This movie is just fun. It has a good message but its well crafted so as not to make it seem preachy as so many children's movies can be. I was 16 when this movie came out and I like it then and I like it now. How can anyone be opposed to a movie where the little guy proves that he can make it against the best. It's the American dream. While I certainly would not nominate this picture for an Oscar it is fun. This nice thing about this movie is that its pretty relevant for kids today so it has kind of a timeless quality to it. If you have kids or you are a big kid (like me) and feel like having a little light film fare, check it out, I think you'll enjoy it.
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hessian82321 October 2006
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As children, the O'Shea brothers were night and day: one a geeky little wimp and the other a popular football player. As adults, the trend continued and the football player was now a popular coach with a successful car dealership. But when the wimp's daughter gets rejected from her uncle's football team, the brothers must face off: wimps versus jocks. It's an underdog story!
I watched this film on Christmas 2007 with my best friend Chelsea, who freely admits to loving underdog kid sports films (which is evident if you know her love for "The Sandlot" and "The Might Ducks", as well). I don't really have that strong of an attachment, but they're fun if nothing else, and this one is definitely one of the more amusing ones, if for no other reason than the rampant stereotypes and solid cast.
Rick Moranis is the wimp brother, Danny O'Shea (not far from his role in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids") and Ed O'Neill is football star Kevin O'Shea (sort of like his role on "Married With Children"). The daughter/niece is Becky "Icebox" O'Shea, played by Shawna Waldron (who went on to appear in "The American President") and her love interest is Devon Sawa, playing quarterback Junior Floyd. Sawa is how I got "tricked" into watching this film, after his name was dropped during one of our many "Casper" conversations...
There's nothing really surprising about this film. I won't give it away by telling you the plot, but I will say it's a team of wimps against a team of quality players. You can probably guess how this works out, because all underdog sports movies basically work the same way. And you'll get the stereotypes here: tomboy who struggles with becoming a woman, fat kid who must be eating (and passing gas) in every scene... weakling with the overprotective mother. You can take away points for creativity, but you have to grant them that they've covered all the expected bases.
With the possible exception of one twist (which is predictable if you see the opening credits) and the presence of Harry Shearer with some great announcements ("Mr. Moe Mentum has a new address!") this is what you'd expect, and if you want what you expect, you'll love this film. I found it very fun and light-hearted (a good way to wind down Christmas). Would I watch it again? Yes. -
ironhorse_iv16 January 2019Inspired by an early 1990s McDonald's ad about Pee-Wee Football that ran during the Super Bowl & 1992's sport movie "Mighty Ducks' with a similar premise. This 1994 family sport comedy about an underdog ragtag peewee football team challenging another more advance team is still somewhat amusing to me, even after all these years. Yes. While, I do know, this film might not be a huge touchdown as it once was. Nevertheless, it's still a guilty pleasure of mine. Directed by Duwayne Dunham for the most part & written by James Ferguson and Robert Shallcross. The film does overused the 1976's film 'Bad News Bears' sport formula a little bit, too much. It does have some really, dated one dimensional shallow stereotypical children characters like the fat kid that eats & fart all the time, the geeky weak looking nerd with oversize glasses, and overdramatic tomboy girl. Some of the slapstick scenes, including them, could be tiresome and annoying to watch, especially during the bumbling practice antics & the big game showdown. Still, there is no need for unnecessary roughness. "Little Giants' ragtag bunch of misfits are very likeable. All the child actors portraying them, are decent enough to care about, even if some of the conflict involving them, seem forced, like Becky O'Shea (Shawna Waldron) getting mad at her father, Danny (Rick Moranis) for not treating her to the social norms of the day, despite the fact, that forming a rival football team was originally her idea. As for the adult actors. I found Moranis as the team's coach, alright to watch. However, his off and on love relationship with Patty Floyd (Susanna Thompson) was a bit forced & not needed. The whole thing is a little bit more awkward to watch, as his daughter has a crush on Patty's son, Junior (Devon Sawa) as well. If Danny marries Patty; yikes, talk about highly cringe-worthy. It will seem a bit incest like. Not good. Better, just to scrap Danny's crush, out of the picture. Despite that, Moranis gave a lot of heart to this otherwise, highly cartoony movie. However, the best actor in this film has to go with Ed O'Neill as Danny's older brother, over the top smarty football fanatic, Kevin O'Shea. He was amazing in this role. He had some of the best one-liners & insults. It's like if