TOP SPOORTS MOVIES LIST
25. White Men Can't Jump
This 1992 comedy, starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as two small-time hustlers who make their money from bets on pick-up basketball games, is at its best during the trash-talking hoops matches. Written and directed by Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, Tin Cup), Harrelson and Snipes are great together, and Rosie Perez (as the Jeopardy-obssesed girlfriend of Snipes's character) is annoying and amusing at the same time. -BZ
24. Bend it Like Beckham
This tale of an Indian girl who dreams of playing professional soccer is sometimes a cliched affair - disapproving parents, a love triangle with a hunky coach, etc. - but swathed in the sort of relentless enthusiasm Gurinder Chadha lends the material, it feels as fresh as the day these winning formulas were established. Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, the latter of whom would go on to trounce bad guys in Pirates of the Caribbean, offer a decidedly intelligent and sensitive portrayal of these ambitious, gender-defying athletes who dream of a professional sports career, while the director gives the entire affair a palpable political context and enough twists and turns to make for a semicomic masterpiece.
23. Kingpin
Add Bill Murray to any movie and the quality doubles. Put him in a western shirt with the worst combover in the history of film, and make him the bad boy of the professional bowling world, and you have a near-masterpiece. This pre-Mary Farrelly Brothers gem is all about Roy Munson, a pro bowler who loses his bowling hand after gambling on his favorite sport.
After his life is flushed down the tubes, Munson gets a shot at redemption by taking an Amish man with exceptional bowling skill (Randy Quaid) to the nationals. Full off patented FB toilet humor, tons of laughs (including a Chris Elliott Indecent Proposal sequence), this movie not only succeeds in making bowling funny, it almost makes it look cool, too. -CC
22. Dogtown & Z-Boys
While Catherine Hardwicke's fictionalization of this film proved accurate to the point of redundancy, Stacy Peralta's documentary captures the early days of the extreme sports boon with unerring precision and unrestrained passion, and makes one of the best documentaries one will likely see. Narrated by Sean Penn, Peralta and co-screenwriter Craig Stecyk's text offers a fascinating story about a bunch of kids- some as young as eleven and twelve- who became legends virtually overnight as the Z-Boys, the first professional-level skaters to dominate the burgeoning skateboarding industry. Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Peralta helped discover the untapped commercial potential of skateboarding by being the first skaters to transform it from a static, antiseptic sport into a veritable lifestyle, and this film celebrates the hedonistic and sometimes self-destructive glory days so effectively you'll feel like you're careening down those hills right along with them.
21. A League of Their Own
Famous for the line "There's no crying in baseball," this light-hearted look at the first womens' baseball league is (like the monolith) "full of stars." Tom Hanks, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Geena Davis and Lori Petty round out a diverse cast. Hanks stars as the famous manager who is merely collecting a paycheck, originally wanting nothing at all to do with his team. A fun look at an oft-overlooked slice of sports history, it's one of the few sports movies that features primarily women. -CC
20. Jerry Maguire
While "show me the money!" and Renee Zellweger occupied much of the limelight this film enjoyed following its release in 1996, the relationship between Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr., both personal and professional, is what truly drives the story. The movie's depiction of the ins and outs of corporate sports proved both familiar and revelatory - from the sad fact that athletes can't sign certain brands of baseball cards to the undercutting and head-hunting between colleagues - and the games themselves are treated like a different sort of competition - namely, who can show off the most to secure some new endorsement deal or contract? But ultimately Cameron Crowe's sports-filled romance isn't one about getting the girl or saving the job, it's about caring about your teammates, in life and love, and scoring one for the team; all of the old cliches apply to the film, but they actually mean something for a change.
19. The Longest Yard (1974)
The 1974 original Longest Yard starred former college football player Burt Reynolds and was packed with a bunch of pro football players including Ray Nitschke, Joe Kapp, Mike Henry, and Pervis Atkins. Directed by Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen), the film features Reynolds at his peak, an entertaining story, and some great football action towards the end. -BZ
18. Happy Gilmore
This 1996 Adam Sandler comedy follows a washed-up hockey player who takes up golf. Happy Gilmore's hockey career is on the rocks and he's got no direction in life. His grandmother is evicted from her house for her failure to pay back taxes, and his girlfriend has left him. He makes it on to the pro golf tour with the hope of making some money to save his grandmother's house, but is challenged by tour favorite Shooter McGavin. -BL
17. Victory
Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone team up to make the best soccer movie ever to grace the silver screen. Sound unlikely? We thought so, too, but this film is a poignant and interesting look at the beautiful game. With hints of The Longest Yard, the movie takes place during WWII, and the pivotal game is staged between German National soldiers and Allied POWs. It's intended to mask the escape of prisoners, but the game takes on a life of its own.
