While the premise of Major League might be a bit contrite at this point, it wasn't at the time, and this film is what set up this style of sports-movie. Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton) has just inherited ownership of the Cleveland Indians from her late husband, but quite frankly, she would prefer to live somewhere much warmer. That's why she has signed a deal with Miami to move the team down to sunny Florida. The only problem is the team's contract with the city, but there is a loophole. If she can get the team's attendance really low, then she can legally break the contract and make the move. So she hires a group of unknowns and has-beens for the team and sets them up to fail.
While most of the new team hasn't played any professional ball before, there are two characters who are known. Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger, October Road), a star whose knees have been giving him trouble and he has relegated himself to playing in Mexico, and Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), a man more worried about his appearance and endorsements than the game. As for the other misfits, Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) heads up the list as a pitcher just let out of prison, while Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes) made it onto the team on his speed alone, and Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert, 24) is a Cuban who has just made it to America and practices Voodoo. Needless to say, this team has a lot of work to do, and their season doesn't start off too well. But when they find out that their owner doesn't want them to win, determination and the will to show her up take over and what started as a weak 60-60 season becomes a trek to The Pennant.
One of the great things about Major League is what it started. Not only did it kick off the underdog-sports-comedy sub-genre, but it was one of Charlie Sheen's first comedies, Rene Russo's first movie (she plays Taylor's ex-girlfriend that he tries to win back), and Snipes' first real big role, not to mention the cultural impact this film had on Baseball in general. One of the points made over and over again in this releases' special features is how many ball-players reference this movie on an almost daily basis, especially the announcer, Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker).
Speaking of the special features, the ones included in this Blu-ray release of Major League: Wild Thing Edition haven't changed since this edition's DVD release a few years back. Also, none of the featurettes on this disc have been up-scaled to high definition, so you won't see any HD quality here, but it's better than nothing. The featurettes include a making-of called "My Kinda Team," interviews with Major League players (most, if not all, actually being from the Cleveland Indians) talking about the movie and the impact it has had on their lives, and the Bob Uecker special talks about how former baseball player-turned-announcer enjoyed playing the Indian's announcer.
Major League is an interesting movie. While there isn't anything special about its visuals or audio to warrant the move to HD, considering the fact that the film has such a huge cult following, especially among players of America's favorite pastime, it might be worth the purchase. While this release doesn't add anything to the previous DVD Wild Thing Edition, if you didn't grab that release when it came out, then this might be the one to pick up.
