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Who doesn’t love a good tournament movie? The protagonist fights from the very beginning of the movie to ultimately (hopefully) end up at the top. Of course, as cinephiles, we like pitting movies against each other almost as much as we like watching them! Every week at SiftPop.com, we challenge our writers to choose what they think is the best movie under a certain topic related to a new release. So this week, with the release of Mortal Kombat, we counted down our favorite tournament movies. Let us know @SiftPop what your ranking is!

The All Valley Karate Tournament was not just for posterity for Daniel Larusso — it was a fight to earn the respect and freedom from the bullies who had been gunning for him, and the chance for him to prove himself. The Karate Kid is downright 80s from the hairstyles, to the music, and to the karate. It’s also got a great coming of age story with Daniel who is struggling with being transplanted from New Jersey to Southern California. When Daniel keeps making enemies with fellow students trained in the art of “striking hard, strike first” from the Dojo of Kobra Kai, his newfound friend and mentor, Mr. Miyagi, throws down the gauntlet and takes Daniel under his wing. Through countless rewatches of this film I have come to really appreciate the amount of attention to detail it has to offer. There are great moments of foreshadowing through set dressing and use of staging. I also think that orchestral music is quite beautiful and plays as a great contrast to the 80s montage music we hear during Daniel’s training and tournament ascension. This is a great first installment to an enjoyable series (movies one through three) and side sequel, as well as the show Kobra Kai that keeps surprising me with how good it is when it has no business being so. (Evan Lucken)

Bodied is a movie inspired by Eminem, but isn’t about Eminem, and doesn’t star Eminem. I think that catches you up. Adam Merkin (not Eminem) is trying to write a thesis about underground rap battling and ends up getting more hands-on with it. While similar to 8 Mile, this film takes a vastly different approach and it pays off big. This is an amazing film, but rap battles are at the forefront, and wow, does it sing! This film has more heart in it than you would expect and does a better job at telling a Star Wars story than Disney. Trust me on this one and just watch it. NOW! (Frank Kemp)

If you ask Formula One fans about the most famous rivalries in the sport’s 71 year history, two of the most iconic are depicted in the 2013 film Rush: McLaren versus Ferrari and James Hunt versus Niki Lauda. Starring Chris Hemsworth as playboy McLaren driver James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as calculating Ferrari driver Niki Lauda, the film depicts one of the greatest battles for the Formula One World Drivers Championship, with the 1976 title bout perhaps most infamous for the crash at the Nürburgring Nordschleife that nearly cost Lauda his life. This film not only depicts the people driving the cars, but also is a brilliant source to show how the sport of formula racing evolved, from Formula 3 in an era with little aerodynamic bodywork involved, to the 1976 season where each machine cost millions and were becoming the aerodynamic marvels we know today, including some of the quirky designs you might just catch in the background (such as the six wheeled Tyrrell P34) that makes the sport so fun, while also showing how the sport affects both the drivers and their personal connections to their families. It also does a superb job at showing what it takes to compete in Formula One: lots of skill behind the wheel, deep pockets, and the nerve to know that each race can be your last. While I wish that Ron Howard (excuse me while I interrupt myself, but I find it hard to believe he used to be Opie) had shown a more accurate representation of their early careers, this film does a phenomenal job depicting Hunt and Lauda’s starts at Hesketh and BRM, respectively, and the battle for the 1976 title, including Lauda’s near fatal crash, his triumphant return six weeks and two races later at Monza, and the season finale at Suzuka where tensions are so thick you could cut them with a cricket stump). With the possibility of a new rivalry looming for the 2021 season between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, it is all the more reason to get behind the wheel and to take Rush for a spin. (Joseph Davis)

Allow me to present reason 1,245 why it’s a bad idea for you to scoff at subtitled films. Though there’s certainly more than one entry that could qualify here — the table scene in Ip Man 2 is certainly also spectacular — the original gets the nod. In the 2008 biographical martial arts flick, Ip Man, who would go on to teach martial arts legend Bruce Lee, finds his lavish lifestyle uprooted when the Japanese invade China in the 1930s. While the film culminates with the one-on-one fight with a Japanese general, it’s the 10 versus one fight between Ip Man and a group of karate practitioners that is the standout moment. The action is fast-paced, inventive, and brutal. The film has been hugely influential. It made Donnie Yen into an international superstar and has impacted how martial arts films and action have been shot ever since. This movie rules, and the fact that it’s in Chinese doesn’t change that. Now, please, bow before Master Ip. (Jake Bourgeois)

“Do you believe in miracles?! Yes!” Even if you’re not a sports fan, most people are aware of the iconic moment the U.S. Olympic hockey team upset the seemingly unbeatable Soviet squad in 1980. Being a giant sports nerd myself, one of the CDs (remember those?) that may or may not have been in my rotation to listen to as I fell asleep may have included a collection of famous sports calls introduced by Bob Costas, and this iconic Al Michaels call was among them. So, when I sat in the theater to watch this one, I’d already heard the moment a million times. Even with that baggage, Kurt Russell manages to bring the iconic late Herb Brooks to life and his performance, along with the direction of Gavin O’Connor (who also directed Warrior), successfully brings out the goosebumps in this modern sports movie classic. As an audience, we love a good underdog story, and there may be no story that better captures that than a bunch of college kids taking down an international juggernaut made of professionals. It’s perhaps the greatest Cold War sports showdown put to film since Rocky single-handedly ended the Cold War in Rocky IV—though it has the advantage of actually being a true story. It’s a story and a moment so iconic that you probably forgot it wasn’t even the gold medal match. (Jake Bourgeois)

