Battlefield Baseball – Review

Directed by the writer of the cult flick Versus, Battlefield Baseball follows the Seido High School baseball team as they must face their rivals at Gedo High, a team made up entirely of zombies. Their ace in the hole may well be transfer student `Jubeh The Baseball’, who’s signature fastball killed his own father, a tragedy which prevents him from helping the team. This movie could be described accurately as Shaolin Soccer, but Japanese and about baseball. This movie is part musical with full-fledged break out in song moments. You’d think it awkward for both the actor on-screen and yourself sitting through it, but actually its very entertaining! If you haven’t guessed by the artwork I attched and the screenshot below, this is a very low budget film. It is definetely a mixed bag.

This is not a serious movie by any means, please don’t take it seriously and you should really enjoy it. For an adaptation of a manga it was very good. This is absurdity on a Monty Python level, only with more applauding audiences appearing at dramatic moments. The movie was over the top in every aspect. The one downfall it has was its lack of action. However, director Yamaguchi piles on the gore and grotesquerie as ears get ripped off, crowds are gunned down, players are impaled on bats, and every game ends with a bunch of bloody plastic limbs strewn around. But as for the makeup on the other characters, wow, they were just plain awful.

The film is low budget, and although a low budget film does not necessarily mean a film will be good or bad, a higher budget may have helped. The actors were for the most part okay. Some played their parts incredibly good, while others were for the most part bad. Yes, the film is weird, funny, silly, demented, and therefore will appeal to some: And I will admit the beginning of the film was enjoyable. However, the film begins to get a little too silly. It’s a lowbudget romp with an abundance of cheesy jokes, plenty of gory bloody effects, and an occasional musical number.  If you watch this film, I have given you a pretty clear picture of what you’re getting into.

Sure, on paper, the film looks and sounds like a cheesy stink bomb, but it’s loads of fun to watch. Just leave your expectations at the door because you won’t know what hit you once you settle in for the Baseball Battlefield experience. Most of the gags in this movie are totally unnecessary, the characters are terrible, the plot is worse. In short, best movie ever! This movie is also not as hard to explain as Versus was. The story is pretty much about these two schools who are playing baseball and all one team does is slaughter the other. Have fun kiddos!