Baseball Movies in the 80s: The Natural

MOVIE STATS
Released: May 11, 1984

Distributor: Tristar

MPAA Rating: PG
Total Run Time: 138 mins.
Cast: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimly, Barbara Hershey

Plot: An average baseball player comes out of seemingly nowhere to become a legendary player with almost divine talent.
Weeks as Box Office #1: 2 weeks
Box Office Rank: #14 overall in 1984
US Domestic Gross: $47.9 million
Budget: $28 million (est.)

RD80s take:
Not many people get a second chance at their dream. Roy Hobbs gets his second chance and takes advantage of it to its fullest. I love the mystique of this movie, like the "Wonderboy" bat carved from the tree split by lightning and the amazing ability Roy has to hit the cover off a baseball. The Natural is also one of my favorite baseball movies depicted in the earlier years of baseball. The lasting image I always take from this movie is the home run trot around the bases with the sparks from the lights hitting the ground...

Memorable lines:

Roy Hobbs: Red, it took me sixteen years to get here. You play me, and I'll give ya the best I got.
Red Blow: I believe ya.

Roy Hobbs: I coulda been better. I coulda broke every record in the book.
Iris Gaines: And then?
Roy Hobbs: And then? And then when I walked down the street people would've looked and they would've said there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.

Pop Fisher: People don't start playing ball at your age, they retire!

Roy Hobbs: Pick me out a winner Bobby.

Thanks to BoxOfficeMojo, IMDB, and Wikipedia

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