Wow, This film is a total rip off
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Major League
mandlmosk — 15 years ago(January 01, 2011 10:12 AM)
No, seriously, this movie stole so much from the film Slap Shot, that it isn't even funny.
Team of Misfit players: check
Female owner that wants to move the team to florida: check
Said team of untalented players needs desperately to win: check
no seriously it seems like the writers looked at Slap Shot and thought "Hey why don't we take this movie but make it about baseball".
I don't understand why people don't seem to call this flim out on this more
That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die -
padraig-mcnally — 15 years ago(January 03, 2011 10:04 AM)
Mandlmosk,
If youre going to suggest that Major League is a ripoff of Slap Shot, then you have to suggest that Slap Shot is a rip-off of every other sports movie previous to itself. Struggling teams with questionable talent that must 'come together to win the whole thing' was not a premise started by Slap Shot. -
mandlmosk — 15 years ago(January 03, 2011 08:02 PM)
Well it's not just the very basic premise, but that there are also a bunch of little tings that match up between the two films, like the female owner who is going to move the team to florida.
That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die -
Humbaba484 — 15 years ago(February 17, 2011 11:12 AM)
Merely a coincidence. Florida was chosen because it was the rumored destination for relocation of teams throughout the 80s until they got franchises of their own in the 90s.
For example the Detroit Tigers seriously flirted with moving to Florida in the 80s. That was chosen not because in Slapshot a minor league hockey team thought about moving there rather because in was realistic to the baseball landscape at the time.
Slapshot is about a struggling minor league hockey with a has been player-coach, 3 pyscho brothers, and playing overly physical in order to become winners and pull up attendance.
Major League is about an owner trying to sabotage the team using all minor league players, minor league manager and minor league transportation in order to drop attendance. Nowhere do they try to intimidate. No strip tease dance. No massive brawls. No cursing like a sailor throughout the whole movie.
And the original ending had Lou Brown resigning only to have Rachel Phelps inform him the whole thing was an elaborate plot on her behalf to cover up the lack of money she had. She had personally scouted the manager and players herself.
Sports movies tend to be formulaic. Team is disjointed. New leader/star appears. Team comes together. Overcomes bad start to make championship game. Maybe win or lose.
Movies that fit that bill:
Might Ducks 1-3, Bad News Bears, Little Big League, Rookie of the Year, Major League, The Natural, Slapshot, Remember the Titans, Little Giants, Air Bud, The Replacements, and I could go on. Heck even all the Rocky films fit that bill if you substitute the word life for team.
Its not a ripoff of Slapshot, its just another formulaic movie. A formulaic movie I happen to enjoy, but a formulaic movie nonetheless. -
SkiDooDad — 13 years ago(February 28, 2013 02:08 PM)
Actually, the female owner in Slap Shot is NOT going to move the team to Florida. That was a motivational story made up by the coach, Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman), to get the guys to play better. He uses that story, along with "gooning" it up for the fans, to get people into the stands again. When he confronts the actual owner, she calls him on his "moving to Florida" bluff, and states it would be far more beneficial for her to fold the team and write off the loss. She never intended to move the team at all.
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insomniacmovie — 10 years ago(October 28, 2015 01:02 PM)
The loveable ragtag group that suddenly gets their act together to spite or show up an evil antagonist is one of the most common storylines in history. It is particularly prevalent in sports movies, but you can see it in numerous other genres as well.
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McFly_2015 — 9 years ago(August 25, 2016 06:38 AM)
I love both films but the central premise is different;
Slapshot used the premise of a team being together for quite some time and unknown ringers (the Hansen brothers) coming out of nowhere to become heroes. Major league doesnt do this, the central figures on the team at the start of the year (Hayes, Ceranno, Harris, Vaughn, Taylor) were still key players at the end of the year.
If they were copying slap shot they would have either had Vaughn come out of prison midway through the film or had some dude who barely played come off the bench to become the hero (and Wild Thing coming out to strike out Haywood isnt the same)