BASEketball (1998) User Reviews

and i laughed, and i laughed...

[Mickey Knox · 7/10 · 25 January 2001]

BASEketball is indeed a really funny movie. David Zucker manages to make us all laugh our heads off again, in a really silly, but many times smart, comedy.

The 2 creators of South Park, the main actors in this film, play very good, surprisingly good actually, but this is the first time i see them as actors. The movie oftenly reminded me of South Park - one of my fav shows.

It's a really good and funny film, so don't miss it.

Vote: 7.5 out of 10.

just funny

[SuperstarDaniel · 7/10 · 10 July 2005]

This movie is just funny. mindless, but funny. to enjoy this movie completely you can't have a perception of how a film like this goes and just enjoy all the side jokes and puns which are involved with the film. I still find the bit at the start funny when he says "want a beer........cock". funny stuff. but what makes the film decent is the fact that it doesn't try to hard to create a serious spin on the film, too many comedies try to have serious aspects which you just don't believe. But this is different and just focuses on being funny. I must say though, Yasmin bleeth is terrible in the film and adds nothing but the 3 main guys, coop, remer and squeak are very funny to watch and make the film great to watch

What's the Big Deal?

[lost4wurds · 3 August 2003]

I've heard so many critics and average joes ripping into this flick like it was the first sign hailing the antichrist. The movie is simple, yes, but damn funny. Maybe I'm just not caught up in my own pretense to enjoy a simple movie. Yes, there are times when I crave something more sophisticated, but this movie still has my friends and I rolling in the aisles. Give it a chance and you just might like it. 7/10

A fun comedy about a couple of losers who invent a new sport

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 25 March 2019]

As children friends Joe "Coop" Cooper and Doug Remer dream of growing up to be sports stars... when they grow up they are just a couple of losers. Then one day they crash a party and a challenged to a game of basketball... when they realise their opponents are much better they tell them that they play a new game... BASEketball. They quickly make up the rules and soon its popularity spreads. After a while they are approached by wealthy businessman Ted Denslow, he is keen to set up a National BASEketball League. He wants to create a pure sport without corporate sponsorship, teams moving cities and trading of players. The boys agree and soon the game is a national sensation. Then Denslow dies, leaving the team to Coop. It isn't long before the Dallas Felons' team owner Baxter Cain starts scheming to take over the game and introduce ways to make money. While this is going on both Coop and Doug fall for the same woman, Jenna Reed, who runs a charity of dying children.

Given to plot it is not surprising that this film is fairly silly; that doesn't matter too much though as it provides more than enough laughs. Some of the humour is fairly crude but nothing is really offensive. The rules of the game are fairly well thought out and the fact that distracting the opposition is part of the game it is also funny. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are solid as Coop and Doug; I can only imagine they have acted in so few films is because they are busy with 'South Park'. Dian Bachar also impresses as their friend Squeak Scolari, who they treat fairly badly. There are also some well-known faces, including Ernest Borgnine as Ted Denslow and Robert Vaughn as the delightfully unpleasant Baxter Cain. My only mild problem with the film was that it got a little mawkish towards the end. Overall though I'd recommend this; it might not be a classic but it provides plenty of laughs.

Genuinely funny movie

[Mr. Gore · 8/10 · 3 August 1998]

David Zucker has directed one of the most enjoyable comedies of the year with this goofy farce. Yes, it's a matter of acquired taste and depends upon a wealth of sophomoric gags, but it is consistently funny throughout unlike some recent comedic efforts. The film is loaded with all kinds of jokes ranging from the blatantly obvious to the more subtler kind that you must pay attention to everything in the frame or you'll likely miss them. Like his previous efforts which include "Airplane!", "Top Secret!", and "Naked Gun," the humor flies out almost every second. There are so many moments that work, it's easy to overlook the few that fall flat. What sets this movie apart from other pale imitations in the spoof genre is that it has an actual story line. While others have depended upon making fun of too many famous scenes in almost random movies (take "Mafia!", please), this film tells a new story with likable characters. It touches upon sports films in general as well as satirizing the real sports industry instead of lampooning any specific movies. Even for people who don't care for "South Park," its creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, make a good pair of leading actors with natural chemistry. The film also makes extremely effective use of cameos of athletes, sports announcers, and other celebrities, especially a hilarious bit with Robert Stack of "Unsolved Mysteries." By the way, stay through the credits for a final joke with Bob Costas and Al Michaels. All in all, Zucker has achieved, in words perhaps applying to the movie's mix of sports, a home dunk.

