Family sports comedy Little Giants–starring Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill–is marking the 30th anniversary of its theatrical release.

I’m writing this review in January after doing a rewatch. My first viewing in many, many years. It’s been a film that I’ve been wanting to watch again, only it wasn’t available on a streaming service and I didn’t think to check the library! Sure enough, it was available on demand through YouTube TV after the new year and the library does have the DVD, released through the Warner Archive Collection in 2016. The film has never been made available on Blu-ray, unfortunately. I’m not sure it will ever make its way onto Blu-ray.

The 1990s were a great time for sports comedies. It was the decade that gave us Rookie of the Year, Little Big League, The Sandlot, Angels in the Outfield, and of course, Air Bud. Three such films are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year if you can believe it. It sure is one way to feel old! But anyway, thirty years ago was a great time to be a kid and watch sports movies starring kids. Okay, so this one is more so about the sibling rivalry but the kids play a key role since they have to play the football game. One thought in rewatching the film is that it’s tough buying into the idea of Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neil as siblings. Meanwhile, it was the second film for Moranis in 1994 after The Flintstones.

After introducing us to Danny (Rick Moranis) and Kevin O’Shea (Ed O’Neill) as children in 1964, the film jumps 30 years ahead. Urbana, Ohio makes it known that Kevin became a star football player. His name is on the water tower and a football field. He owns a Chevrolet dealership while Danny runs the gas station. Thirty years later and Danny is still living under Kevin’s shadow. Meanwhile, Danny’s tomboy daughter, Becky (Shawna Waldron), is one of the best players on the Pee-Wee Cowboys. Unfortunately, her uncle coaches the team and later cuts her. This leads to Danny coaching a new team of players who are generally not picked for any teams. Mind you, Danny is hesitant at first but he decides that it’s a way to stick it to Kevin. If they win, of course.

When Spike Hammersmith (Sam Horrigan) moves into town, it’s a race between Danny and Kevin to recruit him. Danny beats Kevin to the punch only for Kevin to later snatch Spike for his team. It’s for the best given that Spike doesn’t want to play for any team with a girl on it. As for the Little Giants, Becky is developing a crush on Junior Floyd (Devon Sawa), the son of her father’s crush, Patty Floyd (Susanna Thompson). Becky has a talk with Kevin  at the diner after a bad day at practice. He talks his niece into becoming a cheerleader because quarterbacks don’t date teammates. Becky is the best player on the team and when you take her out of the equation, the Little Giants won’t have much of a fighting chance.

Can we talk about the fact that Janusz Kamiński handles the film’s cinematography? This is like back when I learned that Phedon Papamichael was the DP on Cool Runnings! The main difference is that Cool Runnings went onto become a classic. Little Giants, not so much. Still, an Oscar-winning cinematographer!

Little Giants is still a fun watch as the film turns 30 years old, even if it never became a sports comedy classic.

DIRECTOR: Duwayne Dunham
SCREENWRITERS: James Ferguson & Robert Shallcross and Tommy Swerdlow & Michael Goldberg
CAST: Rick Moranis, Ed O’Neill, Brian Haley, Mary Ellen Trainor, Susanna Thompson, Shawna Waldron, Mathew McCurley, Devon Sawa, and John Madden

Warner Bros. released Little Giants in theaters on October 14, 1994. Grade: 3.5/5

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