Hoosiers

1986

Action / Drama / Sport

19
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 88% · 49 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 88% · 50K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.4/10 10 56289 56.3K

high school indiana, usa sports parent child relationship son based on true story

Plot summary

Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.

Director

David Anspaugh Photo
David Anspaugh

Top cast

Robert Swan Photo
Robert Swan as Rollin
Barbara Hershey Photo
Barbara Hershey as Myra Fleener
Sheb Wooley Photo
Sheb Wooley as Cletus
Eric Gilliom Photo
Eric Gilliom as J. June
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.03 GB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 55 min
Seeds 5
2.12 GB
1920*1040
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 55 min
Seeds 21

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by PyrolyticCarbon 7 / 10

Full of passion and heart.

This film is primarily about Basketball, but don't let that fool you, I have no interest in the game but I was yanked into it and was feeling the passion of the coach, players and the town all the way through.The underlying thread is of forgiveness and second chances. You never really know what was behind the need for these second chances, but that doesn't matter, you feel for these people, and a lot of that is to do with Gene Hackman.One of my favourite actors, Hackman pulls off a fantastic performance here, with an amazing backup from Dennis Hopper. What a combination.Passion, guts, determination, and without too much of a sickly taste in the mouth. A lovely film to watch.
Reviewed by panchito-1 8 / 10

Hoosiers is misunderstood

I have been reading, and summing up comments about this movie. I can't believe how misunderstood this movie is. First and foremost this is not a movie about the Milan team's championship, and Bobby Plump's winning shot. The Milan game is the most famous, and storied game in Indiana and is only used as the quientessential example.The movie is a collection of typical things that happen in Indiana High School basketball which is known as "Hoosier Hysteria". The locker room scenes are typical, found each year at tournament time. The small town involvement is typical. Players deciding if they want to succumb to the social pressures of the sport, or dreaming of winning is typical. Teacher nudging is typical. The appearance of religious faith is also typical in small town Indiana. It's right in the bible belt.Smaller, less talented underdog teams are the life-blood of passion about playing, and winning. Winning systems, coaching tactics, fundamentals, and character-building are staples of the Hoosier H.S. game. Read John Wooden's books and you'll see them clearly. (John Wooden-Martinsville, IN; Purdue, and UCLA).The character played by Dennis Hopper is underscored, not by his drunken state and redemption, but by his basketball knowledge. In Indiana, everyone from every walk of life knows more about the history of the game, and how to win the game than the coach. There are walking, talking Hoosier basketball historians in every small town.Another Hoosier staple is the sequence of the tournament. Every march since the 1920's the Indiana H.S. tournament starts with a sectional, regional, sweetsixteen, and final four state championship. Hence, all games and scores that were shown in the movie. Although, Hickory H.S. is fictictious, the opposing team names were real Indiana schools in the western part of the state: Jasper, Linton, Logootee, etc.The movie actually tried, but fell short in my opinion of the excitement at tournament time. The noise level, and absolute excitement of the H.S. tournaments is something you have to experience. Just walking into the gyms gives you chill bumps. Being the local game night hero is paramount, (but it creates it's own special problems.) I firmly feel, having experienced it myself, that the movie makers were trying to capture a unique phenomenon in sports using typical events. They displayed the key aspects of Indiana H.S. basketball in film to communicate the experience to the rest of the world.I was pleased, and excited to see how many reviewers were inspired by the film. Many who lived these events over the years are similarly motivated.P.S. Coaches do not kiss teachers except in Hollywood.
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