Rating: 
Summary: James Earl Jones should've won Best Supporting Actor
Review: James Earl Jones was phenomenal in this movie. His scenes were the best in the movie. This movie should've won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor. There's just one mystery in this movie: WHO WAS THE VOICE?!?!
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Summary: One of My Favorite Baseball Movies
Review: This is an intriguing movie for any baseball fan, yet the story is so much deeper than that of bringing back baseball players to life who had their dreams stripped from them for whatever reason.However, Ray Cancella, played by Costner really has a desire to see his dad who died when he was young. Ray's dad wanted to play baseball very badly and his life was different because he did not. I had an uncle who tried out for a pro team just prior to WWII, he did not make the team and this movie makes me wonder what his life would have been like had he made the grade. James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster in the flick made it memorable. The movie is really about choices and what you do with your life if your dreams do not happen. I think it is a watcher each baseball season. I watch it almost every year as a season opener.
Rating: 
Summary: Strikeout
Review: Not so long ago Ben Mankiewicz, scion of the screenwriting/producing/directing family, told a great story on television: the first time he saw the 1989 "Field of Dreams" he was bawling in the movie theatre, that's how impressed he was. Ben's relationship with his father (Joseph's nephew) had always been close, and a great deal of their bonding had been associated with baseball. They had been going to games together since Ben was a kid. Therefore, as soon as Ben left the theatre, he called his father and gushed: "Dad, I've just seen 'Field of Dreams'!" Before he could go any further, the elder man growled: "Wasn't that the dumbest piece of crap you ever saw?" Poor Ben doesn't seem like a wimp, but he was so crushed by his father's reaction he had no choice but to agree. Having finally seen this fanatically idolized movie I can only say: "Bravo, Mankiewicz père!" This is beer-sappy bilge, the type of thing Homer Simpson would sob over at Moe's. I can't imagine a baseball fan enjoying this movie, any more than I can imagine anyone who really likes children sitting through a program with that obnoxious dinosaur. Written and directed with sledge-hammer simplicity by Phil Alden Robinson (who hasn't done much since), "Field of Dreams" is the story of Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer by way of Berkeley who, one afternoon in his cornfield, hears a voice: "If you build it, he will come." That's it, but Kinsella decides "it" is a baseball field, so he plows under his corn and constructs a diamond, complete with lights. Kinsella's convinced the "he" of the cryptic message is none other than Shoeless Joe Jackson, the player who, with seven of his team mates, was indicted in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal; but Kinsella is further convinced that Jackson was railroaded, an honest man who made a mistake. (Actually, Robinson's screenplay implies that Jackson was completely innocent -- citing his batting average as proof!) Kevin Costner had already established himself as a star of Cooperesque sincerity. Unfortunately, he got the goofy charm down pat but not the rugged individualism. Amy Madigan, as Kinsella's wife, is more difficult to judge. I think her character was meant to be a hybrid of Berkeley liberalism and mid-West spunk, but what comes across is somewhat shallow. (Following "Field of Dreams", Ms Madigan did a great deal of TV.)That patriarchal character actor James Earl Jones wastes his sepulchral voice on some pretty contrived dialogue; and, even sadder, Burt Lancaster makes one of his last screen appearances in an awkward scene involving a little girl's very unconvincing crisis. Robinson and Costner, before committing themselves to a baseball fantasy about a man fighting pragmatic odds, should have studied Clarence Brown's light but spiky "Angels in the Outfield". Between "Dreams" and "Angels", I'll bet the Mankiewicz elders would have preferred the latter.
Rating:
Summary: Guaranteed To Make You Feel Good About life
Review: FIELD OF DREAMS is a film about a man who pursues a big dream against heavy odds. In the process he serves as a catalyst for some remarkable events. The film is guaranteed to leave the viewer feeling good about life. It is adapted from a novel about Shoeless Joe Jackson by W. P. Kinsella. Kevin Costner stars as the man who has the dream and the strong supporting cast includes Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffman, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster and Timothy Busfield. James Earl Jones gives a particularly memorable performance as a famous writer from the 1960's. The movie was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Original Score in 1989. The film's director Phil Alden Robinson also directed THE SUM OF ALL FEARS.
