Bad Beyond Belief: An artistically and morally repugnant film

Rating: 1/10 (1 April 2001)

Let me preface my remarks by saying I am a huge sports fan and an aficionado of the sports film genre... therein lies the problem... I can't see ANY virtue in a film that attempts to glorify the untalented scabs who were "replacement players" during the 1987 National Football League players' strike, one of the sorriest chapters in the history of a sport full of sorry chapters when it comes to employee relations.
Do we see anything about how labour unions protect the benefits of workers who suffer debilitating injuries on the job -- certainly a reality in a brutal game like football? No - instead we see the self-absorbed millionaire QB, all to make 'The Replacements' all the more endearing and lovable.
Pretty much every scene in the film betrays the director and producer's complete lack of knowledge about the sport (particularly so during the scene where the Washington Sentinels recover an onside kick - uh, you can't advance the ball after recovering it). And cheerleaders don't have unions, so the scenes of Annabelle (Brooke Langton) auditioning for replacement pom-pom girls didn't serve any interest except to laugh at people who don't conform to some Hollywood-homogenized standard of beauty.
Bear Bryant is probably spinning in his grave after seeing Gene Hackman imitate his coaching attire, although Hackman manages to come out of this with his dignity intact, no mean feat. Honestly, both people who enjoyed Rodney Dangerfield's "Ladybugs" can breathe easy, because we have new undisputed champeen for Worst Sports Film Ever.