella, a reluctant Iowa farmer, although he won't admit he's reluctant, starts hearing a voice telling him "build it and he will come." Ray dreams, ponders and finally plows under many acres of his crop to build a baseball field on his farm, against all rational logic. And the magic begins. This magic takes Ray on a strange quest in search of a '60s radical holed up in a New York City apartment writing children's books played by James Earl Jones - to tell why would spoil the movie. But suffice it to say Jones ends up with one of the most memorable "speeches" in the movie about the nostalgia of baseball. It's hard to really do justice to the plot without spoiling the movie but it will at times give you chills and in the end is very uplifting.
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Summary: Field of Dreams = Perfection!!!
Review: Ray Kinsella ( Kevin Costner) loves baseball, and lives on a farm in Iowa. One day while he is working out in the cornfield, he hears the words "If you build it, they will come." This inspires Ray to build a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield. His wife Annie ( Amy Madigan) supports him. But the mission does not stop with building the field. Ray is given more signs that tell him to seek out reclusive novelist ( James Earl Jones), and a player that sacrificed his dream of playing baseball, to be a doctor (Burt Lanchaster). However his persistance is rewarded, when spirits from baseball's past, which include the legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson ( Ray Liotta), start to appear on the field and play games amonsgt themselves. "Field of Dreams" is one of my favorite movies. The film succeeds on so many levels. The script is absolutely flawless. It features a wonderful mix of baseball, the relationship between father and son, determination, and the undying power of love. The cast is first rate. Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan, Burt Lancaster, Ray Liotta, and Timothy Busfield are all spectacular in their roles and really bring the story to life. In all of the films I have seen, the score to "Field of Dreams" is one of the most beautiful and powerful scores I have ever heard. The baseball action in this film is extremely fun to watch. I love how spirits from baseball's past are used, which symbolizes that the magic of baseball will never die. That was a stroke of genius! Director Phil Alden Robinson managed to actually stay historically accurate to all of the players as well. The way Ray Liotta is able to immitate Shoeless Joe Jackson down to the last detail of his playing style is amazing. One of the best features is that the film is set in Iowa. This provided for the corn field which adds a sense of magic to the film. Watching the players dissapear as they walk into the cornfield is breathtaking. But the most memorable thing about the movie without a doubt is the ending. It has to be one of the most touching and memorable endings ever captured on film. The DVD is a treat on its own. You get commentary by director Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley, a "Field of Dreams" video scrapbook featuring new interviews with cast and crew, behind-the-scenes footage, and MORE! This is definately a must own film for anyone's DVD collection. "America has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and then erased again. But baseball has marked the times." - James Earl Jones
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Summary: A NEAR PERFECT COLLECTOR'S DVD
Review: Field of Dreams is a modren day fable. A fantasy played out not in an enchanted realm of dragons and faeries, but in a middle American Iowa cornfield. Costner plays Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer who one day hears a voice telling him "If you build it, they will come." Build what and who will come? Well the answer is, of course, a regulation baseball diamond right in the middle of his cornfield. Townspeople think Ray is nuts but his idealistic wife Annie (Amy Madigan) has faith in Ray.
Ray continues to get new messages from the voice that leads him to Boston to track down a reclusive author Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones) where, in films funniest moment, Ray explains to Mann that he has to take him to a baseball game at Fenway Park and Ray fakes having a gun in his jacket to coerce the skeptical writer.
Eventually THEY do come...spirits of deceased baseball players, right out of his cornfield to play ball on Ray's diamond, including Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) the wrongfully banned player from the Black Sox scandal. All the while Ray's brother in law Mark (Tim Busfield) is trying to get Ray to sell his farm before the bank forecloses on it. Eventually, as in any mythical fairy tale, all things work out and one could end the film by saying they all lived happily ever after!
Costner's "aw shucks" All-American boy style was perfectly suited to his role in this film. James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster (as Moonlight Graham) also stood out although Liotta's Jackson was a bit too refined for a guy who was supposed to be something of a country bumpkin. This is a magnificent film and one of the best of the 1980's.
This 15th anniversary release features a host of special features including a remastered anamorphic presentation of the film. There's a new 90 minute documentary, A roundtable discussion between Costner and several former pro baseball players discussing the film, deleted scenes, Director commentary, a visit to "moonlight Graham's" hometown, and much more. Truly a worthwhile collectors edition. Highest recommendation!
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Summary: Just about perfect
Review: Ray Kinsella hears a voice telling him to build something. He makes a leap of faith, supported by his wife, and builds a baseball field. Lo and behold, none other than Joe Jackson appears and brings some of the other tarnished 1919 "black sox" with him. Eight in all, to be exact. Ray continues on his trip, following the mysterious voice, trying to figure out what to do. He may lose everything, yet he still continues.
Kevin Costner was at his finest in this movie, and the supporting cast is nothing short of astonishing. It is one of the most moving sports stories ever told and one of the most moving father/son movies ever told.
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