I’ve always been disappointed in other people’s lists of great sports movies. After thumbing through the movie database in my brain for a recent post, I decided I’d compile my own list. To begin, I decided on the criteria. I tried to be objective and strip the films of personal nostalgia and cultural hype. I don’t think average movies should be included on the list just so some of the more obscure sports can get a mention. My list is all about quality entertainment, not equal opportunity.
The films have to revolve around a single sport and must include a decent amount of playing time in order for me to consider it a true “Sports Movie.” For example, Tin Cup is obviously a sports movie because of the plot and playing time. The Sandlot qualifies as well, but barely. In contrast, Resurrecting the Champ revolves around boxing but isn’t a sports movie in my opinion. Neither is The Black Stallion, even though it concludes with a horse race. Anyway, here’s the list:
Top 25 Sports Movies of All Time:
- Hoosiers
- The Natural
- Rudy
- Rocky II
- Miracle
- 61*
- For Love of the Game
- Seabiscuit
- The Greatest Game Ever Played
- Field of Dreams
- Mystery, Alaska
- Wind
- Cinderella Man
- Eight Men Out
- Rocky
- Any Given Sunday
- The World’s Fastest Indian
- The Hustler
- The Endless Summer
- Caddyshack
- Major League
- Tin Cup
- Invincible
- Remember the Titans
- Bad News Bears
Honorable Mentions (Or, 25 more, with special attention to obscure sports):
- Victory
- Any Given Sunday
- Breaking Away
- Wimbledon
- Days of Thunder
- American Flyers
- Aspen Extreme
- The Program
- The Best of Times
- The Flying Scotsman
- K2
- The Rookie
- Blue Chips
- The River Wild
- Brian’s Song
- Goal: The Dream Begins
- The Longest Yard
- Rocky IV
- Brewster’s Millions
- Rocky III
- Soul of the Game
- 8 Seconds
- The Pistol
- Side Out
- Downhill Racer
Movies That Have a Place In Our Hearts (Or, a little nostalgia never hurt anyone):
- Rad
- Longshot
- Rocky Balboa
- Winners Take All
- By The Sword
- The Scout
- Bull Durham
- Kingpin
- Happy Gilmore
- Let it Ride
- Paper Lion
- The Legend of Bagger Vance
- Heaven Can Wait
- North Dallas Forty
- Slap Shot
- American Anthem
- Hot Dog: The Movie
- Ice Castles
- The Pride of the Yankees
- Cool Runnings
- Diggstown
- Talladega Nights
- Rebound
- The Last American Hero
- Caddyshack II
That’s my list. I guess the most important selection/ranking criteria for me was… If I’m watching TV on a rainy Sunday afternoon at 3:37 pm and a game is coming on at 4:15 pm, I’m probably flipping through the channels looking or something to watch until the game comes on. If I stumble upon a movie in the first tier, the odds are close to 100% that I’ll put down the remote and probably forget to change it back in time for the start of the game. The movies are that good. The same situation plays out for the remaining films, but the odds go down for each tier. Does that make sense?
I should add that I omitted several titles on purpose. People always say that they love movies like Chariots of Fire and Raging Bull. That’s probably the cinematic equivalent of Nielsen testers lying about watching NOVA on PBS instead of American Idol on FOX. This is what comes to mind when I think of Raging Bull. Movies like that simply aren’t very entertaining. As a result, they’re not on my list.
Still, don’t assume that because a movie you like isn’t listed here, it means I didn’t consider it (although it might). This isn’t a database of all sports-related films. There are also plenty of Almost Sports Movies, like The Champ, The Eiger Sanction and The Hurricane, but I just didn’t think they qualified.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on my criteria and my selections.
Chad, where’s 3? where’s Cannonball Run? Smokey & the Bandit? (could have made the bottom list) Stroker Ace?
Seems you’re missing some classics, bud.
Why did I know you’d bring up racing movies? I actually own The Cannonball Run, and it’s probably list-worthy. (Random Note: There’s a guy in an Auburn shirt at the beginning of the race.)
I never finished 3. It was digital valium. If it put me to sleep, it doesn’t belong on the list.
I don’t think Smokey and the Bandit qualifies as a sports movie, even though Sally Field is a stone-cold fox in that film. It’s not about racing. In a way it’s similar to The Last American Hero, but I only included that film on the list because the bootlegging/racing it features is what that led to the establishment of NASCAR.
Stroker Ace? Are you kidding? Let’s add Six Pack to the list while we’re at it!
Dude… You are missing a top 10 obvious pick. PREFONTAINE!
Greg, I knew you’d say that. Next, one of my basketball friends will say I left Hoop Dreams, Glory Road and Coach Carter off the list.
I actually had Prefontaine on here, but it go knocked off when I added other titles. Prefontaine is a lot like Cobb and The Babe. They’re all very well made biopics, and they’re worth watching… once. There’s a reason you don’t see those movies on TBS, USA and TNT on Sunday afternoons.
On a random side note, whenever I think of Prefontaine, I also think of Personal Best. They just get grouped together in my mind for no apparent reason, kind of like Don Mattingly and Wade Boggs.
Funny! Another good movie to watch (running wise) is Spirit of the Marathon. It is more documentary and if you aren’t a marathon running it might seem stale. I like it. You are right about Pre’ though..but I could watch it twice perhaps.