Load of rubbish!!

Excellent but underrated film

A Masterpiece!

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This spry baseball comedy, inspired by some actual history, is great fun, especially when seen as a vehicle for its talented stars. Billy Dee Williams plays Bingo Long (based on the real-life Satchel Paige), a charismatic pitcher for the Negro League in 1939, who gets VERY tired of having to deal with sleazy team owners such as Sallie Potter (Ted Ross). So he recruits fellow baseball player Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) (based on Josh Gibson), and various others, to join him in a quest to start their OWN flashy, barnstorming baseball team. Naturally, they will have many roadblocks in their path to successCharming, irresistible entertainment, and you don't have to necessarily be a baseball fan in order to enjoy it. Granted, it gets nasty at one point (for a PG rated film), and gets somewhat serious as well, but it never becomes so ugly that you can't still stick with it. It gets most of its juice from the dazzling performances of its stars, Williams and Jones. Jones appears to be having a grand old time, and co-star Richard Pryor unsurprisingly steals many of his scenes as a ballplayer who thinks that his key to success is passing himself off as Cuban and joining the white league. (There's a hilarious payoff for him near the end.) There's some more than respectable recreations of the period, a jaunty score (by William Goldstein), and wonderful old-time songs (belted out by Thelma Houston). The fair amount of familiar faces in the cast also includes stuntman Jophery C. Brown, Tony Burton of the "Rocky" franchise, Stan Shaw ("Snake Eyes"), DeWayne "Otis Day" Jessie ("National Lampoon's Animal House"), Mabel King ('What's Happening!!'), Sam Laws ("Hit Man"), Ahna Capri ("Enter the Dragon"), Joel Fluellen ("Porgy and Bess"), and Jester Hairston (John Wayne's version of "The Alamo").Although it has a rather lengthy running time (at 111 minutes), this movie never feels that long, due to an entertaining narrative and characters, and many scenes that hold ones' attention. It's intelligent, making some points about race relations and the way that athletes are treated, but never gets heavy-handed about it, while remaining engrossing both comedically and dramatically. It doesn't seem to be remembered by many nowadays, which is just too bad.Ken Foree of future "Dawn of the Dead" fame makes his film debut as a muscle man.Eight out of 10.

Having once stumbled onto this movie on TV years ago but not watching past the opening credits, I finally got to see the whole thing on YouTube right now. A fictional account of one Negro League baseball team during the late '30s, this is quite a fun picture despite some occasionally serious issues permeating some of the narrative. Billy Dee Williams plays the title character, James Earl Jones is his charismatic buddy who's also good at batting as seen in the early scenes when Billy pitches at him. And Richard Pryor does a funny turn pretending to be Cuban in order to break in the white national teams. Unfortunately, the YT upload skipped on some of his lines and maybe scenes. Still, this was quite a fun movie to watch especially near the end which I won't reveal. So on that note, I highly recommend The Bing Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings.

Sorry, Charlie, but comparing "Bad News Bears" with "Bingo Long Traveling Allstars and Motor Kings" is like comparing "Hogans Heroes" and "Stalag 17"!! One is STRICTLY a bit of fun, and the other, while there are some laughs, explores a much more serious matter, albeit with the tongue planted firmly in cheek. Sure, you probably had a "Bad News Bears" lunch box, and Walter Matthau, Jodie Foster, and Jackie Earle Haley were just great in BNB, and there were some funny bits, but Bingo Long had much of its basis in fact, and it was one of the first films to explore a much too ignored historical fact, namely the Negro Leagues. James Earl Jones, as usual, is wonderful, and Richard Pryor didn't have to totally play his role for laughs as much as he was required to at this time in his career. Billy Dee Williams, who I feel didn't get nearly as many good roles as he deserved, was just great as Bingo Long. He was much better than in the terminally overrated "Lady Sings The Blues", also with Richard Pryor, but unfortunately up against Diana Ross' massive ego. I especially enjoyed spotting DeWayne Jessie(aka "Otis Day" of Animal House) as Rainbow. "Bingo Long" made me want to learn more about the Negro Leagues and barnstorming teams of the '30's like the House Of David.

One of the best baseball comedies mainly because of its very real and believable dramatic points. It also deals with a subject that has rarely been touched on in film: the Negro Leagues. The cast is absolutely incredible. Top to bottom a list of legends field this magnificent flick! James Earl Jones fits his aging sluggers role superbly and who better to serve up a ripping hot fastball than Billy Dee Williams! Richard Pryor gets high marks for his "faux-latino" Charlie Snow whose only reason for being on the team is because he has a nice car. Pryor also has a racey scene with a white prostitute and two paid hit men. Special mention of Carl Gordon who has a small role here. I loved him as the Dad on the great but all too short lived sitcom "Roc." Who gonna hit my invite pitch? Nobody. Not no one. Never. Bingo Long is the stuff of modern folklore. Invite pitch! Invite pitch! Invite pitch! A LOST BASEBALL CLASSIC. A great double feature would be "A League Of Their Own."