Basketball Movie Review
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
Dr. J leads an astrology-built basketball team through one of the strangest pro-hoops fantasies ever financed, with enough real NBA talent to make the nonsense glow.
Peak cult basketball cinema: ridiculous, colourful and historically valuable because nobody is ever making this exact movie again.
Movie details
1979 · 1h 42m · Comedy · Family
Director Gilbert Moses
- Julius Erving — Moses Guthrie
- Jonathan Winters — H.S. / Harvey Tilson
- Meadowlark Lemon — Rev. Grady Jackson
- Gilbert Moses directed the 1979 film, which stars Julius Erving and builds its fictional basketball roster around astrological compatibility.
- The cast includes basketball figures such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Meadowlark Lemon, and the movie was filmed in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena.
01
The Take
The premise sounds invented during a very long night: rebuild a terrible Pittsburgh pro team using players whose zodiac signs match the star. The miracle is that the movie commits completely. It becomes a disco-era basketball carnival where uniforms, music, celebrity cameos and Julius Erving's charisma matter more than ordinary plot logic.
02
Does the Basketball Hold Up?
The real-player presence gives the fantasy a weird floor of credibility. Dr. J is the centre, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Meadowlark Lemon and other basketball names help turn the picture into a late-70s hoops time capsule even while astrology is driving roster construction.
03
Best Basketball Moment
Any sequence where Julius Erving is allowed to move like Julius Erving, briefly making the astrological roster premise look almost reasonable because the star at its centre is that smooth.
04
Ball Cred
Julius Erving stars in the film alongside a remarkable collection of basketball personalities, giving the fictional Pittsburgh team genuine period basketball texture.