Gavin O’Connor’s Warrior made me care about mixed martial arts in the way that Rocky and Creed made me care about boxing. That is to say, while I don’t care for gladiatorial sports in any way, the stories behind the people who compete in them can be utterly compelling. Warrior revolves around Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton playing Tommy and Brendan Conlon: brothers who grew up under the abusive regime of their father Paddy (Nick Nolte). Tommy left home early in life, while Brendan stayed behind, and their lives went in wildly different directions… until one day, they find themselves separately compelled to compete in a mixed martial arts tournament. Amidst the brutality of the competition and the dangers to their own health and livelihoods, Warrior is ultimately about healing the rifts within a broken family. It features about as much heartbreak as violence, about as much mercy as ruthlessness, and about as many punches to the gut as punches to the face — and there’s a lot of punches to the face. (Chris Bakker)

What do you get when you mix the greatest sport on the planet with an Aaron Sorkin script? Well, Moneyball of course! Alright, I may be a tad biased regarding baseball and I am well aware of people’s criticisms of the game. All that to say, Aaron Sorkin could likely make anything interesting. The tried and true formula is still there: a down-on-their luck team with seemingly no chance to win, fans who have lost all interest, a coach/manager that used to love the game but is beaten down by the perpetual losing, and then the magic that changes it all. The formula exists and is so successful because at the end of the day, we all love an underdog story. That said, without the energy of Sorkin’s writing, who knows what type of movie Moneyball would have been. What we got is perhaps one of the best overall baseball films of all time. The movie is a love letter to the game, while also being harshly critical of various mindsets people can have. Sorkin often makes his scripts fast paced and kinetic, and there are aspects of that here too, but it’s also one of his more slowly paced movies, which is perfect for a baseball movie. Baseball is a methodical rhythm, punctuated by moments of energy. Sorkin’s script captures that perfectly. We are completely absorbed into this A’s team rising from the cellar of their division to miraculously make the playoffs. It’s magical filmmaking perfectly paired with a magical moment in sports history. (Nashua Doll)

When it concerns martial arts tournament films, 1973’s Enter the Dragon wrote the book on the subject. Part martial arts tournament film and another part spy film, it follows a Shaolin Monk named Lee (Bruce Lee), who is called upon to enter a martial arts tournament to investigate a tyrannical opium drug lord. Bruce Lee is beyond charismatic in this film and showcases his full talents, both as an on screen performer as well as a world-renowned martial artist. The quality of this film is further solidified by a fine supporting cast that includes John Saxon (Roper), Jim Kelly (Williams) and Kien Shih (Han). Roper and Williams are a blast to watch as they mingle, bet on each other’s fights, and overall just make sure to watch one another’s backs in unfamiliar territory. These two provide some of the most memorable lines of the film which includes Williams uttering, “You come right out of a comic book!” to the mischievous owner of the island, Han. Bruce Lee has some impressive scuffles in this film that truly revolutionized martial arts films and martial arts as a whole. There is a sense of grace and brutality to the way Lee fights in this film — his fierce gaze and lightning fast hands put the viewer into a trance. Bruce Lee and this film are often replicated, but never duplicated, and have left a legacy that will never be forgotten. (Joe Vargas)

When I exited the theater after seeing writer-director Damien Chazelle’s white-knuckle drama Whiplash, I couldn’t remember the last time that I had that much anxiety build up within me during a movie. For his second feature, Chazelle tells the story of Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), a young jazz drummer studying at a conservatory in New York City. When he comes under the tutelage of the verbally abusive conductor and bandleader Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), Andrew will start to think how much he’s willing to take in order to gain Fletcher’s approval. Teller provides a psychologically tortured performance of a student who’s willing to do whatever he can to be the greatest musician that he can, while Simmons creates one of the most terrifying and intimidating movie characters in years, making you shrink back into your seat to try to get as far away from him as possible. Despite this being a low-budget indie, the amount of technical craft that Chazelle puts on display in astonishing, showcasing a talent that would lead him to the bigger scale of La La Land and First Man. While the movie is tense all of the way through, the final scene will have you dripping with sweat as you sit frozen, waiting until you feel it’s safe to breath again. For me, Whiplash wasn’t just one of the best movies of 2014, but one of the best of the decade, and if there was a way to go back in time to watch it for the first time again, I would do so in a nanosecond. (Vincent Abbatecola)

