The best Sports films?

What are you fave sport films? Whether they be documentaries or scripted, which ones do you think are the best?

I'd say, in terms of documentaries, When We Were Kings is the best.

Scripted movies: Rocky, Remember the Titans, Raging Bull and Ali are all standouts for me

As a rule I think you can only have a good sports film if the sport itself is mostly boring and can be spiced up on film. Hence boatloads of Boxing/fighting movies.

There haven't been any good movies about football (soccer) because you cannot recreate the genius of Messi or Ronaldo with actors.

I covered this one in my Genres thread...





Agree with Gandalf though, Football never makes good films.
Soccer Dog, anyone?

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Personally I enjoyed Shaolin Soccer.

I also really liked Cinderalla Man and Undefeated, and of course Last Cup Road to the World Series of Beer Pong

As a big sports fan, I tend to avoid sports movies. They usually leave me feeling really angry. For instance The Blind Side pissed me off to no end.

But, as with everything, sometimes a gem rolls along. I still need to see Raging Bull, which I would imagine could contend for my favorite sports movie. Boxing movies seem to be less terrible than other sports movies for some reason.

I remember Rocky being awesome, but I haven't seen it in several years.

Million Dollar Baby is still great in my opinion, but I've seen that movie receive some snobbishly placed noses pointed above it.

Charlie Chaplin's The Champion is my favorite boxing movie though, it's so much fun.

The Hustler might be my favorite all-time sports movie though. If you consider billiards a sport that is.

Baseball Bugs is only 7 minutes long, but it makes baseball bearable.

For recent sports movies, Goon is a hockey movie that is really funny if a bit cliched. It's worth sitting through the cliched bits though, because it really is one of the funnier movies in the last 2-3 years.

Friday Night Lights is one of my favorites. Might even be a little underrated because of its immense popularity and the tv series it spawned. Some peeps tend to hate what's popular AKA some motha ****as always tryna ice skate uphill.

Also a big fan of Perfect Effort, a documentary about one season for the storied De La Salle high school football program.

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you don't enjoy boxing? you're too old gandalf

personally i really enjoyed the brian clough movie and that was all about football

I did not know the TV series was an off shoot of a movie, I really enjoyed that show. Might have to catch the movie.

Yes I do enjoy boxing but large parts of almost evry great fight are very boring. Take "the Rumble in the Jungle", no question that it is probably the greatest fight of all time but the majority of the 8 rounds consists of Ali standing against the ropes getting pummeled by Foreman, quite boring imo.

"The Damned United" is hardly a sports movie because there is very little actual football in it, or if there is it consists of Brian Clough sitting in the dressing room waiting for the match to finish. It was much more about the Drama happening behind the scenes. Much the same as "Moneyball", a really great movie in which the sport itself is only the backdrop to the story.

Adore this one:




This is the only sports based film that I can think of at the moment that is a favourite.

there are some boring fights out there but the Rumble isn't the best example for being labelled the best fight ever. Ali/Frazier III, Morales/Barrera, recently the likes of Bradley/Provodnikov and Rios/Alvarado...in fact the Bradley fight was edge of the seat stuff from the first round.

Anyway back to films It's true that The Damned United was more about Clough as a person than the sport itself but football defined him and it is a central aspect of the movie. However, it's not a sport movie in the same sense as Rocky, Raging Bull or The Fighter.

Dont forget the Vazquez v Marquez fights. Not too far off Ward v Gatti

Great picks!

Also, just thought of 2 more very very good sports movies, The wrestler and The Colour of Money (yes pool is a sport! )

well if we are counting pool as a sport...

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Kinda hard doing it for ALL sports. Be a bit easier to do each individual sport. But, I'll give it a go (without trying to rack my brain too much).

1. Rocky
2. Field of Dreams
3. Remember the Titans
4. The Natural
5. Brian's Song
6. A League of Their Own
7. Raging Bull
8. Rudy
9. Bull Durham
10. The Greatest Game Ever Played

Honorable mentions: Tin Cup, Eight Men Out, Miracle and Hoosiers

I don't classify Raging Bull to be a sports film at all. Boxing is hardly the focus of the film, unlike, say, Rocky.

My favorites are Slapshot and the original Longest Yard.

For those looking for a soccer movie, try Victory with Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, and Pele. I haven't seen it since it was out but remember liking it.

what?

Ok, I know it's a character piece with regards to Lamotta and his immediate family but it is a boxing movie. A sports film doesn't have to spend the entirety of it's running time showing you the sport. In fact, most sports films use the sport they portray as a way to view a much bigger picture.

The Fighter is a story all about family, breaking apart and then coming together when it matters, would you say it's not a sports film?

Remembering The Titans deals with growing up in a potentially racist society and dealing with issues of race and sexuality. Is it not a sports film?

The Wrestler gives us the image of a wrecked man, some one who has nowhere to go and is obsessed with his past, it just so happens wrestling is the past. Is it then not a sports film?