The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

"The Bad News Bears Go to Japan" was released on June 2, 1978 by Paramount Pictures. It's the second sequel to "The Bad News Bears" and the sequel to "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training". It stars Tony Curtis, Jackie Earle Haley, and Regis Philbin. This movie was followed by the 1979 CBS-TV series, and the 2005 remake of the 1976 film.

Plot

Small-time promoter/hustler Marvin Lazar (Tony Curtis) sees a potential money-making venture in the Bears that will help him to pay off his debts. After seeing a TV spot about the Bears, he decides to chaperone the baseball team for a trip to Japan in their match against the country's best little league baseball team.

As implied in "Breaking Training", the Bears had to defeat the Houston Toros for a shot at the Japanese champs. In the process, the trip sparks off a series of adventures and mishaps for the boys. A subplot involves Kelly Leak's interest in a local Japanese girl, and the cultural divide that comes to bear in that relationship.

About half of the original or "classic" lineup of Bears players return (players Jose Agilar, Alfred Ogilvie, Timmy Lupus and Tanner Boyle are not featured). Three new players are featured: E.R.W. Tillyard III, Abe Bernstein and Abdul's younger brother, Mustapha Rahim.

Cast

*Tony Curtis ... Marvin Lazar
*Jackie Earle Haley ... Kelly Leak
*Tomisaburo Wakayama ... Coach Shimizu
*Antonio Inoki ... Himself
*Hatsune Ishihara ... Arika
*George Wyner ... The Network Director
*Lonny Chapman ... Louis the Gambler
*Matthew Anton ... E.R.W. Tillyard, III (as Matthew Douglas Anton)
*Erin Blunt ... Ahmad Rahim
*George Gonzales ... Miguel Agilar
*Brett Marx ... Jimmy Feldman
*David Pollock ... Rudi Stein
*Jeffrey Louis Starr ... Mike Engleberg
*Scoody Thornton ... Mustapha Rahim
*Abraham Unger ... Abe Bernstein
*Dick Button ... Himself
*Regis Philbin ... Harry Hahn
*Kinichi Hagimoto ... Game Show Host
*Hugh Gillin ... Pennywall
*Robert Sorrells ... Locke
*Clarence Barnes ... Mean Bones Beaudine
*Michael Yama ... Usher
*James Staley ... Network Man #4
*Dick McGarvin ... Network Man #3
*Tak Kubota ... Referee
*Jerry Ziesmer ... Eddie of Network
*Gene LeBell ... Mean Bones' Manager
*Victor Toyota ... Interpreter
*Yangi Kitadani ... Fight Announcer
*Marjorie Jackson ... Waitress
*Jerry Maren ... Page Boy
*Tim P. Sullivan ... Network Man #2
*Bob Kino ... Moderator
*Dennis Freeman ... Network Man #5
*Kyôko Fuji ... Madam (as Kyoko Fuji)
*Ginger Martin ... Director's Aide
*Daniel Sasaki ... Band Leader
*Don Watters ... Network Man #1
*Bin Amatsu ... Arika's Father
*Dean A. Okinaka ... Manager
*David Stambaugh ... Toby Whitewood rest of cast listed alphabetically:
*Julie Hampton ... Dancing woman (uncredited)
*Akira Oizumi ... (uncredited)

Trivia

*The Paramount mountain changes into Mount Fuji before the opening credits begin.
*In an episode of The King of Queens Doug mentions an X-Rated video he owns labelled The Bad News Bears Go To Japan, so that his wife doesn't know what it is.

ee also

*Baseball in Japan

External links

*imdb title|id=0077199|title=The Bad News Bears Go To Japan
* [http://www.cultfilmfreak.com/davidpollock Interview with David Pollock ("Rudi Stein")]