Peurile but amusing

[smatysia · 6/10 · 6 June 2015]

I avoided seeing this film for years, because I assumed that it would be juvenile and stupid. Well, it is all that of course, but I admit that it got more chuckles from me than the average comedy. I have never seen the cartoon that Parker and Stone are famous for, but was at least aware of it. I presume that the humor is similar. There were a lot of star cameos throughout. Many are quite silly, but that is clearly what Zucker, the director, was going for. And for all of the comments about bad acting by Yasmine Bleeth and Jenny McCarthy, the nature of the material dictated that it look that way. The best part was in the beginning with the message about sports commercialism and monstrous egos leading to the end of big league sports. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Was this made for adults?

[alexsnower · 4/10 · 30 June 2021]

I seriously cannot tell if BASEketball was made for teens or adults. As a teenager I thought it was a pretty funny movie. Nowadays, I just see it as lame, unfunny and plain corny at points. Nothing against Parker or Stone, in fact I like their comedy, but this was just poor. Whoever played the short guy literally couldn't act either. Every time he spoke I cringed. Every time they made fun of him was just corny also. At least it's not as bad as Orgazmo but jeez. I'd recommend to someone who really likes the scary movies or something along those lines.

"He's 8 years old and he smells like Robert Downey Jr."

[kirk-246 · 7/10 · 28 August 2009]

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the show 'South Park' , return with something entirely different.They create a new sport that combines baseball and basketball.This sport is known as baseketball.It's like basketball except that the rules of baseball are involved and there's another letter e in the title.Here's how you play: you just shoot the ball while these two guys try to distract you from making the shot.Sounds simple.In fact, I might try it one day.After the game hits the streets, it soon becomes a huge success.Who would've known that 2 immature friends could invent a sport that became so successful?

My opinion

'Baseketball' is a very crude and silly spoof filled with lots of slapstick violence, yet it actually delivers some laughs and plenty of entertainment.A definite recommendation for those of you who like slapstick and rude humor.

Bring Frank Drebin back

[andreibalvedi · 1/10 · 7 June 2005]

There are two kinds of stupid comedy movies. The ones that are so stupid they become frigging fun and, usually, "cult". And there are those ones that are so stupid that... they shouldn't exist.

I can't tell exactly where is difference between these two kinds. I guess no one can, they just fit in one or other. Some are fun, others are pointless.

All I know is that I'm sure this one fits the second type. The jokes are lame, old, intellectually offensive. You can't make a funny movie by doing bad jokes on purpose. They just come naturally. Maybe, just maybe, that's the difference between a funny stupid movie and a simply stupid movie.

I would rather see David making a 4th Naked Gun then watch this kind of movie again.

Does it just suck being you?

[salasticamor · 10/10 · 7 September 2006]

There are so many words I want to use to describe this movie, but can't really do that can I? This movie is a movie to watch if you just want to sit, laugh, cry and then pee. I'm serious. Don't watch this movie if you're easily offended by profanity, sex, nudity, homosexuality...and everything else associated with nature. Being a woman, and that might not even be a factor, I can watch this movie over and over again. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are absolutely brilliant. Along with all their other debuts, I think Baseketball is the prize winner. I'm laughing now just thinking about some of the stupid things they do in the movie. Watch the movie!! That's all I'm going to say. It's sort of hard for me to leave this comment because I'm one of those people, like Ozzy Osbourne, who has a curse word in almost every line that blurts out of their mouth when they speak. So I'm keeping it professional. Best movie. Heck yeah!!

