Off Season Topic; Top Sports Movies.

[joober jones]

Eight Men Out is an incredibly underrated sports movie... Slapshot has the to be at the top of all lists along with Rocky, Hoosiers, and Bull Durham.

+1 on Eight Men Out

 

[MilliniumPrince]

There actually isn't much boxing in Rocky. I always break these movies into two categories: Sports Movies and Movies about Sports. One involves a plot based on someone who happens to be in sports. One has the sport or outcome as the major point of the movie. So Rocky is in one category while Rocky III is in the other.

 

[CallMeBruce]

There actually isn't much boxing in Rocky. I always break these movies into two categories: Sports Movies and Movies about Sports. One involves a plot based on someone who happens to be in sports. One has the sport or outcome as the major point of the movie. So Rocky is in one category while Rocky III is in the other.

You don't think the match with Creed was the major point of Rocky? The entire movie centers around that event, which comprises the entire climax of the film.

 

[D-NICE]

The Natural

 

[Chin Diesel]

Rocky
Slaphsot
Caddyshack
Tin Cup
Hoosiers
Field of Dreams
Debbie Does Dallas
Fish That Saved Pittsburgh

 

[Waquoit]

I actually saw that in a theater when I was in middle school. Very disappointing, I was hoping for more boobage.

 

[boog204]

+1 on Hoop Dreams; fantastic film.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Major League.

Just a little bit outside

 

[jleves]

A few that haven't been mentioned: Rudy, Raging Bull, A League of Their Own, Million Dollar Baby, Happy Gilmore, The Longest Yard (original), Chariots of Fire and maybe Jerry Maguire (iffy on being a sports movie).

I can watch Tin Cup just about any time and the original The Longest Yard was fantastic.

And how about The Waterboy!

 

[CAHUSKY]

Ill add the three I always add to this thread (seems we have it every 6 months or so) that never seem to get mentioned. Cornbread Earl & Me, Fast Break & Fish that Saved Pittsburgh.


Edit: Just read through the thread and saw that ChinDiesel has good taste and already mentioned the Fish that Saved Pittsburgh.

 

[uconnell]

Two golf movies, don't even like golf, Bagger Vance. And The Greatest Game.

 

[bobbygt]

Breaking Away, The Natural, Victory, Hoosiers, Chariots of Fire

 

[MilliniumPrince]

You don't think the match with Creed was the major point of Rocky? The entire movie centers around that event, which comprises the entire climax of the film.

Rocky isn't about the fight. It is about the fighter. A guy who never reached his potential getting one last shot. Then facing adversity and going the distance. It is about redemption and growth. Rocky II and III were about the fight.

That is why in a two hour movie they only show a few minutes of action between Rocky and Apollo.

 

[superjohn]

The Fighter, Christian Bale is amazing as Dicky Eklund.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Ill add the three I always add to this thread (seems we have it every 6 months or so) that never seem to get mentioned. Cornbread Earl & Me, Fast Break & Fish that Saved Pittsburgh.


Edit: Just read through the thread and saw that ChinDiesel has good taste and already mentioned the Fish that Saved Pittsburgh.

It's Dr. Freaking J in a convertible RR. How could it not be mentioned? Plus Meadowlark Lemon. Moses Guthrie.

 

[TheChamps990411]

A few that haven't been mentioned: Rudy, Raging Bull, A League of Their Own, Million Dollar Baby, Happy Gilmore, The Longest Yard (original), Chariots of Fire and maybe Jerry Maguire (iffy on being a sports movie).

I can watch Tin Cup just about any time and the original The Longest Yard was fantastic.

And how about The Waterboy!

Agree with a lot of your liste except Million Dollar Baby. Absolute stinkfest of cliches` and mediocrity.

My list is:

Rocky
Remember The Titans
Raging Bull
The Best of Times (Russell and Williams are great!)
The Fighter
The Basketball Diaries

 

[Poe]

Karate Kid

 

[GlastonTim]

Dodgeball

 

[Kitaman]

As a tough teenager I didn't know I would cry:

 

[zymurg]

I agree with many of the choices; here are some I really like which haven't been mentioned. "A Shot at Glory" stars Robert Duvall as a second division soccer coach in Scotland. "Believe in Me" stars Jeffrey Donovan as a girl's high school basketball coach in rural Oklahoma. I know, I know basketball played by females isn't really basketball.

Both these films are underdog stories. I admit to a predilection for underdog sports stories; however, these are both well conceived, well acted, and with a nice emotional payoff. If you are willing to accept the premise; You get enjoyable viewing. Far too many critics come across as people whose first mission in life is to find fault. Nuff said; imo these are well worth viewing and stand up against the other films
cited.

 

[Sky ball]

Secretariat..hands down..watch it

 

[Waquoit]

Secretariat..hands down..watch it

No, just no. As a movie, it's OK. But it's so bogus historically in the way it makes up stuff out of mid-air to create a false underdog story line, that I get angry thinking about it. It literally killed Frank Martin, Sham's trainer by the way it made him a villain. I hate it. Seabiscuit is ten times better.

 

[Waquoit]

There actually isn't much boxing in Rocky. I always break these movies into two categories: Sports Movies and Movies about Sports. One involves a plot based on someone who happens to be in sports. One has the sport or outcome as the major point of the movie. So Rocky is in one category while Rocky III is in the other.

That puts The Cutting Edge in both,

 

[CAHUSKY]

No thread on great sports movies is complete without Brian's Song. For the youngsters amongst us who haven't seen it, bring a box of tissue. That flick will rip your heart out. While I'm on the subject of tear jerker sports movies, another great one is Something for Joey. Both great flicks.

Interestingly, both of these were made for tv movies. What ever happened to those?!

 

[raf46]

These are my top five and my reasons for picking them. I can't imagine a top ten without them though are are surely many, many other candidates.

1. Slapshot. Just a great all around movie. The insanity of minor league and the iconic Hansen Brothers headline a deep cast of crazy characters. Entertaining from the opening frame until the end. Almost as many memorable lines as the Big Lebowski.

2. Bull Durham. Funny. Bitterseet. Touching. Eccentric but believable. Great performances. The love triangle of Crash, Nuke and Annie matches any in cinema. Another deep cast.

3. Field of Dreams. Not only a great movie but this thing is beautifully shot. The interplay of the real and surreal is done to perfection. This movie always has a surprise around the next corner and a ton of heart.

4. Rocky. Much more of a formula movie than the ones ahead of it on this list. But it uses the formula perfectly. The down and out fighter with one last chance, two wounded people healing each other, the climatic fight, all brought home by an amazing score and a song that has become sports legend.

5. Hoosiers. More formula but the story telling is beautiful, as clean and sparse as the Indiana scenery. A small and intimate portrait of small town Americana driven by the coach and team that defy the odds. It is never over reaches or overplays its hand. Its modesty touches every scene in the film.

Bang the Drum Slowly. With a young robert deniro.