Rating: 
Summary: People will come
Review: I love this movie!!!!!!!!! You don't have to like baseball to fall in love with it. It's about more than just that. It's about family and love. It's so touching
Rating:
Summary: Hey! I get it!
Review: I'm always amazed when I hear baseball fans complain about this movie, and believe me it happens every spring. Good sports movies are few and far between, and I'd stick Field Of Dreams out at the front of the pack along with Bull Durham and Hoosiers, (with the slight overall edge to Hoosiers.) The Field Of Dreams story has been rehashed often enough in these reviews, so I'll spare you my take on it, but I have to say that the cast is what takes a pretty good story and makes it into a great movie. Only Costner's Dances With Wolves performance tops this one. James Earl Jones is likewise incredible as the sixties burn-out, as is Amy Madigan as the hippy burn-out. Honestly there isn't a weak performance in the movie, and if the Fenway Park scenes don't make you book a trip to Boston, you shouldn't call yourself a baseball fan.
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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: Is this Heaven?
Review: Field of Dreams was released in 1989. The film runs one hour and forty-six minutes. Phil Alden Robinson is the director and the Gordon Company produced the film. Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones and Amy Madigan are the main actors in the film. Field of Dreams was nominated for Best Picture of the Year. The setting of the film is on an Iowa farm in the middle of a corn field. The movie is set in the late eighties and the main theme of the film is Ray Kinsella's struggle with himself. He struggles with his need to follow the voice he hears in the corn field, saving his home and farm, and his wondering about how he could have been better with his father. The plot of the film is that Ray is told to build a baseball field and 'he' will come. The purpose of the field is to ease 'his' pain. The voice comes to him many times while he is working in his corn field. The voice then continues to guide him to Terrance Mann, a famous writer, and to 'Moonlight' Graham, a former rookie baseball player that only got to play in one game and never bat. After Ray builds the baseball field, his father's hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson, comes to play ball. Shoeless Joe and seven other players where banned from baseball for life after it is thought that they threw a World Series. Shoeless Joe brings the other banned players with him to play, eventually bringing many other dead players to have real games. Ray brings men together to play baseball, but will one of them be his father? This drama was filmed in color and would be rated four stars. I would give it a four star rating because the film keeps you in suspense, wondering what the voice will tell Ray to do next. It keeps you wondering about what is in the corn field and whether these players are ghost or not. In the end, the field ends up easing everyone's pain. Ray gets to reconnect with his father as a young vibrant man and keep his home, Terrance Mann gets to go with the ghost into the corn and write again, Moonlight Graham gets his chance at bat, and the other players just get to play the game they loved. It is a feel good film!
Rating:
Summary: Even allowing for baseball hyperbole, a wonderful movie
Review: Baseball is great, but you don't have to think that He invented baseball, and that everything good is because of baseball and that everything bad is because of not enough baseball to enjoy this movie. The pacing is perfect, the colors and shots are unrushed and nicely framed, and the actors are perfectly cast. There are many special moments in this film, but two of my favorite always bring a tear to my eye. The first is when Burt Lancaster's character saves Ray's daughter, at great sacrifice to himself. That always gets me. The second, big surprise, is when Ray has his catch at the end of the movie. Man, that was done just right. Could easily have been maudlin, but instead had the sense of relief, thankfulness, and love that was just perfect. This movie is aging well. So a few of the baseball speeches are over the top, it's a minor point for such a warm and good movie.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Gold
Review: This movie is beautiful almost beyond words. Forgive my hyperbole, but it's like it's a religious experience cloaked in the simple disguise of a "baseball movie," and I really think it transcends that category. Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones are at their best, Phil Alden Robinson's writing is great, and James Horner's score is just plain super-duper. The DVD features an hour-long documentary that exhaustively details the making of the film, and the picture and sound are good. The only way you can go wrong with this disc is if you're dead inside. Movie: 6/5
DVD: 5/5
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