Eight Men Out Blu Ray Review (MGM)

Eight Men Out is a 1988 sports drama written and directed by John Sayles (City of Hope, Passion Fish, Lone Star, Men with Guns, Silver City, Limbo, and Baby It’s You). It’s based on the real life Black Sox scandal and the book “8 Men Out” book by author Eliot Asinof. The budget was $6 million and it grossed $5,680,515 worldwide at the box office. In 1919, the Chicago White Sox have won the American League and they are considered one of the greatest baseball teams of all time. Team owner Charles Comiskey (played by: Clifton James from Live and Let Die, Cool Hand Luke, Superman II, Silver Streak, The Man with the Golden Gun, and The Last Detail) gives little to almost no reward his players for a iconic season. Gamblers “Sleepy Bill” Burns (played by: Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future franchise, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Addams Family franchise, Clue, Taxi, Angels in the Outfield, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, Piranha franchise, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and Nobody) and Billy Maharg (played by: Richard Edson from Super Mario Bros, Do the Right Thing, Howard the Duck, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Platoon, and Strange Days) get wind of the players’ frustration of their cheap leadership. They go to shady player Chick Gandil (played by: Michael Rooker from Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, The Walking Dead, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Slither, Mallrats, Days of Thunder, The Dark Half, Tombstone, and The Suicide Squad) to convince a select group of teammates which includes star pitcher Eddie Cicotte (played by: David Strathairn from City of Hope, Lincoln, Godzilla franchise, L.A. Confidential, Bourne franchise, A League of their Own, The Firm, The Sopranos, and The Blacklist), Swede Risberg (played by: Don Harvey from The Untouchables, Die Hard 2, The Duece, Casualties of War, We Own This City, The Relic, In Too Deep, and Creepshow 2), Lefty Williams (played by: James Read from Charmed, Legally Blonde, Not Another Teen Movie, The Initiation, Remington Steele, and Beaches), Hap Felsch (played by: Charlie Sheen from Platoon, Wall Street, Major League franchise, Young Guns, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Money Talks, The Wraith, Navy Seals, Scary Movie franchise, and Red Dawn), and others to take the payoff during this corruption of sports for gangster Arnold Rothstein (played by: Michael Lerner from Elf, Godzilla, Barton Fink, Anguish, Maniac Cop 2, Blank Check, No Escape, Harlem Nights, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Omen IV). “Shoeless Joe” Jackson (played by: D.B. Sweeney from Fire in the Sky, Memphis Belle, Spawn, Hardball, Taken 2, Strange Luck, Fire with Fire, No Man’s Land, Lonesome Dove, and The Cutting Edge) and Buck Weaver (played by: John Cusack from High Fidelity, Say Anything, Grosse Pointe Blank, 1408, Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, The Grifters, Con Air, Identity, The Ice Harvest, and Stand By Me) decide not to get involved with the fix. The Sox begin to play different and their true talent isn’t displayed. Something doesn’t seem right so Chicago journalists Ring Lardner (played by: director John Sayles from Piranha, The Howling, and Matinee) and Hugh Fullerton (played by: Studs Terkel from The Civil War) grow very suspicious during the whole situation so they do their own investigation. Can the Chicago White Sox pull this off and get some revenge on their low balling owner???? Eight Men Out is one of the best baseball and sports films ever made. It’s based on the real life scandal in baseball that forever changed sports. Director John Sayles wrote the screenplay plus he had a small role here. It’s his best movie when it comes to him being behind the camera. This drama shows what happens when athletes are not appreciated for their work. Back in the day, those players were barely making anything. It was pure exploitation when it came to most of the cheap ownership in the league. This was one of the greatest baseball units put together and they were loaded with so much talent. This whole subject and situation is still a thing in today’s sports despite them making so much more money than these guys when they played. It’s an interesting story and it’s been covered multiple times at this point but this is the adaptation that you need to see. It had one of the best assemble casts of all time that includes so many familiar faces like Christopher Lloyd, Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney, Michael Rooker, David Strathairn, Richard Edson, Michael Lerner, Clifton James, Don Harvey, Gordon Clapp, Bill Irwin, Perry Lang, John Mahoney, Kevin Tighe, Nancy Travis, Barbara Garrick, and Wendy Makkena. The acting and performances in Eight Men Out were top notch. There’s not a single weak link in this one. This is worth checking out even if you are not even a sports or baseball fan. This film keeps getting better and better with each revisit. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!

Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from MGM!!!! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer is a nice upgrade compared to the original DVD release that I had. It definitely pops on everything a little more when it comes to the visuals here. After doing some research, it appears to the same older restoration that was used on the original Olive Films blu ray release awhile back. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The audio is good but not anything mind blowing when it comes to the overall feature. All of the dialogue is very clean, the basement moments are elevated, and the music has a solid boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. Unfortunately, there’s no extras on this home video release. Despite it’s artwork that’s listed almost everywhere for this blu ray, it’s actually not a BD-R, it might still be considered M.O.D. because it’s limited amount produced but it’s actually pro pressed just like most of MGM’s current recent catalog title releases..It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!