Hoosiers (1986)

Classic movie which effectively transports the audience to 1952 Indiana countryside and the story's circumstances.One of the all time best sports dramas ever and also one of film's all time best pure dramas as well.The lead actors are so believable and the attention to detail so admirable.Love story subplot is created to please romance fans as well as add more to the story.To Basketball fans,it is also a great lesson regarding the POWER OF GAME FUNDAMENTAL KNOW HOW.Athletics is a great weapon in Basketball BUT INTELLIGENT KNOW HOW can take a player with little athletic ability to a very high level.When a young player with great athletic ability takes the patience to learn the KNOW HOWS,he becomes superhuman like.This is the lesson HOOSIERS has effectively demonstrated.A must see for all Basketball fans and most sports movie fans......

Fmovies: This is one of the greatest movies ever. If you don't know how important basketball is in Indiana just watch the movie and you will find out quickly. This is such a true movie and it does a great job describing the feeling you get during basketball season in Indiana. This movie is a great movie for the entire family. There is no sex no violence and no foul language and it gives everyone a great warm feeling. The actors do a great job of making you feel like it really was filmed in the 1950's. This is a must see for everyone not just basketball fans. It shows you that it's not always the big schools that win championships and it gives hope to every small school and every underdog.

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.

Hoosiers fmovies. I have seen it more times than southern people have been UFO's. It's a true story of a basketball coach who led his little high school basketball team to victory against all odds. Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) is a former college basketball coach of the Ithaca Warriors who turns up in French Lick, Indiana to coach their local high school basketball team. He has a checkered past and a history of causing trouble. Right off the bat he gets into it with Barbara Hershey who is a teacher who becomes acting principal when the former one has a heart attack. Hershey doesn't like Dale at first but gradually warms up and becomes his ardent supporter and romantic interest. The townspeople don't like the Coach at all either and try to get him fired to no avail. But Dale has a recipe for success and it shows quickly when his team keeps winning and winning. I must say all the performances are terrific the best being Hackman and Dennis Hopper in his best role as Shooter, an alcoholic dad of one of the players who loves and knows basketball better than anyone and who Hackman recruits as assistant coach. Hopper is pure magic and it's touching to watch him with Hackman as Dale cares about him and won't give up on him. If you haven't ever watched this one do so it's an inspiration.

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.

Everybody, especially those who live in the Midwest, will love this movie about an intense coach (Gene Hackman) with a questionable reputation who finds himself in a small Indiana town faced with the unenviable task of turning around tiny Hickory High's 8-man basketball team. Basketball fans will appreciate the movie for its authentic portrayal of small-town high school basketball in the 1950's. ALL viewers will enjoy this fun film for its triumphs and its classic, feel-good story of David and Goliath. This movie is not about a basketball team. This movie is about an entire community that comes together and rallies around the one thing they can all share - the Hickory High Huskers. 10/10