A silly, juvenile, but funny sports comedy

[Beta_Gallinger · 7/10 · 7 July 2009]

Since this David Zucker comedy is rated R, I would have been too young for it back when it was released in 1998. I was around twelve years old at the time. The first time I saw "BASEketball" was in 2005. At the time, I was just getting into "South Park", and I knew that Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of that long-running adult cartoon series, starred in this sports film. Seeing it for the first time, I really liked it a lot, despite how polarizing it is. Nearly four years later, I've finally seen it again, and this time, I certainly didn't find it as entertaining as I once did. I used to think it was an excellent comedy, but now I still think it's a reasonable one. It still made me laugh the second time, so I still have to give it some credit.

Joe "Coop" Cooper and Doug Remer are two idiots from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who have been friends since childhood. While competing with two basketball experts, they change the rules to try and win, which leads to the invention of a new sport, BASEketball! This eventually becomes a popular driveway sport, and catches to attention of Ted Denslow, who approaches Coop and Remer, suggesting the creation of a National BASEketball League (NBL). Five years later, this league has become a huge success, with teams all over the country. Coop and Remer play for the Milwaukee Beers, owned by Denslow himself. During the BASEketball championship, the Denslow Cup, Ted Denslow chokes on a hot dog, which unfortunately kills him. His will says that Coop will be the new owner of the team if he wins the next season, or else it will go to his widow, Yvette. Baxter Cain, the owner of the Dallas Felons, wants to make significant changes in the rules of the game, but the Milwaukee Beers are the only ones stopping him, so has a scheme to try and prevent the team from winning!

This is a silly, juvenile, crude film, like many other modern comedies, not that I have a problem with that (as long as it's funny), but some people obviously do. Unlike some of these films (e.g. "Dude, Where's My Car?"), I think this one is actually funny overall. During my second viewing, I found that in some parts, they might go just a little too far with the juvenile humour or overdo the slapstick. For a while, it wasn't making me laugh very hard, but that eventually changed. There were still several comic highlights for me, including a number of the scenes involving teammate Squeak Scolari (played by Dian Bachar, who has collaborated with Parker and Stone on several other projects) taking abuse from Coop and Remer, some of the psych-outs during the games, team members trying to treat a kid in the hospital, and the song Coop hears in the car when things have gone wrong for him. For a rather simple sports comedy, the plot isn't bad, either. There may be some fairly poignant moments.

In the 2004 "South Park" episode, "The Passion of the Jew", when Stan and Kenny want their money back after they see "The Passion of the Christ", Stan says that it's just like the time they got their money back for "BASEketball". In an interview in 2005, Trey Parker said one of the two meanest things people say to the controversial comedy duo is, "Oh my G*d, it's those guys from BASEketball." I don't know if the two SP creators hate this film and now regret ever doing it, or they just don't like being known just as the guys from this movie (that would definitely be understandable, since they just starred in this film, and were not involved in the writing, directing, or producing, so it certainly doesn't show the full extent of their abilities), but whatever the reason is for their comments on this 1998 comedy years after it was made, it can still make me laugh. Is it David Zucker's best work? No. Is it Trey Parker and Matt Stone's best work? No. Is it an atrocious film that should be avoided at all costs? Well, some people would obviously think so, but not me. While it's no masterpiece, it can still make many people laugh (mostly guys, I think). I still think it's superior to "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story", just not as far superior as I used to think it was.

Serious mistake of a great man!

[guybrush-13 · 2/10 · 23 April 2003]

This movie is like the worst comedy I have ever seen. All jokes here are really stupid, not original - used lots of times in other not very good films. I think this work could be appreciated by me like... hmm... ten years ago, at age of 12 - I used to like flat jokes around that time.

The main disappointment in BASEketball is watching great man like Trey Parker: creator of the really fantastic, full of good jokes, show "South Park", also writer/director/leading actor of funny "Orgazmo". What did move this talented person to take part in a piece of garbage? He was already famous at that time, and I am REALLY sure he was and is not fond of the script. I think this could be a good scenario for the X-files - "Abduction of Trey Parker".

