In one of the most iconic scenes in any sports movie, Roy Hobbes hits a towering walk-off home run that shatters the lights, leaving him to round the bases as sparks fall onto the field.
Robert Redford stars as Hobbs in The Natural, a film about a star prospect whose career is seemingly cut short after being shot, only to come back and help a team later on in his career.
The baseball movie trope of the veteran player finding redemption is not rare, but it is always fun to watch it play out in so many different ways.
Hobbs was a top prospect before being shot by a woman at the beginning of his career, and has to fight back to relevance. He is faced with bribes and lies along the way, but fights on as an honest man and hits the memorable home run at the end of the film.
The film does a great job of capturing the game of baseball before World War II, when players would stroll up to the plate with no batting gloves or helmets, while fans dressed in their finest clothes as they sat cramped in the stands.
The song at the end of the film, featured in the clip, is one of the most memorable in any sports film, and fits perfectly with the nature of the scene and the film as a whole.
The Natural is a fantastic baseball movie, but is still overshadowed by a few others.
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