On 18 June 2019, another 20-odd-year old movie video from my collection was finally watched – Space Jam [which I now own in DVD format].
Directed by Joe Pytka and released 1n 1996, Space Jam is far too familiar a live-action/animation mash-up movie to need much in the way of plot exposition from me here. It stars revered Chicago Bulls NBA basketball player Michael Jordan and a host of Warner Brothers' most famous Looney Tunes cartoon stars (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Sylvester & Tweety-Pie, Taz, Pepe Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, etc etc – although I didn't spot Speedy Gonzales, but perhaps he was moving too fast!).
Michael and the WB toons combine forces to create what they hope will be a winning basketball team, the Tune Squad, in order to take on a rival team, the Monstars. This team is composed of huge extraterrestrials who, unbeknownst to the Tune Squad, have stolen the basketball skills and talents from five top-ranking NBA stars. These stars, played by themselves, are real-life NBA supremos Charles Barkley, Muggsy Bogues, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing, and Larry Johnson.
The two teams compete in an all-or-nothing basketball match where the stakes are very high indeed. If the Tune Squad wins, the Monstars will restore their stolen skills and talents to the NBA stars from whom they were pilfered and then leave Earth for good. But if the Tune Squad loses, the Monstars will return to their home planet with Michael, who will be forced to remain there as an amusement attraction for the rest of his life.
In addition to Michael, Space Jam also stars Bill Murray as an actor who is one of his friends; Danny DeVito as the voice of Swackhammer, the boss of the Earth-invading aliens who as the Monstars are set to compete against the Tune Squad with Michael as their sought-after prize; and American comedian/actor T.K. Carter (the hip, slick, streetwise genie Shabu in the 1983 US TV sitcom Just Our Luck, which I loved!) voicing one of the Monstars.
Moreover, this movie's major song, 'I Believe I Can Fly', performed by R. Kelly (who also wrote it) and subsequently becoming a worldwide hit for him, duly won a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television. Yet, remarkably, it was not even nominated for a Best Song Academy Award.
Although Space Jam's seamless combination of live-action and animation readily recalls Walt Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which I much preferred), in my view its storyline would definitely appeal predominantly to children – and it is all so loud! I was very thankful that I watched this flick at home with the luxury of a volume control button, rather than in the cinema – otherwise my ears would have been ringing for days afterwards!
If you have yet to experience the fast and furious fusion of basketball, alien invasion, cartoon slapstick, and the living legend that is Michael Jordan, click here to watch an eye-popping, ear-blasting trailer for the zany, colourful, fun-filled frenzy of Space Jam!
Finally: if everything stays on schedule, given the crazy unpredictable world that we're living in right now, 2021 should see the release of the long-awaited sequel movie Space Jam: A New Legacy.
And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE!
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