Indecently hilarious!

[filmfreak-5 · 1 June 2004]

I once watched Baseketball, got hooked and since then I watched it like 50 times. It is one of the films I cannot ever seem to grow tried of. I don't know what it is about it, but it is somehow so complete in its rough form.

Obviously, it doesn't hurt that there is plenty of nude (and amazingly gorgeous) women in the film (Victoria Silvstedt; WOW! is the only word that springs to mind!!!), but also because it is so delightedly respect-less towards just about anyone or anything.

All I can say to this flick is, if you like South Park, you'll LOVE this one! In fact, anyone with a sense of humour should enjoy this one!

7/10

Turn off your brain and enjoy...

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 12 May 2012]

The term 'guilty pleasure' is one that definitely applies to "BASEketball". While I'll readily admit that the film is very stupid, juvenile and gross at times, it's also, in a VERY low-brow way, entertaining. So my advice is just turn off your brain and enjoy.

The film is set in the very near future. The premise is that pro sports have folded, as the players have become bigger and bigger egomaniacs--so much so that the fans have abandoned the games and the franchises have all folded. Two losers, Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the guys behind "South Park"), create a game they play in their driveway. And, against the odds (and all common sense), it soon becomes so popular that pro sports are reborn in the form of BASEketball--a dopey game that defies description. Can these two lovable losers somehow manage to keep this new league from becoming just like the sports of old--commercial and cheap? The film abounds with disgusting an inappropriate material. You'll see Matt Stone shooting milk from his man nipples, animals becoming road kill (don't worry, they are NOT real animals), an amazing nude scene with Parker and Stone and some of the most disgusting and awesome kissing in film history. This is NOT a film for little kids, nuns or your mother!! By the way, pay attention for the very oddly specific music as Parker drives his VW. You'll know what I mean....

A Good Adult Comedy About A Made Up Sport

[jeremycrimsonfox · 8/10 · 6 November 2019]

When two losers, Coop and Doug make up a new basketball game that adds in the rules of baseball, they become overnight sensations. Soon, the two make a deal with a businessman to start a National BASEketball League, becoming part of the Milwaukee Beers. After Coop becomes the new owner, the greedy owner of the Dallas Felons plans to get rid of a rule preventing team monetization, andwill do anything, even destroy the two's friendship, to get his way.

It's a good example of an adult comedy done right. Coop and Doug, who are played by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, both doing a good job portraying their roles. The sport created in this movie sounds good, as it's basketball mixed with baseball, with added rules like psyching people out with vulgar lies (some which, depending on your tastes, may cross the line). Then again, this movie is not for kids. As this is rated R, expect lots of foul language, sexual content, and crude humor. This is a nice adult comedy, and makes me wish BASEketball was a real sport.

Formulaic But Funny

[wisemantonofski · 6/10 · 3 February 2019]

There's a surprisingly relevant social commentary on the commercialism of modern sports which makes up the foundation of this movie, albeit a commentary which is easily lost in a paint-by-numbers story combined with Matt and Trey's usual style of vulgar humour. The upside of that is its almost unrelentingly self-satirising and merciless in its mocking of how ridiculous it knows itself to be, resulting in a decent amount of good laughs which carry the film through its formulaic structure and predictable low points

Base is More Like It

[puffball97 · 1/10 · 16 July 2007]

On the 1998 summer blockbuster hit BASEketball (1998): "This is one of those movies that is usually seen on the big jumbo-tron screen in a sports bar during the day - when everyone is quite drunk. Unfortunately, I was sober when I saw this movie."

So quoted the late Gene Siskel for this lame-brained, supposed yukfest that came out two weeks after the far superior "There's Something About Mary" in a one-upmanship game during July of 1998. "Mary" was a gross-out fest, but in addition to the many gags, it had a lot of heart, which is why it was the highest grossing comedy of that memorable summer.

