Mainly for the better, but sometimes for the worse, there are no shortage ofsportsmovies. When done well, a sports movie can elicit several emotional responses: love, joy, happiness, passion, etc. They can provide more heart than an NBA player playing defense in an All-Star game. When talking about the best sports movies ever, it’s almost impossible to narrow it down to 25 films. Amazing titles such asGlory Road, Million Dollar Baby, I, Tonyaand literally handfuls of others, all deserve their accolades, but ultimately did not appear on this list for one reason or another.
A good sports film tugs at your heart strings because you or your family know all too well the struggle being portrayed, or, on the other hand, can make you laugh because of the situations being presented. The truth is: sports brings out the best of us emotionally, and a great film can capitalize on that and deliver expounding results. So, which sports movies did make the list? Let’s get to it.
In a strong Academy Awards year,Warriorwas nominated for prestigious awards along the likes ofThe Artist,Hugo, andMoneyball, but, unlike the two brothers featured in the film,Warrioritself came up a bit short. Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrsion, andFrank Grillo starin the 2011 mixed-martial arts movie.
Warrioris best described as a mixed martial arts movie wrapped in an incredible family drama. Action, MMA fighter cameos, and, of course, the aforementioned drama help aide the film to disguise it for what it really is: a film that, at its heart, can be about anyone. The family struggles portrayed by Hardy, Edgerton, and Nolte scream a shattered and fragmented family history, which unfortunately echoes the tales of all too many in today’s day and age, and the film makes no apologies for that following the family until their fortunate and eventual reconcilement at the end in the ring.
24The Mighty Ducks
The Mighty Duckswas a smashing success when it released in 1992. The film spawned two sequels, an animated show, and years, later a Disney + spinoff,Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. With all the acclaim behind it, it had to be on this list. Hot shot attorney Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) makes some bad decisions and gets behind the wheel drunk. He is subsequently pulled over, arrested, and is sentenced to community service where he helps foster a heavily misfitted hockey team. Through a lot of hair pulling, determination, and nerve wracking situations, Bombay manages to bring the team of misfits together to be contenders — you know, just the atypical sports story for the typical sports list.
23The Natural
Why wouldn’t one of the greatest actors of all time be on this list? The 1984 film,The Natural, was directed by Barry Levinson and was nominated for several Academy Awards. The Robert Redford-led film also starred Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, and Barbara Hershey, chronicling the life of Roy Hobbs (Redford) and starting off tragically as Hobbs and his father are playing catch when his father has an early heart attack. Hobbs then proceeds to have a lifetime of obstacles thrown at him: shot, poisoned, bleeding out, blackmailed, and, to boot, finding out he has an estranged son from his girlfriend of long ago.
Through it all, Hobbs prevails as a successful baseball player despite his advanced aged (for a baseball player) when he actually gets a shot at playing.The Naturalcomes full circle with his success in the majors, ending with him and his son playing catch where he and his father once did. It truly is a beautiful story of how life can be full circle, but hopefully for most, without being shot and poisoned. That kind of thing can put a damper on someone’s career.
22Breaking Away
Certainly not your average sports comedy, the 1979 filmBreaking Awayis one of two films based in Indiana that made this list. The Peter Yates-directed flick is unusual for a sports-comedy film in another way as well: it won an Academy Award when Steve Tesich won for Best Screenplay.Breaking Awaystars Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, and Daniel Stern, among others, in a film about local stonecutters who, after a fight over a young woman, take it to some local university students on the bike team.
The “cutters” are invited to compete in the Indiana University yearly bike race after the incident by the president of Indiana University at the time, who played himself: Dr. John W. Ryan. Dave (Christopher) turns out ot be a superior athlete and, after a few bumps in the road, takes home the victory for the “cutters” in the town’s Little 500.
21Secretariat
In a time when Disney tends to embellish stories, they got this one fairly on-the-nose. While Big Red (the nickname for Secretariat) was never really in danger of being sold to save the Chenery farm, the incredible way he won the Belmont Stakes was chronicled very well. Big Red took the Triple Crown in crushing fashion, winning the stakes race by an unprecedented 31 lengths after racking up wins in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Additionally, his time of 1:59:40 is still thefastest Kentucky Derbyever.
Secretariatalso did a great job detailing the rivalry between Sham and Secretariat by pointing out that Sham ran the second-fastest Kentucky Derby ever, 1:59:74, an effort that is still second place to this day, but doesn’t make many fastest times lists due to Sham placing second as opposed to winning.
Kurt Russell leads this 2004’s film cast.Miracle, nominated for several awards, chronicles the1980’s men’s U.S. hockey team as they do the unthinkable: taking down the juggernaut that was the Russian Men’s team. Team USA did get off to a rocky start, as the story unfolds, but eventually, the college-aged players that made up the vaunted Team USA get it together to achieve a miracle victory on the ice against the Russians during the height of the Cold War.
19Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Firechronicles the true story of Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) in his fight to overcome antisemitism as he pursues his dream of winning a gold medal in the 1924 Olympics. Abrahams' rival, Eric Liddell (Ian Charleston), runs for the Glory of God, and becomes an on-field obstacle opposing Abrahams' goals and ambitions. However, Harold overcomes the adversity that has plagued him all his life, and he achieves this dream of winning a gold medal with a win in the 100-metre. The 1981 film won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Screenplay.
18Eight Men Out
This 1989 movie that recounts the story of the famed Chicago “Black Sox,” named so for their participation in throwing the 1919 World Series. The film features a relative all-star cast that included Charlie Sheen, Christopher Loyd, John Cusack, Michael Rooker, Michael Lerner, and more.Eight Men Outhas been touted as the most under-rated baseball film of all time for its historical accuracy, and some even call it the best. The film is adapted from Eliot Asinof’s 1963 bookEight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series.
Related:The Best Baseball Movies of all Time, Ranked
17We Are Marshall
We Are Marshalldepicts the true story of perhaps the greatest tragedy to befall an American sports team. The 2006 film follows the aftermath of a plane crash in 1970 that killed 75 people, 37 of whom were from the Marshall football program. Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox play Jack Lengyel and Red Dawson, respectively, as they coach the remaining team members who do not make the fateful trip, and welcome new recruits so that Marshall can simply field a team.
The film hits on several levels, not just for the crash, but because it also depicts very well the struggles of everyone involved, from the University getting clearance to allow first-year students to play in a time when that was unprecedented, to the families of the players, to everyone in between.We Are Marshalltugs at the heart strings and offers inspiration, much like the team did to the town enduring such tragedy and loss.
16Moneyball
Moneyball, which is based on the bookMoneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Gamewritten by Michael Lewis, chronicles the story of the Oakland A’s Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) and Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and their role in championing a new way to look at baseball. The film alsofeatures Chris Pratt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, and a slew of others.
Moneyballdepicts The Oakland A’s using a new method to value hits versus money paid per player per game. Additionally, the film accurately traces the team’s historic 20-game winning streak, the first team in MLB history to accomplish this tremendous feat. Ultimately, the A’s do not win the World Series, but the method they used to determine player value on a whole new level is still being widely used today.