Honorable Mentions

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is without a doubt the best tournament movie, and by far the best Harry Potter movie! Mike Newell brought us the first turn towards adulthood in the HP series: the first blooming feelings of love, the first student death, and the physical manifestation of the main villain. HPatGoF has some of the best CGI to date when it comes to the various tournament challenges. The underwater scenes are otherworldly and surreal, and the dragons look as good as anything Game of Thrones put on screen. My favorite aspect of this film is the color tone: the colors are deep, saturated, and vibrant. It looks like a fantasy movie, but with enough darkness and shadows to remind the viewer that the stakes are real, and for life and death. Harry Potter is growing up, and the skills he shows here give you a glimpse of the magical talent that will be going up against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. (Donald Skidmore)

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

What best describes the vicious danger of the titular structure of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? Two men enter… one man leaves. This is Thunderdome. The only rule in this battle to the death is there are no rules. Max finds himself in Bartertown under the rule of Aunty Entity and Master Blaster. Our vagabond hero battles to the death in this horrifying structure, finds a world of lost boys and girls in the middle of a desert, and rides a runaway train to safety. This entry might be super 80s and feature some great Tina Turner but Beyond Thunderdome is still a wonderful adventure journey into the Wasteland. (Shane Conto)

D2: The Mighty Ducks

“Ducks Fly Together.” Look, I know this movie is not “good,” but I still really love it, even today as a 26-year-old. D2 takes the super underrepresented sport of hockey and tries to convey the incredible “Miracle on Ice” story, but do it with a fun group of kids and Emilio Estevez. D2 is my personal favorite of this franchise because it takes the established team, cuts some of the less fun characters, and adds several of my personal favorites! If you want a movie that shows good hockey with deep characters and will make you cry, you should definitely stay away. BUT if you’re looking for a good time that will give you plenty of laughs, then look no further! (Aaron Schweitzer)

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge

You best believe I’d take this opportunity to tell you about how great and underrated the animated Mortal Kombat movie titled, Scorpions Revenge is. The story is pretty simple for anyone who’s familiar. Select champions of different realms are called upon to fight in a great tournament known as Mortal Kombat. Aside from this we also have Scorpion, who is out for revenge against Sub Zero who was responsible for murdering his family. Since the Mortal Kombat gaming franchise is very big on fighting, the fights here are incredible and the animation is done so well. Warner Bros.’ animation studio is behind this and they completely do the property justice with how much they translate from the games into their very fast-paced style. So I highly urge that if anything from the franchise has you interested, then this is a nice watch sitting at less than 90 minutes and currently on HBO Max. (Alex Henderson)

The Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence. That is all I have to say… Okay I do have more, but honestly this movie lives or dies on the shoulders of its protagonist, and had they not chosen the right girl, it wouldn’t have made it until the end. While Catching Fire is by far the better film of the series, I wanted to speak to the first movie for the 17-year-old girl in all of us — as that was the age I was when I discovered it. Going into the theater expecting nothing, and coming out a changed woman, this movie deals with all the things: child murder, war, sacrifice, a cool dystopian setting, and a YA romance at its center — it’s everything you’d ever want or need in this kind of movie. And that’s all I’m telling you: Jlaw and thrilling elements. Now go, watch, and may the odds be ever in your favor. (Alice Micheli)

Real Steel

“The People’s Champion? Sounds pretty good to me.” You know what movie is super underappreciated? This one. Real Steel is as formulaic as they come: deadbeat dad discovers a long lost son, the two of them start to bond reluctantly due to a common interest, and they wind up being a true family by their journey’s end. But what’s so surprising about this film is that it is so freaking good! Hugh Jackman really makes sure the emotions in this movie are earned, the world building is the stuff of my childhood fantasies, and the fight choreography is incredibly tense. For what has all the makings of a bad Disney family sports movie, this movie works on a whole other level. Trust me on this one and give Real Steel a shot. I really think you’ll have a good time. (Aaron Schweitzer)

8 Mile

Frank Kemp here on the mic to introduce today’s battle: 8 Mile vs Bodied. Take it, Mile.

8 Mile here and I didn’t expect / Old people giving me an Oscar and some respect / I had Basinger and Pfeiffer / A director who’s an all-timer / Your guy directed a Jonas Brother! / No matter what you say about me, I can withstand / I made over 200 mil, PLEASE you barely cracked a hundred grand / 8 Mile’s at the top of the hill, Bodied in a valley / Your biggest star is some [REDACTED] from Austin & Ally.

~Okay, okay, Bodied with a rebuttal.~

Mile, while you were busy saying [REDACTED] the free world / Stupid Falcon probably could have done your girl / No disrespect to the late Brittany Murphy / But she could have been out acted by Kirby / You took an entire movie to not be total crap / My movie’s realistic about battle rap / Your’s was an off-brand movie about you if you couldn’t get the rights / My raps buried dudes like you with vicious fights / What I’m saying is rap was what we were all about / Yours was just to fluff your own clout.

~What do you have to say, Mile?~

I don’t have to say [REDACTED] thing / Bodied coming up trying to step in this ring / You forget that I produced you, can’t you see / you’re nothing without me / my movie got the Oscar gold / stand in your corner. Do as you’re told / I’m not going to continue with this little corny rap / But people should watch us both, THAT is a FACT. (Frank Kemp)

Also See: Silver Linings Playbook, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, Ready Player One, Major League, White Men Can’t Jump