"BASEketball" tried to outdo Mary, but it fizzled in more ways that one. You take the creators of "South Park," Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are fortunately not behind the movie but in front of the camera, the only member of ZAZ David Zucker helming the picture in desperate need of a paycheck, and the other two Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker clearly stayed out or probably warned him against the picture, a small bit by now 90 years young Ernest Borgnine, wasting his precious time in his distinguished career, dying on a hotdog and singing "I'm Too Sexy" as he videotapes his will, Jenny McCarthy, who has little screen time as Borgnine's not-too-weeping trophy widow young enough to be his granddaughter, a bigger female part by Yasmine Bleeth as a dedicated social worker whose charges are underprivileged youngsters, and the only interesting and meaningful player in this turkey, Robert Vaughn as a corrupt archrival, and pointless cameos by "Airplane!" alumni Kareem Abdul Jabaar and the late Robert Stack who seemed nostalgic for the 1980 masterpiece and it's much fresher humor created by the ZAZ family. What do all these people make up? A desperate cast and crew trying to replicate "Airplane!" humor and mixing it up with the crudity of "South Park," but failing in every way.

To make this long 100-minute movie short, "BASEketball," a real game invented by David Zucker and his friends in his hometown of Milwaukee, is about two lazy losers (Parker and Stone) and their pint-sized mutual friend who invent baseball and basketball (hence the title) together on the driveway of one's house. After Borgnine dies, he bequeaths the ownership of his BASEketball team, the Milwaukee Beers to Parker and Stone. Sure enough, the game goes national, and archrivals Vaughn and McCarthy want to take away ownership of the Beers team from them. But Bleeth is in love with both men, particularly Parker, and one poor, sick charge in need of a liver transplant goes ga-ga over them. Those are the characters, not strongly developed.

Now witless gags ensue. Blood, electroshock hair, egg-throwing and screaming are among them. Parker and Stone nearly kill the youngster in the hospital, but he pulls through the liver transplant. Borgnine sings and rubs ointment on his chest in the videotaped will. McCarthy, who seemed to get over Borgnine's death by choking on a frank right away, quickly massages Vaughn in the next scene. Cheerleaders dance in skimpy outfits. There is plenty of music on the soundtrack that is played for the hard of hearing. And David Zucker forces the parodies of "Riverdance" and "Titanic." Parody forcing is nothing new to ZAZ, post "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun" series.

And like Siskel, I was sober as well, but I was also getting sleepy. This movie should be played over and over to coarse-mannered barroom patrons who enjoy it as they chug down beers, but will they remain alert and awake, or pass out during the unfunny parts? If they pass out, then they won't realize that they are luckily missing stupidity and absurdity. Hats off to them!

Live action 'South Park'

[bowmanblue · 8/10 · 15 June 2015]

Okay, so 'Baseketball' hasn't really got anything to do with the adult cult animated TV show, but it stars both its writers/creators and is basically the same sense of humour, i.e. adult. In short… if you like South Park, you should like 'Baseketball.' It's about two losers (Trey and Matt – the men behind South Park) who invent a new game which is basically a cross between basketball and baseball in their driveway.

Before long it becomes a national pastime. As with South Park, a lot of the humour is vulgar, crude, disgusting and totally 'adult' in nature. You could be forgiven for thinking that Baseketball is nothing more than a low-brow gross-out comedy (and you may have a point!), but, also like South Park, it has its moments of satire and social commentary that raise it to more than just Trey and Matt's version of 'American Pie.'

The jokes come thick and fast and, if you've seen Trey and Matt in action, you'll realise that they're basically playing themselves. Yes, there is some character development (believe it or not!), but the film is geared towards laughs over story and plot. And, because of this, it totally succeeds. As soon as you sit down to watch it, you'll be able to predict where exactly it's going, but don't let that put you off. So I'll end where I basically began by saying that if you like South Park (and I do!), you'll enjoy this.

This should be a sport.

