I didn't like this movie at all. The story was good but the ending sucked. The acting wasn't good, but the worst part is all the copy cats trying to imitate it with the same basic story line and plot. This was a lowsy movie that I never want to see again and same goes for all of its imitators.

Walter Matthau was one of our greatest comedic treasures.He was great as Buttermaker.The Film was also a good followup for Tatum O'Neal after Paper Moon.

A classic baseball comedy for little leaguers.

Released in 1976 and directed by Michael Ritchie, The Bad News Bears was one of the surprisingly successful movies for that year. For the uninitiated, the concept of the film is a pitiful little league team which must compete against much more talented competition. To help the team, coach Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) recruits two ringers in the form of girl pitcher Manda Whurlizer (Tatum O'Neal) and rebellious but talented Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley). Buttermaker's schemes are complicated by the fact that Manda is the daughter of his ex-girlfriend and is still looking for a father. Besides being a comedy, the movie examines the world of little league baseball as the parents pressure the coach to win or disband the team for the self-esteem of the kids and the children generally support each other despite their obvious differences in ability. The bottom line is that while there were many subsequent kids in sports movies that were inspired by The Bad News Bears, this film remains the benchmark against which they are measured.

The movie that began the kid's sports movie trend has not aged particularly well, but it is still worth a look, primarily for Matthau's performance. The sequels, however, are the cinematic equivalent of Hep C.

Loved it when I was a kid. Not as good now that I'm an adult.