Hoosiers (1986)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Melvin W

  
  Coach Norman Dale: Welcome to Indiana basketball.  "They needed a second chance to finish first." Hoosiers is one of the most manipulative films you'll ever see. Everything the movie does is designed around manipulating the audience as much as possible. Every foul… More
  Coach Norman Dale: Welcome to Indiana basketball.  "They needed a second chance to finish first." Hoosiers is one of the most manipulative films you'll ever see. Everything the movie does is designed around manipulating the audience as much as possible. Every foul seems to be against Hickory. The referees seem very one sided towards the opponent. The townspeople are against the coach. The underdog story is amped up twentyfold here and no ones hiding that fact. Yet, unlike other films, the manipulation here doesn't piss me off. It seems almost necessary, while in other films, it seems all to unnecessary.  When I was a young kid, my whole life was sports. I wouldn't watch a movie unless it had something to do with sports. Hoosiers was one of my favorites. I haven't watched it in probably 8 of 9 years, except for glimpses on the television, so reuniting with it was special and enjoyable. The film is very heartfelt in all regards. While it is a story about an underdog team who makes it to the state championship; it is more about second chances then anything else. Coach Dale was suspended from his collegiate coaching job and hasn't coached in something like 10 years. This is his second chance. There's a drunk father, who knows a lot about basketball, who gets a second chance when Coach Dale asks him to help out. A player walks out during the first practice, but gets a second chance when the coach allows him back on the team. Another player doesn't listen to his coach and gets benched, but gets a second chance when he is allowed to play again. The second chance theme is all over this film. It's basically a walking advertisement for the saying, "Everyone deserves a second chance" and just about everyone in the film gets one. Hoosiers is a film that is just a good time to watch. You really find yourself cheering for the team, which is a trait of a good sports oriented movie, like Friday Night Lights. If you don't feel like a fan of the team who is being filmed then the film has failed. You'll definitely cheer for this team, and if you don't, you probably don't have a heart. The movie has some really good performances from Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, and Dennis Hopper. All in all, it's a one of a kind sports drama, that although predictable and as I said earlier, highly manipulative, is one you should be able to enjoy time and time again.

• Brad W

  
  Hoosiers is an incredible sports film and my #2 favorite sports film of all time (behind Rudy).

• Manu G

  
  They needed a second chance to finish first. Good decent basketball film. Dennis Hopper was actually nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for this film in 1986. I don't particularly have a taste for Gene Hackman film's but I just had to watch this film,… More
  They needed a second chance to finish first. Good decent basketball film. Dennis Hopper was actually nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for this film in 1986. I don't particularly have a taste for Gene Hackman film's but I just had to watch this film, basketball is in my blood and I love sports movies. A classic tale of redemption, this film features a volatile coach and a former star player-turned alcoholic leading a small-town basketball team on an improbable run to the Indiana high school championship game. Coach Norman Dale encounters several hurdles in his path: a feisty teacher determined to keep the best player from going out for the team, a town chock full of second-guessing fathers, and a group of undisciplined athletes. Story inspired by the Milan (Indiana) Indians' state title of 1954.

• moon r

  
  by the numbers sports movie ("hey, we didn't have a chance, but through work and forgetting our many differences ... we win! we win!") with nonetheless good performances that carry this horse to the glue factory.

• Spencer S

  
  It would have been another typical sports movie of the underdogs in the big league if there wasn't so much tension, drama, insecurity over whether this would be a truly amazing story, or another happy tale of accidents. Hackman and Hopper are both perfect in their roles,… More
  It would have been another typical sports movie of the underdogs in the big league if there wasn't so much tension, drama, insecurity over whether this would be a truly amazing story, or another happy tale of accidents. Hackman and Hopper are both perfect in their roles, especially Hopper who plays a drunk wanting to reconnect with his son through the sport they both love. That Oscar nomination was worthy. Overall, it was a true classic.

• Cindy I

  
  Predictable but still OK

• Tim S

  
  Every white guy who plays basketball wishes he was Jimmy Chitwood.

• Lenny M

  
  Gene Hackman and Dennis Hooper put on great performances, good basketball flick.

• Al S

  
  my favorite sports movie. Rousing, funny and tremdously entertaining. Hackman gives a brilliant and inspiring performance.

• Bradley W

  
  Hoosiers is one of the greatest sports films of all time, and I am proud to say that this and Rudy are my favorite sports films ever made. This is a timeless classic.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]"Hoosiers" takes place in 1951 in Hickory, Indiana where Norman Dale(Gene Hackman), once a college basketball coach and for the last ten years in the navy, is given a second chance by an old friend(Sheb Wooley), now the high school principal, to coach… More
  [font=Century Gothic]"Hoosiers" takes place in 1951 in Hickory, Indiana where Norman Dale(Gene Hackman), once a college basketball coach and for the last ten years in the navy, is given a second chance by an old friend(Sheb Wooley), now the high school principal, to coach the boys' high school basketball team. In the school, there are only 64 boys, 7 of whom show up for practice. To make matters more difficult, the best player in the school refuses to play.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Hoosiers" is an entertaining and unabashedly sentimental film about redemption(it should be noted that Dale's sin falls on the unforgivable side) that sells its soul about halfway through. Look, I was not expecting a lot of socio-political analysis here but some complexity and soul-searching would have been nice.(Which the film of "Friday Night Lights" was kind enough to provide.) At its heart is a debate about sports in an academic setting and the best way to serve the students. Winning in sports in high school is a high that may not be matched in future years. High school should not be the zenith of someone's life but instead the entry point for adulthood.[/font]

