Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43787 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-05-28
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 118 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Director Barry Levinson treats The Natural as a kind of shrine to America's national pastime, baseball, complete with all the possible mythic resonance that can be gleaned from the subject. Fans of the Bernard Malamud novel may be dismayed, but anyone who fell for the similarly mythic Field of Dreams will be hooked. Levinson displays an unabashed devotion to the game, although the film could use more of the realities of chewing tobacco and pine tar. The story opens as a young man (Robert Redford, in soft lighting) emerges from the sun-dappled heartland as maybe the best baseball player anybody's ever seen. On his way to the majors, he is waylaid by an enigmatic black widow (Barbara Hershey) and vanishes for many years. When he re-emerges, a silent mystery, he lands a spot with a New York team and begins tearing up the league--he's still the natural. Redford is fine, and Kim Basinger and Oscar-nominated Glenn Close are effective as the women in his life. The crowning touch is the soaring, extraordinary music by Randy Newman, the singer-songwriter turned orchestral composer. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

The Heart of the Natural - Documentary
Theatrical Trailer
The Way We Were Trailer
Interactive Menus
Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German
Subtitles: English, French, German, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Hindi, Turkish, Danish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian.

Synopsis
Farm boy Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is the best baseball player anyone has ever seen. His bat, handmade from the wood of a tree felled by lightning following the death of his father, is magic in his hands. But before his career can start, the mysterious Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey) inexplicably shoots him, sidelining him for more than a decade. Fifteen years later, Hobbs returns to play for the New York Knights, whose coach, Pop Fisher (Wilfred Brimley), begrudgingly accepts the aging rookie as a member of the team. Pop is as surprised as the rest of the team when Hobbs knocks the ball out of the park time and again and can still play a mean outfield as well. However, when the politics of the business side of the game get in the way, Hobbs has to make some life-changing decisions. Meanwhile, he becomes involved with Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), a sultry siren with her own agenda. Glenn Close plays Iris, the hometown girl whom Hobbs left behind but never forgot. Director Barry Levinson (DINER, RAIN MAN) manages to re-create the excitement of old-time baseball while telling an all-American tale of success and failure, based on the novel by Bernard Malamud.

Customer Reviews

Magical
For Redford this is a strange film. In many of his earlier incarnations he edges towards realism as a style and genre - by that I am thinking of 'Downhill Racer', 'The Candidate', 'Three Days of the Condor' and, of course, 'All the President's Men'. Then you have this... The wonderful novel has been pulled apart and, oddly enough, put back together again in an incredibly rich way. The power of pathos in this story is simply overwhelming. Redford floors us with his wistful performance - the ageing baseball star trying to follow his glowing star for one last ride into the record books. You can see the sadness in his eyes - Roy Hobbs a mythical young star who made one damn mistake (and a wholly human one at that) who ended up paying for it. But, the stars line up - and via faith from Glenn Close - he gets his second shot at redemption. Watch out for Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker - great performances. And the lighting is stunning. The soaring music takes you to another place. And the look on Redford's face when he winces, then nods, as he prepares to hit that final pitch... well... in 100 years they'll still be appreciating that one: Yeah, comebacks are indeed the second wind of the soul. This is not a film about baseball - it's a fable about never, ever, giving up on your dream, nor more importantly, yourself. Because, as that ball unravels in mid-air (watch and you'll understand) you realise sometimes your previously unconquerable dreams can be realised in a heartbeat if only you supply the guts, and the Gods supply the knowing wink. What a lovely, decent, warm and encouraging film. We need more like it Bob.

The Long Wait For This Classic Tale On DVD Was Worth It
What a joy to see The Natural out on DVD at last. Purists howled at the change from the storyline of the novel. Listen to them not a jot. The Natural is simply a wonderful movie, greatly underrated by the Academy when the Oscars were handed out. Looking back, it is unbelievable that this fine film received not even a single Oscar nomination. Outstanding, beautifully understated performances across the cast create an emotional atmosphere that draws you in each and every time you watch the film. Randy Newman's magnificent soundtrack has the power to move you at all the right moments, and the camera work is beautiful - just watch the backlit, "haloed" Glenn Close stand up during a crucial moment in a game and try not to be impressed. A fundamental knowledge of baseball is helpful but not essential, for the real message is not in the game, but in the lessons in life Robert Redford's character, Roy Hobbes ("The Natural" in the story) learns along the way. This is not just a sports film, it is a love story - and in more ways than one. As Roy reflects upon his life late in the film, he says "Some mistakes I guess you never stop paying for." Well thankfully, the long-standing mistake of not bringing The Natural out on DVD has been rectified at last. Unlike a number of DVDs, it loads quickly into the main menu, bypassing the normal agonising wait past credits, warnings, commericals etc that many DVDs put you through when first loaded. The additional feature of a documentary starring Cal Ripken is a fantastic and touching bonus, but quite why the trailer for "The Way We Were" was considered a good idea for inclusion on a DVD about a baseball player is puzzling. The Natural has always one of my top all-time movies, and on DVD it has come of age. I highly commend it to anyone who loves the thrill of the gladiatorial showdown in sport, anyone who loves a good old-fashioned love story, and anyone who maybe has lost their way in life and needs to believe in something or even themselves again. Finely crafted, deeply moving, classic story telling at its finest. Buy it and be enchanted.

One of my all time favourites....
and it works on so many levels.There is the sporting theme(baseball the American game, set in an innocent era,) The potential, and innocence of youth. Dreams that never die, as well as an indicment of the press(build em up to knock them down) but at the end of the day it is an enjoyable film. Would have given it 5, but you could say that the end is corny, but in the same way that you are caught up in the emotion, of say a Rocky film, this film leaves you with a warm feeling inside. Try it and see.