Al Bundy really did get to live up to his football fantasies, past scoring four touchdown in one game in high school. The jokes involving him, were mostly funny. However, some of them haven't aged well. Jokes like him, being arrested for peeping at children are cringe-wringing. Despite the detours into immature humor, the movie does upholds some positive messages, namely that all type of people can play football if they want, regardless of their talent level, gender, age or race. However, maybe the film should had portray the underdog team having more respect of game, by not, making them, cheated. After all, that's the villain's job, yet they barely do, that, besides Spike Hammersmith (Sam Horrigan). Instead, it's the protagonists that do all the dastardly things. Like how can it, be fair friendly-competition, if many of hold and facemask penalties made by the Giants, were uncalled for throughout the game? Better yet, how was the acid indigestion pills part, not an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty? Are the refs that blinded!? I guess so. They didn't notice that one of the team has a player trying to use an illegal sticky tar type substance. The game should had been throw out, just for that! Regardless, I didn't mind the notorious "The Annexation of Puerto Rico" fumblerooski climax of the film, as there were several variations of the play that were legal at the time. Since then, peewee football has made the move outlawed. Regardless, overall: This movie still score points with me. It was entertaining from start to end. I even dig the cameos from multiply NFL players; including John Madden, but it was a bit jarring to see Emmitt Smith help the Giants, despite playing for the Dallas Cowboy, most of his career. In the end, while the movie might not be a masterpiece. The film is decent enough to watch & have some fun. So, go see it. Don't drop the ball. You will thank me, tomorrow.
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Apolla11 September 1999Amazing. This is a good movie. It can be a little bit sappy, but it can mean a lot. You can quite easily psycho-analyze it to death, but if you just sit down, watch and enjoy, it's a good film. Becky/Icebox's conflict between being the two sides of herself, the tomboy and the girl is something a lot of girls have been through. And who wouldn't when the object of affection is Devon Sawa? There are decent performances all round, and it might not be destined to be a classic, but it's not a bad movie. In fact, it's a very good movie.
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Lady_Jenna1 November 2002I loved this movie the first time I saw it in 3rd grade and I still love it. I'm not a big fan of sports based movies, but this movie I adore. Despite being a movie about football, it's a great movie for girls. Icebox kicks butt on the field but still has to deal with crushes. Not to mention it's great how she's discriminated against at first for being a girl, but then comes out on top as the best player in the entire movie, beating every guy who didn't think she could to it. The O'Shea brothers get some good banter going, but mostly it's about Icebox. It's a great movie. I love it to death.
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adxpitz9 August 2022This movie would've been as popular as The Rascals, Ritchie Rich, Problem Child and Dennis The Menace franchises if it was promoted the same. Too bad I've to discover it after 28 long years of watching the best films.
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Mostly, "Little Giants" is the average movie in which against all odds a ragtag team takes on the big guys (others in this vein include "The Mighty Ducks" and "The Big Green"). But I thought that in the end, it did come out slightly more interesting than the average such flick (maybe because of what happens at the very end). Maybe Rick Moranis ("Ghostbusters") and Ed O'Neill ("Married...with Children") in the roles improve the quality.
You can probably guess which scenes were my favorites when I was ten years old. Nowadays, I wouldn't go out of my way to watch this movie. One of the reasons that the Irish movie "The War of the Buttons" was so good is that the two sides were equally matched. Anyway, OK in a pinch. -
bigrob2719 July 1999This movie is aimed for kids but also wants their parents to enjoy. I have to say it succeeds. The story line is simple, underdogs defeating the odds. However there are some good jokes that anyone can laugh at. It's cute but that's alright. Don't waste your time watching this unless you have kids.
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Aksarbengurl30 December 2002The movie, the Little Giants is a fun and enjoyable movie. I personally like that kids ambitions and determination. The cast is great! I watch it over and over because of Devon Sawa. Him and the rest of the cast really acted their parts incredibly. I just can't get enough of this great movie!
Kevin and Danny O'Shea are brothers and Kevin is a former football star. Kevin puts together a Pee-Wee football team and doesn't choose Icebox. Icebox decides to get her friends together to form their own team. Icebox may be tough on the field but when she deals with a crush it makes her reconsider football. The day of the big game comes and the teams are ready! The movie ends, allowing you to decide what happens next!