• Jason T

  
  I love me a feel good sports movie about overcoming adversity. And sign me up any time Gene Hackman is a coach as he has that role down to the t. While this movie has the sports movie checklist virtually filled, you don't really care because it has miles of heart from beginning… More
  I love me a feel good sports movie about overcoming adversity. And sign me up any time Gene Hackman is a coach as he has that role down to the t. While this movie has the sports movie checklist virtually filled, you don't really care because it has miles of heart from beginning to end. Beautiful character development and of course drama on and off the court that make you care about each player on the team and their journey through the Indiana State Basketball tournament.

• Sam E

  
  Good movie

• ashley h

  
  I remember this being a good movie,but I only saw it once

• Max G

  
  This looked unique with it's portrayal of the 50s era of high-school basketball. Gene Hackman plays a good leading character but Dennis Hopper (RIP) takes the cake.

• Erin C

  
  Good movie. It's very predictable, but it's still touching.

• Chad R

  
  One of the greatest sports movies of all time. Gene Hackman in his most remember roles as Hickory's new basketball coach set in 1954. For those of you young uns, this is Coach Carter 50 years ago. Dennis Hopper is good here too.

• Doctor S

  
  Hollywoodized to the max, Gene Hackman was my reason for watching and as usual he makes it worthwhile,.

• MJS M

  
  I?ve skipped out on this movie for a very long time simply because it looked like just another corny and formulaic sports movie. Now that I?ve finally seen it I?m willing to say that this is even more of a corny and formulaic movie than I expected. In most sports movies the final… More
  I?ve skipped out on this movie for a very long time simply because it looked like just another corny and formulaic sports movie. Now that I?ve finally seen it I?m willing to say that this is even more of a corny and formulaic movie than I expected. In most sports movies the final game comes down to the last shot which narrowly lets the underdogs win in the last seconds, which leads the whole audience to run out on the field and lift up the underdog player. Here not only does the final game end that way, but also every other game in the whole damn movie. This is a movie that uses every trick in the book to milk every bit of drama out of every moment. The score is ever present and overbearing, slow motion is used whenever the filmmakers want to get more drama out of contrived situation. I?m willing to admit I?m biased against this kind of movie, I?m not just uninterested in high school basketball, I?m downright opposed to the institution. I?m always annoyed by the type of obsessive zeal that people place on local sport teams. I?m disgusted by the general insanity that?s displayed by people like the parents in this movie. I have almost no patience for the amounts of drama so many filmmakers try to place on these silly games. Of course sports can be good fun, and can be useful to some students, but I?m sick of games being treated like they?re matters of life and death. I will grant that this formula probably wasn?t as overused when this movie was made as it is now, and that this probably was influential. But I don?t think that the long run of derivative underdog sports films is much of a legacy. In fact, I?d probably slightly prefer the rip-offs of this movie, at least some those movies had some insights into social issues (Remember the Titans) or at the very least a gimmick (Cool Runnings). And speaking of Remember the Titans, does anyone else notice that this is a basketball about a bunch of white cornbread kids? There isn?t even a single brother in the whole movie until the last game where they?re the bad guys. Now I?m not saying white people can?t be heroes in basket ball, but it makes me wonder? Gene Hackman is well cast here, he?s the best part of the movie and he elevates the material a lot. I do however object to the love story here between Hackman and Barbara Hershey. I object to this subplot firstly because it is under-developed and needlessly tacked on, and secondly because the idea of Hackman (56) and Hershey (38) having sex really kind of makes me sick to my stomach. This is corny, formulaic, and repetitive but this never quite put me to sleep. Time did pass by while watching it, but there is nothing special about this film, I do not know why people seem to think this is any different from the millions of other sports movies because there is nothing that sets this apart.

• Moe E

  
  AMC aired another one of my favorites today, Hoosiers, and I just had to watch...again. For those not familiar, it's the story of a onetime ostracized basketball coach who takes a small group of boys from Nowhereville, Indiana all the way to the 1952 State High School… More
  AMC aired another one of my favorites today, Hoosiers, and I just had to watch...again. For those not familiar, it's the story of a onetime ostracized basketball coach who takes a small group of boys from Nowhereville, Indiana all the way to the 1952 State High School Championship game. Writer Angelo Pizzo and director David Anspaugh have given the viewer an exhilarating glimpse of the game of basketball, back in the day when it was still a non-contact, team sport. Brilliant performances from Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper, as well as those of the cast/crew that portray the team and locals of the small, rural town. I gotta admit that the exterior Midwestern fall and winter scenes give me a slight twinge of homesickness, too.

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