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Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden, Sammi Kane Kraft, Ridge Canipe

Remakes good or bad dog our entertainment existence. Why? A good story needs to be retold. A good story needs to be told more than once. It’s a waste otherwise. The movies represent our myths. We’ve seen two remakes and two sequels to “King Kong” and “Dracula” has been adapted many, many times (badly for the most part I might add) so why not the comedy about the team of baseball misfits who could? Billy Bob Thornton takes on the role that Walter Matthau essayed in the original 1976 film. The social misfits angle has been updated with kids that behave worse and have their own social stigmas. They still kick butt. Alcoholic pest worker Morris Buttermaker (Thornton) briefly played in the “big game” before washing out and using booze as his crutch. He’s recruited to coach a kids baseball team that play so bad that they could be beat by a tree in the wind. His team features a kid in a wheelchair ***

Here’s the good news—this film like the original is just as nasty, funny and outrageous in its own way. There was probably the temptation to make this into a PC Disney movie. Luckily the writers and director Richard Linklater resisted temptation and made a film that both pays homage to the original film and retell the story for a new audience. ---

“Bears” hits a home run on DVD with an exceptional transfer. Detail is exceptionally good and color rich with accurate flesh tones. The color and detail are remarkably good. The 5.1 catches every ground ball that the cast hit. ---

“At Bat with The Bears” features Linklater, Billy Bob Thornton discussing his attraction to doing a remake something that he has avoided. Thornton mentions that the big attraction for him was taking on a role so strongly associated with Matthau. “Scouting for the Big Leagues” focuses on the casting sessions and includes bits and pieces of the audition tapes done by the kid actors. Linklater felt that finding actors that could both play the roles and project distinctive personalities was the biggest casting challenge. The other challenge was finding an actress that could play the role convincingly of Kelly Leak—someone who could actually throw the ball well. The “outtakes” don’t amount to much and aren’t all that memorable. The “Video Baseball Cards” is a clever way to give us a bit of background on the actors in the main roles. ---

Remakes are always a questionable affair. Luckily Linklater and his collaborators have fashioned one that manages to be unique, funny and yet also stands up pretty well when compared to the original. Not insulting the original is an art by itself and “Bad News Bears” (what happened to “The”? Hollywood is becoming increasingly illiterate) manages to be entertaining and worthwhile without diminishing the terrific original film directed by Michael Richtie.