I urge you to rent Little Giants and see all the fun for yourself! -
mtr011823 March 2007Watching this comic film about two brothers facing each other on the football field as coaches was very humorous, especially Ed Oneal's Kevin Oshea. His attitude nearly resembled a combination of Mika ditka and Tom Landry. No wonder why Rick Moranis' Danny told him off, "Who the hell do you think you are? Vince Lombardi? These are kids." That was probably the line that lay-ed out the plot of the picture. The Ice Box was nearly cute as she had her crush on her own QB. It was very nice to see Hall of Famer John Madden do a cameo appearance as he got lost on his way to Canton, Ohio.If the action on the field would of been filmed as detailed as in Bend in on Beckham(2004) Little Giants would have been really for everybody's enjoyment especially since this film is most possibly aimed at younger audiences. But I still give it a seven out of ten for its good effort to represent rivalry on a pee wee field. Spike stole the scene as a Dick Butkus like kid.
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ccthemovieman-130 December 2007Oh, man - are we done with these kind of stories? I hope so. I am so tired of seeing the ragtag uncoordinated unorganized undersized, blah blah blah kids beat the super- organized, arrogant talented rich kids (or something similar.) This has been done so many times with so many of the same clichés, it make you want to puke.
As for the "family" tag, tell me why you always have to have profanity thrown in as if a "G" rating is the worst thing possible? (It isn't. I wonder if Hollywood will ever learn that?)
Rejects beating the established stars. That's what you have here....again. It's like a bunch of players who were cut from the NFL suddenly getting together and beating the New England Patriots! Come on!
Oh, yes, the coach is always led by a nerdy guy, too. At least it was good casting. Who better for nerd looks than Rick Moranis and who better for the obnoxious bad-guy coach than Ed O'Neil? Since movie-makers are always PC, they have to throw in a girl, too, who "kicks butt." Did I forget the fat kid who always farts, the smart kids who carry around computers, look geeky and have their noses running all the time, kids who always get hit in the groin, etc. etc. Enough, already! It's the same baloney, over and over, every movie!
It's movies like this that give "kids' sports movies" a bad name. -
Aksarbengurl31 December 2002I loved the Little Giants!
Kevin and Danny O'Shea are brothers. Kevin is a former football star. Kevin puts together a Peewee football team and doesn't choose Becky/Icebox. Becky/Icebox decides to get her friends together to form their own team. Icebox may be tough on the field but when she deals with a crush on the teams quarterback, Junior (Devon Sawa,) it makes her reconsider football. I'm not surprised she likes Junior (Devon Sawa). He is a total hottie! The day of the big game comes and the Little Giants are pumped but when a surprise is thrown their way they are a little scared. The movie ends, allowing you to decide what happens next! I would love it if they made a sequel, of course they couldn't use the same characters though.
I LOVED THE LITTLE GIANTS! -
ckmec-113 June 2005I never had my doubts on seeing this film at my local theatre back in 1994, and didn't expect anything special. Just another kiddie football movie with the down-on-its-luck ragtag, underdog squad of little losers... well, you get the idea.
Rick Moranis (where in God's name has he been these past few years?) plays the role of Danny O'Shea, the non-athletic younger brother of Urbania Ohio's (the setting) pride and joy, Kevin O'Shea (Ed O'Neill), former Heisman Trophy winner, and the constant talk of the town, a true All-American. He runs an elite team of pee-wee football players, which draws the attention of his brother.
Danny assembles his own team (rejects of Kevin's squad, daughter in hand and all) and together, challenge Kevin's Cowboys to a match, and thus the aptly named Giants, for which they provide a "giant" effort when they finally do square off, provide light entertainment and a few scattered chuckles for the audience.
There are some "thematic elements," present, but its safe enough for all ages. -
Hitchcoc6 January 2017I'm not going to trash this movie. It's another example of how we all like to root for underdogs. Rick Moranis's team of misfits fills a bill that has been filled over and over and over. There are the organize guys, the team of villains. They have the nice uniforms and they have learned to play at a high level. Not only that, they seem to always have that quality that we love: they make fun of our poor guys. Of course, our guys have a couple of skinny kids with broken glasses and an overweight one who passes gas, enough to make another team pass out. Anyway, since this is just kind of harmlessly contrived sport, it works at its appropriate level. Remember, in the forties, people cheered as Harpo Marx broke every rule in football. It was all good fun anyway.
