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Space Jam (1996)

tomatometer

35

Average Rating: 5.1/10
Reviews Counted: 48
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 31

A harmless mishmash of basketball and animation that'll entertain kids but leave adults less than thrilled.

40

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 9

A harmless mishmash of basketball and animation that'll entertain kids but leave adults less than thrilled.

audience

52

liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 576,657

My Rating

Movie Info

Basketball superstar Michael Jordan and cartoon favorite Bugs Bunny team up with other basketball greats and Looney Tunes characters in this combination animated/live-action feature. Jordan must help the Looney Tunes gang with a basketball game against a group of outer space creatures whose plan, if they win, is to kidnap the Looney Tunes and take them to a failing intergalactic amusement park as the latest attraction. Also starring Academy Award-nominee Bill Murray ("Lost in Translation,"

PG, 1 hr. 28 min.

Comedy, Kids & Family

,

Aug 27, 1997

Warner Home Video

Cast

All Critics (50) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (33) | DVD (15)

Simpler and cruder than Who Framed Roger Rabbit in terms of story and technique, this is still a great deal of fun, confirming that Jordan is every bit as mythological a creature as Daffy Duck or Yosemite Sam.

March 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Cute, rambunctious, generally amusing rather than outright funny, this clever mix of live action, highlighted by the unequaled skills of basketball superstar Michael Jordan, and animated Looney Tunes antics will be a must-see for kids.

March 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Sufferin' succotash!

March 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This film was made very quickly by animation standards, and the haste shows.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's the first time either Jordan or Bugs has had a starring role on the big screen. It's gimmicky Saturday-morning cartoon wackiness in your face -- funny, but brain-deadening.

June 18, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Space Jam is no Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but it works well enough.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A silly, forgettable comedy...

January 3, 2012 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

If you weren't a kid when you first saw Space Jam, you're a lot less likely to find it palatable. [Blu-ray]

October 14, 2011 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment

Live-action/animation mix is good fun for kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Attempts to inject some hipness into the classic cartoon characters, not to mention some potty-mouthed dialogue, will enrage purists, but otherwise this pretty much scores a slam dunk with its under-five target audience.

March 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

A cynical attempt to cash in on the popularity of Warner Bros. cartoon characters and basketball player Michael Jordan, inspired by a Nike commercial.

March 24, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Visually, it's a mess: the attempts to blend 2- and 3-D animation with live-action and computer-generated images produce scenes that are fuzzier than the storyline.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

What I miss most of all is the absence of the late, great Mel Blanc.

April 9, 2005 Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | Comment
Reeling Reviews

Space Jam isn't exactly a slam dunk. It's more of a graceful tip-in by Michael Jordan, with a snazzy assist by Bugs Bunny.

June 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | Comment

The two-disc DVD comes with a solid line-up of extras that are bound to make not only fans of the film happy, but long-time fans of the classic Looney Tunes as well.

March 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

Succeeds in reintroducing the Looney Tunes name, but fails to capture the imagination and sharpness that defined them originally.

March 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

This Special Edition Space Jam turns out to be a rather mediocre enterprise any way you look at it.

November 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

Space Jam is harmless kiddie fare, but it may not be every adult's idea of a good time.

November 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Space Jam

I absolutely loved this movie. It has terriffic animation and has a warm feeling of innocence that modern kids movies dont have anymore and although the central plot seems like something of a marketing scheme by Warner Bros considering what it's about. It's actually funny, cute and very charming. Michael Jordan isn't

December 16, 2011
Michael M.
Michael Miller

Super Reviewer

Space Jam is a good film that anyone can enjoy. This is not a great film, is flawed, but for what it is, it's a film that is simply lots of fun whether you're an adult or a kid. The animation is great, and the plot is really entertaining too. This was one of my favorite films at the time of its release, and there are

December 9, 2011
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

    1. Daffy Duck: This will look good.
    – Submitted by Javis C (5 months ago)

Latest News for Space Jam

January 27, 2012:
Disney Heads to Space with Chronicle Scribe
Max Landis sells the studio an untitled adventure project.

March 24, 2011:
At Long Last, a Space Jam Box Score
This one's for you, "Space Jam" fans: the intrepid analysts at the Harvard College Sports Analysis...

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