What are your favorite come-from-behind victories in movies? Listen to the show to hear us go on about ours, and to hear Tom read a few listener picks. Also, find out which podcaster surprises us by revealing he has ambitions to transfer from 3x3 enforcement to ICE.
The director’s commentary on this was quite good. For the rap battles, because they shot them several times, the had Mathers just mouthing the lyrics to save his voice for subsequent shots. But what they found happening was that because his opponents were doing their raps live, the audience of locally-sourced extras were having trouble getting into the emotion of siding with Mathers. His comebacks weren’t forthcoming! They were basically just being asked to imagine it. In the climactic battles, Mathers busted out some live raps to the surprise of everyone and really won over the crowd. Their emotional responses are completely real.
Ooh, I don’t think I even knew there was a director’s commentary on my DVD. I’ll have to listen to that. Although it’s sad enough rewatching it after Brittney Murphy died; listening to Hanson’s commentary would just be sadder.
Also, does Curtis Hanson call him “Mather” in the commentary, or is that a baren thing? :)
Wow, my memory of the movie (which I watched in the 90s) is quite different. This is the movie that really taught me baseball. So when I would talk to other people who didn’t know baseball for the following decades, I would sit them down and tell them,
“Look, it’s not like Cricket where the batsman is the hero. In baseball, the pitcher is the hero. If you watch the movie Major League, Charlie Sheen is not a batter. He’s a pitcher. And the movie ends with him striking the other team out. That’s what’s considered an exciting finish in baseball, when your pitcher strikes out the other team.”
But that clip makes it clear that I just grew and grew that story in my head. The team clearly scored the winning run to win the game.
In The Swinging Cheerleaders the coach of the Mesa State football team colludes with the college dean to throw the Big Game in order to make off with some sweet cash (and, he thinks, maybe some sweet ass).
Star quarterback, Buck Larson, refuses to sacrifice his team’s perfect season for a payoff. So, on the day of the game, a couple of crooked cops pull Buck over, plant a joint on him,
Luckily, he’s got Kate on his side: a student journalist who went undercover as a cheerleader in order to expose “Female Exploitation in Contemporary Society,” only to find that not all jocks are bad.
One of the silliest films of all time. In WWII, a bunch of Allied POWs are made to play an exhibition match of soccer against the Nazis, and of course are told to lose. They plan an escape during the match, but, at half time, when they are losing 4-1, decide to play for a win to deny the Nazis a propaganda victory. In the end, the allies draw the game, though with a falsely disallowed goal they should have won.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention the film stars the greatest football players in the world, including Pele, Bobby Moore, and Ossie Ardiles. Also Sly Stallone plays goalie and Michael Caine is the captain.
In the prequel to Green Room–Rick Silva vs. The Marines–Rick Silva single-handedly leads a paintball comeback against some ex-Marine Iraq vets at Skate-O’s bachelor party. Also, in Green Room, Poots and Yelchin overcome the odds in the end.
Victory is awesome, and I’ve only ever seen it called"Victory" stateside. Maybe when it was released the name was different but it was Victory in rental stores and on TV. Pele practically wins WWII.