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CharlesVonFunhammer21 November 2002If you don't like the little giants on some level, then you're a robot. I know robots, don't be that guy. The little giants is cute, it's fun, and it's funny. It's about the kids who "weren't good enough" to make the select team, and who form their own team. Plotwise, there is nothing new about the film, and really, you're not going to be impressed by the "art of cinema." But put yourself there. Tell a child he isn't good enough, I dare you. It's a good family story about triumph and about overcoming the obstacles life throws at us, even at a young age. These aren't college kids, or pros, they're not even teenagers. The story is warm, inviting, sweet, and funny. Enjoy this film. Watch it with your kids, watch it with people you love, and do it for the kids. Peace.
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Kamurai259 December 2020Really good watch, could watch again, and can recommend.
There are some outdated references, but mostly the movie holds up over time. All the key points are the same, it's mostly playing football between haves and have nots, with a strong female empowerment element.
It's great to see a fun bunch of "misfit" kids working together to overcome adversity.
I miss Rick Moranis in the industry, and he's fantastic. They did such great character work on each of the kids and the movie is filled with charming moments.
If you liked "Benchwarmers" or "The Sandlot" and wanted a football version of this sort of movie, check out this one. -
roberttapia127939 April 2019From the start it was pretty woman with a modern day twist all she needed to say was I say who, I was when, I say how much. Even though you can see where the story was going at every step it is enjoyable and in a way relatable to finding love, losing love, getting love back. Romantic drama 101.
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CabbageCustard13 October 2019Ed O'Neill and Rick Moranis play two brothers who coach competing football teams for a game that will decide which of the two teams will represent the town in the football league. I know what you're thinking... Ed O'Neill and Rick Moranis cast as brothers?? Why didn't someone think of doing that before? With their physical similarities it was an obvious pairing! Right??? No? I didn't think so either.
Anyway, the lead actors obvious physical differences don't really matter. Besides the two brothers are different. One brother is a bit of a nerd, who has never done anything on the sports field, while the other is an all around athlete who has distinguished himself on the football field and brought fame to himself and the town. I'll let you guess which actor plays which role. The nerdy brother ends up coaching a team of misfits kids who have been laughed at and rejected by the other coach and mocked by the sporty kids but who really, really want to play football. They form their own team named The Little Giants. When the powers that be learn that only one team can represent the town the two teams challenge each other to a play off.
We've seen this theme of the underdogs taking on the elite form the basis for many movies over the years, some of them from the same era as this one, and I won't even begin to name them. This one does a good job with the familiar theme and has a lot of fun doing so. It has a lot of good actors and its heart in the right place. There's nothing that will surprise you. You know what's going to happen as soon as you see the plot start to develop and you know how all the subplots will resolve themselves, but that's not really a bad thing. It makes for comfortable viewing and ensures the movie is suitable for all ages - even adults. Predictable though it may be, this movie is very enjoyable and I heartily recommend it for family viewing. -
alex-830961 March 2022I personally love movies where someone is training or simply just kids playing sports. I feel like they are unique from other movies. "Little Giants" is on of those examples that shows how fun and different they are. The movie is brilliant for the family and will definitely get you all laughing together and will make you interested in the Characters as it goes along.
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stars1910 August 2006When I was little, this was one of my favorite movies. Now I'm watching it like 10 years later, and I still enjoy it. I could really relate to Becky and her struggles. I had a crush on Junior the cute quarterback. I could really see Danny and Kevin as brothers. I laughed at everything. I also love football. But make sure when you watch it you don't watch it on TV because they cut so much out of the original movie. This is a great film about the struggles of growing up with some comedy. I highly recommend it. It's a great film for everyone. It taught me to have hope and to believe I could achieve anything. Rent it, buy the DVD, just go watch it!!
