Season of the Samurai

[SDawgs]

I saw the trailer on Youtube and i was wondering if it is available either by a torrent dload somewhere or for purchase.

[DawgsBooster2]

Heh, I haven't gotten anything via torrents in so long now, I totally forgot to even look online for the movie.

Still, I wish the GBL would put it up for sale in the various team stores.

[GBLCommish]

Season of the Samurai is not yet available for sale. It was selected by the Santa Barbara Film Festival and debuted there in late January in a single showing. Film festivals are a marketplace for films to get exposure and land a distribution contract (kind of like a baseball tryout) after being showcased at the festival. The film's producers, MOD3 Production and Braintree are now following up with distribution companies that have interest. Based on the best opportunity offered the film could be a cinema release, cable release, straight to DVD, or not released at all (unlikely given it's selection at Santa Barbara).

The trailer on YouTube was the original trailer that was cut just after the season ended and before the editing of the 91 minute film was done. It does not really accurately reflect the movie that was created, but a new trailer would be done under the direction of a distrbution company based on their plans to market the film once they purchase the rights.

Hopefully it gets picked up and everyone gets a chance to see it. It's a bit like the Osbournes meets Bull Durham meets Lost In Translation with a touch of the Bad News Bears thrown into the mix -- very entertaining, but salty. GBL fans will recognize players and venues as footage from Surprise, Yuma, Chico, Fullerton, San Diego, Mesa, and Long Beach all made the final cut including cameo appearances by Pat Sajak and Rickey Henderson and lots of baseball game footage.

As soon as it is available, we'll certainly have it for sale in the GBL online store.

Best Regards,
Kevin Outcalt
Commissioner
Golden Baseball League

[DawgsBooster2]

Hee! I totally melted at the Lost in Translation mention.

Good thoughts for its quick (for me) and profitable (for the GBL) release.

[Shootmaster_44]

I certainly hope this gets released on DVD as it sounds interesting. Being in Canada its unlikely that I'd ever get to see it otherwise.

[Pietsch Fan]

Any word on distribution yet?

Mary

[Samuraiman]

Hey Samurai fans!

Just wanted to let you all know that Season Of The Samurai is now available on DVD. Just go to www.seasonofthesamurai.com and you can buy a DVD straight from the website. The film comes in two versions. The broadcast version, which will be seen on MLB Network on June 26th 2010 and the unrated directors cut which has two additional scenes and lots more!

Enjoy!

Samuraiman

[FlyerFan]

I tried to buy it online, but it did not seem to work, kept getting an error (with no message). Is it just me, or is there a website problem?

[frstbasmn13]

I don't know if this is the same documentary but on MLB Network tonight at 8 iirc they will be showing 'Season of the Samurai' so if you wanna watch it before you buy it then you can tonight.

[Silver Sox Fan]

I DVR'd this and finally watched it this morning. Pretty good documentary. Cromartie, even though he played in Japan, didn't really connect with the players as you can see in the film...but his players also were REALLY bad so I can understand his frustration. Cro notes the team was put together before he was brought on board and only one player had any future (Ueno whose contract was eventually bought by the Texas Rangers). He also fights with the translator which was funny too. The guy (Blair) had some good points but he was a little too "refined" for lack of a better term to deal with a rough around the edges guy like Cro.

It also shows you how far the GBL has come. Empty stadiums, horrible umpires, tight fisted league owned teams, how bad traveling teams are, how the managers did crazy things (Cro reminded me of the time Terry Kennedy charged into the announcers box mid game because he didn't like the beer batter promotion), and low standards for the on-field product. Amit Patel is also featured prominently in the film but he disappeared after year three or so. According to some on this board, that was probably a good thing. Mike Marshall had an interesting article in the Chico ER where he stated he is dealing with a lot of hard feelings from the city and sponsors in Chico because of past dealings with the league. But I digress...

Worth a look if you can get it. If you saw "Playing for Peanuts", you will see a lot of similarities. Independent baseball is very interesting and this is another excellent expose on it. Not sure what the DVD will have beyond what was broadcast...about the only thing I saw different on the official website was a scene where all the players are dropping "F-bombs" with Cro. A great trip down memory lane; Rickey Henderson even has a cameo even though he is not mentioned by name.