There's a showbiz rule that you should never work with children or animals . Michael Jackson didn't heed this advice and now look at him , so why on earth did someone think a baseball movie featuring a bunch of kids would be a hit ? It's not just any bunch of kids , no siree it's a Jewish kid , it's a black kid , it's a really fat kid , it's small but gutsy kid etc who are all annoying as can be

If they'd remained a bunch of stereotypes and cyphers it would have been bad enough but someone somewhere decided to stick the knife into the audience by casting a bunch of ( Not very good ) child actors who obviously attend a ( Not very good ) stage school . You might be interested though not shocked to know that the only actor in BAD NEWS BEARS IN BREAKING TRAINING who has had regular employment since is William Devane and he was 37 years old when this movie was released

There's another problem and that's a heart tugging family sub plot where we see the crap hair style kid spouting lines like " I remember being five years old and you gave me a bike . I didn't want a bike - I wanted a father " I'm telling you what this kid really needs is some acting lessons . Something else is the suggestion that if people chant " LET THEM PLAY " at a sports arena people will get what they want . I'm sorry but we don't live in a democracy . Don't believe me ? then go to the republican party convention and chant " WE WANT JOHN McCAIN " then go to the Democrat party convention and chant " WE WANT RON KOVIC " and see what happens

Add to all this mush poor directing where everything seems to be framed in medium shot and strange cinematography where primary colours dominate the screen and you've got a movie that rates two out of ten

Minus Matthau and O'Neal, but returning pretty much everybody else, this sequel to the 1976 hit is probably more enjoyable to me because I miss it in the first run while I had seen the original several times. It's more bratty behavior from the surprise little league team of the 1976 Southern California summer season. For some reason, Buttermaker (Matthau) is gone and new coach Dolph Sweet is in, but he doesn't hit it off with the team, not given a break, and they basically fire him, like little league kids would have that power in a league financed by adults.

The team now has the opportunity for National championship, going to the Houston astrodome, so Jackie Earle Haley, the oldest member of the league gets a van somehow and he drives them from L.A. to Houston without any coach whatsoever. 45 minutes into the film, William Devane shows up, and he has a connection to Haley which explains a lot of the kid's anger.

Jimmy Baio is a new addition here, basically playing a replica of Hayley's character, serving little purpose. There are some very funny moments, and the efforts to flesh out the kids is a little better. The crudeness has been toned down a little bit even though there is still some cursing and a bit of racist ranting from the little angry player. Veteran character actor Clifton James has a good minor role as the apparent owner of the astrodome. "Little League Wars" may not have been the blockbuster hit of the summer of '77, and hasn't stood the test of time as well, but it's a good time filler that won't tax your brain.

The Bears are back but Amanda Whurlitzer and Buttermaker are gone. Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley) drives the new dictatorial coach Manning away. The team is off to the Houston Astrodome to play the Houston Toros. Leak brings on Carmen Ronzonni from back east to be the new pitcher. The boys drive to Houston on their own. They discover that they still suck after playing a roadside game. They get into trouble for their van and Kelly decides to contact his estranged father Mike Leak (William Devane). Sy Orlansky (Clifton James) is the local businessman sponsoring the game.

Most of the gang is back with the exception of the big stars. It's too bad that Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal can't return but it may be asking too much for sequels of that era. The story isn't much. I don't know why the Bad News Bears get to play in the Astrodome. There are snippets of fun but mostly it doesn't live up to the original. That is until Tanner runs around and the Let Them Play chant. It's cheesy but effective and it's the Astrodome.