Absolutely as victorious as its title suggests, Victory is everything a sports movie should be: action-packed, uplifting and as tense as a tie game with one minute remaining. Soccer fans who haven't checked it out should immediately; in fact, any movie fan should. -CC
16. The Bad News Bears
The original 1974 Bad News Bears stars Walter Matthau as Morris Buttermaker, a lazy, often-drunk former minor league baseball player who takes a job coaching a little league team made up of complete misfits. Pushing the limits of the PG rating back in the day, the kids in the film talk like real kids and Matthau's Buttermaker is as un-P.C. a character as you can get. With the addition of a 12-year-old girl pitcher (played by Tatum O'Neal) and a motorcycle punk (Jackie Earle Haley), both the team and the film come together wonderfully and Bad News Bears ends up being an uplifting baseball flick that takes satiric swipes at the sport along the way. -BZ
15. Major League
This 1989 baseball comedy features a great cast (including Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes) as a rag-tag group of players picked by the new owner of the Cleveland Indians who wants the worst team she can find to lower attendance and get out of her stadium lease. With some great scenes (such as Charlie Sheen's entrance into the stadium to the tune of "Wild Thing") and great lines (especially the radio commentary by Bob Uecker), Major League is a baseball comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously. -BZ
14. Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood's Baby was unquestionably 2004's sucker-punch success, emerging from a near-total absence of pre-release buzz to win four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actress and Supporting Actor. But beyond its merits as a searing character study and poignant drama, the film offers some of the most engaging fight sequences ever put on film: Hilary Swank, a game cinematic competitor if ever there was one, throws herself wholeheartedly into the fray, downing one opponent after another with her evolving combination of technique and ferocious desperation. Deemed one of the best sports movies ever by none other than Sports Illustrated, its pedigree is firmly established; but as a visceral moviegoing experience, it's one of the few films listed here that will kick your ass and break your heart at the same time.
13. Eight Men Out
John Sayles' 1988 film, Eight Men Out, was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Eliot Asinof. The story is dramatic retelling of the notorious Black Sox scandal in which eight members of the Chicago team were busted for conspiring with gamblers to intentionally throw baseball's World Series.
While the film was overlooked by the Academy and other major awards, it is regarded as one of the best (and most underrated) sports films ever. -BL
12. Slap Shot
"Old time hockey!" This 1977 film looks at the humorous, rough and rowdy world of semi-pro hockey. Gritty and foul throughout, the story tracks the progress of an awful team whose fortunes greatly improve when they resort to violent tactics at the hands of the bespectacled Hanson Brothers.
Starring Paul Newman in one of his most comedic roles, the movie captures all the things that make semi-pro sport great. What's more, it's as funny today as it was when it premiered in 1977. -CC
11. Miracle
Miracle is the real-life tale of hockey player-turned-coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) and the 1980 USA Hockey team. The underdog team, mostly made up of college-aged players, fought their way to the Olympic finals and defeated the heavily-favored Soviet team to win the gold medal -- the victory was dubbed "the miracle on ice." Miracle was directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by Eric Guggenheim. -BL
10. When We Were Kings
9. Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams gave us the most annoyingly overused line from any contemporary sports movie (with the possible exception of Jerry Maguire's "Show me the money!"), "If you build it, they will come." But that single grievance doesn't harm its status as one of the best sports films of all time.