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ravonstigar7 February 2024I remember watching this as a kid that age. Played Pee Wee football & little league. Also Ray Townsend youth Bball Actually ended up playing college bball. As kid who was picked, & sometimes cut this movie made me believe to never count anybody out. Corny yes.. Going from worst to 1st is real in every aspect of life. Yes we know the fringe kids are going to win. In some dramatic & unbelievable fashion. But it's like a romantic comedy. We know these 2 oddly paired people are going to end up together. But what makes life exciting is enjoying the journey. With the belief things will work themselves out. Btw this is one of few movies that didn't suck after rewatching as an adult.
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First off, let me make one thing perfectly straight: the one reason I saw this movie was to experience the rarity of Ed O'Neill in a leading role. I've watched Married With Children every chance I got the last 3-4 years, and ever since the first episode I saw, I wanted to see O'Neill in other roles, preferably in films. That's why I saw The Bone Collector, it's why I saw K9 and it's why I, against better judgment, saw this movie. OK, now that I've got that out of the way, let me make a point out of the fact that I really, really don't care for children's films. Yes, yes, I know, this is a "family film"... but that's really semantics, now isn't it? The reason the movie was made so kiddie-like wasn't to make it possible to show it to 'families', it was to make it acceptable viewing material for children. Face it, this is the kind of film that the parents rent for the kids if they want to have a night out or they just want to make absolutely sure that they won't be bothered by them for the next two hours or so. This really isn't that attractive a film choice for anyone over the age of 10. Apart from that, honestly, it's not all bad. Sure, it's a typical, predictable underdog tale glorifying one of the worlds most violent, ridiculous sports, but it's not entirely bad, and at least it's not another dreaded "kids taking care of the adults' problems" children's film. The plot is not the least bit original, but it's not bad. There seemed to be too many undeveloped subplots, though. The pacing is pretty good, despite my inherent hatred of kiddie flicks, I was rarely bored. The acting is mostly bad, but that's probably because it's a minor kids flick where most of the characters are children. O'Neill and Moranis are good, as are most of the other adults in the film. The humor is mostly juvenile and childish, but this is a children's film, so it's not like that's a big surprise. And at least not all of it is bad. Something I was surprised at was how credible and non-clichéd the characters were, despite many of them being stereotypical and more than half of them not even being properly fleshed out. I didn't hate O'Neill's character, even though he was Moranis's nemesis. Really, the film was far less mean-spirited than the usual children's film. It didn't rely too much on gross-out comedy, either. Honestly, for what type of film this is, you could do much worse. I don't know... if you need a children's film, keep this one in mind as a possibility. I recommend this mainly to kids and parents of sports fanatics. Fans of Ed O'Neill and/or Rick Moranis might want to check it out as well. 5/10
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Tenchi645897 October 2007I've seen a lot of sports movies since I've lived on this planet, and this just happens to be one of my favorites.
Like I've said in one of my other reviews, I don't really like football, but this is an instant classic. I can say this because I saw this when I was at least 8 or 9 years old and loved it! There are many memorable moments in the movie, and everyone from kids to adults can enjoy this.
The only complaint I have is that they show it on ABC Family sometimes, and for some reason, they edit a lot of it out... and some of the edits actually make the movie work... if you can, stay away from that version.
Aside from that, this is a 10 out of 10. -
iajaurigue29 January 2008I understand how much competition holds back the development of youths, I'm a teacher. But good intentions do not encourage learning and hope does not create understanding. Participation, motivation and being truthful with children does(and lots and lots of planning). The kids that watch this take the lesson that you can fall behind, not read, not participate and a miracle will happen. You will be able to pull reason, information and remember content from when you were drawing in class, on the day of the test from your heart, your courage and a magic hidden talent you possess deep inside you. What fools all the teachers who stay up until 1am(and up at 5am) planning for cooperative groups that encompasses multiple learning abilities in children to draw their interest in American literature and encourage them to work hard, have fun and be confident young people. You want a good sports movie moms - watch Little Big League, that's cute, and honest about the importance of fundamentals.
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Jmalia424 August 2004This movie is adorable for adults and kids alike. The plot is cute and funny. The lines are new and fresh. All the actors did a great job and a credit to their profession.
The idea of a girl being better than a boy is not far fetched, but new to most. They may take a little poetic licence with some of the scenes, but only to enhance the storyline.
For those who are looking for realism in a bunch of misfit kids, i would also point out the movie Goonies and the classic it became, speaking to those who were less than perfect as children.
The movie will delight and is worth the time to see.