[neon47 · 10/10 · 15 May 2005]

Why the crap is this movie rated so low?! I've seen this movie over 25 times, I know EVERY line to this movie. It's obvious that I love this movie. Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of South Park and the new puppet masterpiece Team America) star as the main characters Joe Cooper, or Coop "Airman" Cooper, and Doug Remer, or "Sir Swish." Mainly they're just referred to as Coop and Remer throughout the movie. Right as the movie starts it reminds us of the money hungry corrupt world of overpaid sports starts, they even go as far as to make one up called "Townsell." I must quote this portion of the movie since it is true with some sports starts: "And after playing for New England, San Diego, Huston, Saint Louis, a year for the Toronto Arganauts, plus one season as a greater at the Desert Inn I'm happy to finally play here in the fine city of Miami." His agent leans over: "Minnesota." Let us not forget this important piece of the movie. So it starts that Coop and Remer are at a high school reunion party and realize they are still nothing as they talk to their old classmates. Outside they create the sport BASEketball after being challenged by what probably was high school basketball heroes. After shaming them the sport goes pro in about a year. During this time they manage to recruit their third team mate Squeak, which is actually a day after they invent the game. As the movie follows we find out that Coop, Remer, and Squeak are the only virtuous sports heroes left. The story follows with zany blackmail, the Milwaukee Beers cheerleaders, and humor so absurd it'll leave you crying for more. Watch it dude, it's hilarious.

I laughed, and laughed

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 30 April 2000]

David Zucker's BASEketball is a zany and hilarious look at sports in the creation of a new one (combining baseball and basketball). But it isn't just the movie and it's zany plot, but also It's stars. South Park creators and stars Trey Parker and Matt Stone as the creators of this game are great together as they are on the show and in other movies. They bring to the screen weirdness (the penis scene in the locker room left me ihn stitches) that wasn't beenb scene since Dumb and Dumber. Humor also comes from Ernest Borgnine singing "I'm toon sexy" and Robert vaughn crying. Funniest film of the summer of 98' (besides Mary). A+

Effing brilliant!!!!

[duntrune · 10 February 2004]

Just sickly and twistedly funny as hell. Parker and Stone are OBVIOUSLY demented, and hooking up with Zucker was a brilliant move. I laughed until I cried. I had to stop the tape several times because I was incoherent from laughing so hard. The Robert Stack bit was just sooooooooooo funny, as were pretty much all of the jokes. Now the DVD version on the other hand has some serioous problems, like missing scenes, no extras to speak of and horrible picture quality. Pick it up on VHS instead, no extras, but you get the entire movie.

Entertaining

[grantss · 7/10 · 25 November 2018]

By Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the makers of South Park. Screamingly funny. Very entertaining.

Top, Top film

[gman210977 · 10/10 · 28 November 2018]

Now I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but BASEketball is a funny film. You definitely need a weird sense of humour. If you enjoy South Park then you will enjoy this. For me, everything just works here. The jokes, the acting, the story. If I could score it 11/10 then I would.

hilarious

[brienstevenson · 7/10 · 27 May 2005]

This movie is a standard side-splitter, with little storyline to back it up, but outstanding comedy. This is the first film for Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park creators) as actors, and although that shows, they do a pretty good job. Voices from their hit show are lent to the dialog every now and then, which just adds to the humour. A great underdog story (reminicent of 'Dodgeball')- where a team/group of friends has to overcome a challenge to rise above as a victorious group of friends once again - but with much less of the story to go on. Nevertheless, the movie will have you laughing more than enough. Where the story may fall short, this is the point of the movie; viewers will notice this after a few minutes in...it's just that type of comedy. The characters, cast, writing and directing of BaseketBALL make it rise among the late 90's top funny movies.

Weak.

[darse · 2/10 · 30 August 1998]

This film was made soley for laughs, but fails dismally. Maybe one Zucker just can't do what two can do. "Airplane!" is one of my all time favourites, and I've seen every episode of South Park (despite not having a TV), so it isn't an issue of style. It just wasn't funny. There are a couple of guffaws, and Trey Parker appears to have some latent talent, but it tries too hard and usually misses the mark. The best moments may have been the unexpected cameos by Mr. Garri-san and Cartman, but there wasn't enough good stuff to even be worth the two bucks I paid for it.