The 1989 Kevin Costner movie tells the story of of a man who becomes convinced that he's supposed to build a baseball diamond in his corn field. Costner stars along with Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffmann, Ray Liotta, Timothy Busfield, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster, and Frank Whaley. The movie was directed and adapted by Phil Alden Robinson from the novel Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella. It earned Academy noms for Best Music, Original Score, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. -BL
8. Caddyshack
Caddyshack, starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe and Bill Murray, is the farcical tale of a golf course clash between a two groups of men. The film was Harold Ramis' first directing gig and solidified the movie career of Dangerfield. Murray supposedly ad-libbed many of his lines on the film, which annoyed his co-stars, but helped make Caddyshack one of the funniest sports movies ever. -BL
7. The Natural
Barry Levinson's 1984 baseball flick, The Natural, starring Robert Redford, was adapted from the 1952 novel of the same name by Bernard Malamud and Kevin Baker. Although it's not considered to be a very faithful adaptation of the book, it is regarded as one of the greatest sports movies of all time. The story centers around Roy Hobbs (Redford) an man with a "natural" talent for the sport of baseball. Hobbs, with his mysterious past, appears out of nowhere and carries a losing team to the top of the league with the aid of a bat cut from a lightning-struck tree. It was nominated for four Academy Awards. -BL
6. Rocky
The blueprint by which many sports films are judged, Rocky tells the story of a down-and-out enforcer and struggling boxer who gets his shot at a title against Philadelphia legend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Not only did Sylvester Stallone write the film, but turns in a star-making performance in one of the most unforgettable boxing films of any era.
Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers and Talia Shire round out an amazing supporting cast. The film spawned numerous sequels (including Rocky 2, which very nearly made this list) and continues to impact pop culture in significant ways. A sixth film has recently been announced.
5. Bull Durham
An inside view into the rough and tumble world of the baseball minor leagues. Bull Durham is not your average polished look at the American pastime, it's baseball as most pro players know it - save the elite few who only spend a few years stopping off in the minors on the way to the show (That's the majors, for those not cool enough to already know). Durham also has it's fair share of sex and comedy, which add a fun spice without ever detracting from the baseball focus. Director Ron Shelton has tried for many years to replicate the success of his brilliant directorial debut, with only fair to middling success. Durham also made Kevin Costner a superstar, revitalized Susan Sarandon and introduced Tim Robbins. Any baseball (or sex comedy) fan should love it.
4. Hoop Dreams
One of the most engrossing and moving sports documentaries around, this 1994 gem tracks the lives of two young basketball players trying to make it into the competitive world of college basketball, with an eye toward becoming a pro.
The film crew is given total access to the boys' lives, and as a result, the film ends up being an intimate portrait of their families, their successes, and ultimately, their failures, too. At turns triumphant, exhilarating, heartbreaking and moving, it is everything a documentary should be. Ten times more entertaining than the majority of feature films, Hoop Dreams is engaging cinema, pure and simple. -CC
3. Hoosiers
Hoosiers is the 1986 film, based on a true underdog story, of a high school basketball team from a small town in Indiana that made it all the way to the State Championship. The story follows a coach with a checkered past and a local drunk who lead the team to victory. Gene Hackman stars along with Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper and Sheb Wooley.
The film was penned by Angelo Pizzo and directed by Rudy helmer David Anspaugh. It earned Oscar noms for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Dennis Hopper) and Best Music, Original Score (Jerry Goldsmith). -BL
2. The Hustler
Like few of the films on this list, Robert Rossen's The Hustler transcends easy distinctions of being a 'sports movie', but offers some of the most unbelievable pool playing you're likely to see this side of ESPN; Paul Newman, in one of his most unforgettable roles, plays Fast Eddie Felson, a pool player extraordinare who suffers defeat at the hands of Minnesota Fats (a never-better Jackie Gleason), whose character rather than talent trumps the competition. Simultaneously a riveting competition and character study, Newman, Gleason, a frighteningly pragmatic George C. Scott and a heartbreaking Piper Laurie offer one of the silver screen's best-ever depictions of brutal human conflict, brilliantly rendered over the felt of a pool table.
1. Raging Bull
Martin Scorsese wasn't even a boxing fan when he set out to tell the story of the incomparable Jake LaMotta. That didn't stop Scorsese from crafting the single greatest depiction of the sweet science ever to grace the silver screen. This film works on so many levels, it's impossible to summarize. The greatest film of the 80's decade, it simply must be seen. DeNiro's performance ranks among the best ever, even without consideration of the notorious weight gain. Scorsese went from very good filmmaker to master with this work, the film that also first united him with Oscar-winning editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, whom Scorsese continues to work with to this day. -JO
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