The Bronx Is Burning

"The Bronx is Burning" juxtaposes the story of the Yankees' run for the AL Pennant (and ultimately the World Series) with the Son of Sam murders, the infamous blackout and other notable events during this tumultuous time in the city's history. This miniseries mirrors the book "Damned Yankees" written by Moss Klein and Bill Madden, beat writers for The Newark Star Ledger and The New York Daily News respectively, who depicted all the craziness on those Yankee teams from the 70's through the 80's.

George Steinbrenner's tyrannical ownership of the Yankees was marked by a mixture of great success and turmoil during this time. Frequent managerial firings, front office turnover and overpayment of free agents all contributed to a circus atmosphere which was dubbed "The Bronx Zoo" by members of the media. "The Bronx is Burning" does a great job of depicting the principal characters and storyline of the '77 Yankee team. Particularly good is the work of John Turturro as the tactically brilliant but personally troubled manager Billy Martin. His striking resemblance lends immeasurable credibility to the show. Also very good is Oliver Platt as Steinbrenner. His mannerisms and speech closely mirror those of the real George.

If you are a baseball fan or Yankee follower, this is worth your while.

Although Jose Cardenal first used the "cupped out" bat design in 1972, the design was still not in popular use in 1977. Photos I have seen of Jackson in 1977 suggest he was still using the conventional "rounded out " cap bat design. Yet,in this series he is always shown using the now prevalent " cupped out " bat. Did Jackson ever use the " cupped out " bat in 1977? Nevertheless, the series does strive for authenticity and seems to capture the very mercurial personalities ( each for different reasons that students/experts in psychology and human behavior could have their own "field day" discussing ) of George, Billy and Reggie. Add to this mercurial mixture the spotlight and heat and resulting pressure of the New York Media, "Yankee" tradition/culture and the times and it is not surprising that the Bronx was burning. Nor is it surprising that the Bronx was exploding and this Series captures and does not try to contain that explosion.

I am a big baseball fan and have always enjoyed movies like Bull Durham, The Natural, and Major League. The Bronx Is Burning is quite different.

First of all, it is a television show depicting actual events; the New York Yankees run to the World Series during the 1977 series. Second, this show is not your typical "feel good" sports movie. The players, owner, and manager have gripes with each other. It is interesting to see the true nature of a sports team. They are not always slapping each other on the rear ends and high fiving each other. Some of the players, and even the manager, can't stand each other. It truly was The Bronx Zoo.

One aspect of the show I don't particularly care for are the scenes involving the Son Of Sam murders. These scenes get a little too much attention. It is interesting that events of the day are intertwined throughout the show though, it helps put the show in its appropriate time frame and sets a good mood.

The cast of the four main characters Billy Martin (John Turturro), George Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt), Reggie Jackson (Daniel Sunjata), and Thurman Munson (Erik Jensen) is superb.

You don't have to be a Yankees fan to admire this show. It has a catchy story line that keeps you wanting more. The music for the show is also very good. ESPN has hit a homerun with this one. Rating 9 of 10 stars.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 1) *** 1/2 (out of 4) The first part in this eight part mini-series gets off to a good start as we see George Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt) hiring Billy Martin (John Turturro) only to see the two start fighting over Reggie Jackson being brought in. Also brought up in this episode is the Son of Sam killings starting. I'll hold most of my comments until the mini-series is over but Turturro seems to be excellent as Martin but Platt isn't impressing me too much as the big guy. The supporting players seem to be fitting their roles just fine so we shall see how the series moves along.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 2) *** 1/2 (out of 4) George Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt) and Billy Martin (John Turturro) come to an understanding days after Martin is fired but this doesn't stop Martin's hatred for Reggie Jackson. Also, the Son of Sam killer is now taunting the police with notes saying he's going to kill more. This second part (of eight) really picks up steam with Turturro becoming terrific as the legendary Martin. I've noticed that Platt plays the part a lot better during the quiet scenes but whenever he tries to be the "Big Boss" he gets a bit campy. The stuff in the locker room between Jackson and his teammates is also very well done. Again, I'll post more when the mini-series is over.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 3) **** (out of 4) Things heat up when Billy Martin (John Turturro) pulls Reggie Jackson out of a game in Boston on live television. This leads to Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt) traveling to Detroit to fire Martin. Back in NYC, Son of Sam kills two more people. This part is certainly the best so far with a lot of drama and the notorious event of Martin pulling Jackson makes for some great entertainment. There's also one nicely suspenseful scene dealing with Son of Sam. What's really standing out about this mini-series is the performance of Turturro who is turning in the best work of his career as the troubled Martin. His breakdown towards the end of this episode was really, really heartbreaking.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 4) *** (out of 4) Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt) promises Billy Martin (John Turturro) he won't fire him, the first anniversary of the Son of Sam killing approaches and NYC is hit with a blackout in this fourth part of the mini-series. This was the weakest of the four parts so far but the acting is still top-notch but none of the three main parts are really hammered home like in the previous parts.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 5) *** 1/2 (out of 4) A terrorist plot hits NYC as record high temperatures do as well. The Son of Sam killer is finally caught as the Yankees take over first place after Martin bats Jackson clean-up. After the good but weakest segment last week, this weeks episode picks back up with a great reenactment of the capture of Sam and the Miller beer commercial with Steinbrenner and Martin is still funny.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 6) *** (out of 4) The Son of Sam killer is trying to make money off his killings while the Yankees finally beat out Boston for the Eastern Division but things start to unravel against Kansas City. This is yet another good episode but I was expecting so much more since we've been building up to the playoffs. There's really nothing too overly important that stands out here except for a great scene where Steinbrenner watches one of the playoff games with a group of college kids in their dorm. This scene is also the best Oliver Platt has been as The Boss.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 7) *** 1/2 (out of 4) The next to last episode has the Yankees in the World series against the Dodgers but Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin must come to some sort of understanding while Steinbrenner wants to offer Martin an extension. This episode picks up a lot more of the baseball action and I'm glad to see that this episode goes into more details about what was going on in the dugout. Each game is given plenty of time for us to see all the action and see how the characters were going through it.

Bronx is Burning, The (Pt. 8) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Final episode has the Yankees entering Game 6 and trying to clinch it while a report in Time magazine has Jackson saying he won't return to the team if Martin is still coaching. Before the game Steinbrenner gives Martin a two year contract while Jackson goes out and hits three home runs. This final episode picks up a lot more steam and caps off the series very nicely, although I wish they would have used more new footage instead of all the real life clips. It would have been nice to see more of the reactions after the game but the episode is still quite strong.

I haven't been a fan of baseball since the last strike whenever that was. The fact that a decent player(A Rod) signed a contract for 300 million over 10 years disgusts me. The best thing about this series is it reminds you of the way baseball used to be. It is excellently acted although a little slow getting going and probably could have been at least one episode shorter than it was. It is a fascinating look at the relationships between all the players, coaches, and owner on the Yankees to see what they had to go through to win. For someone who could care less about baseball anymore it is a great trip down memory lane to the good ol' days of baseball *cough* before steroids, BALCO, & all the illegitimate "Great" players that are around these days. Watch this especially if you want to see a good story and the better days of when baseball actually was America's sport. It's now Football just in case you wondered. If you don't have a chance to see the whole series watch the last few episodes instead of the first.