Sports are an intricate part of our day-to-day lives. We are motivated by them, driven by them, and above all else inspired by them. People like Tom Brady, Micheal Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, Serena Williams and Patrick Mahomes have inspired millions across the world. With that in mind, the SiftPop crew has decided to tackle some of the greatest sports films ever made. Let us know @siftpop what your favorite sports movie is!
Alice, are you blind? Don’t you see the family resemblance? That’s my brother. There are so many sports movies out there and so many of them are good; in fact, Remember the Titans isn’t even my favorite. But I picked this one to write about because I believe this is the most important sports movie ever made. After the killing of George Floyd and the following outcries, on the 2nd night, my wife and I watched this movie. There are many other movies that could fill the need for what we needed to experience, but Remember the Titans is a special kind of movie because the sports are done really well, but ultimately, this is not a movie about football, but about racism, acceptance, and brotherhood. The cast has incredible chemistry, the screenplay is tight, witty, and emotional, and each actor is given an all-time performance. This is a great movie to experience, an amazing message to re-live, and an all-around entertaining movie to keep running in the background and whether it’s your first or fiftieth viewing, Remember the Titans is essential viewing. (Aaron Schweitzer)
Grab your buckets and sticks, and pray you don’t get sent to the sin-bin on this one. Miracle, directed by Gavin O’Connor and starring Kurt Russel as hockey coach Herb Brooks, is based on the greatest underdog story since David faced off against Goliath. Embroiled deep in the Cold War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and with the United States set to host the 1980 Winter Olympics while considering a boycott of the summer games in Moscow, U.S. hockey coach Herb Brooks must bring together a ragtag group of college hockey players and unite them, not as rivals but as teammates, in time to go for the gold against some of the best hockey teams in the world, including the mighty Soviet Integral that is the best hockey team in the world. As the movie progresses, you can feel the pressure mount on the team to perform as world events and the action on the ice turn the Olympics to not only a moment for sports but also a battle of political ideologies, as the team evolves from college players to playing for the United States. Once the climactic game against the Soviets begins, tensions come to a head as you find your heart pounding at every moment, from the iconic pregame speech to the heat of the game. As the final seconds tick away, you can feel yourself cheering these unlikely heroes on as the voice of Al Michaels delivers one of the most iconic lines in the history of sports (I can feel my hands shaking just thinking about it). If you want a sports movie that will make you feel as if you’re in the stands, there are few other movies that hold a candle to this classic. (Joseph Davis)
So you found God, huh? That’s awesome. See, Mom kept calling out for him but he wasn’t around. I guess Jesus was down at the mill forgiving all the drunks. I’ll preface this by saying that I don’t like WWE, UFC, MMA, or anything like that; never have. However, movies over those subjects are the exception and there is no better fighting movie than Warrior; I believe the reason for that is two-fold. Tommy and Brendan are brothers who grew up in a household destroyed by an alcoholic father and both enter a single-elimination MMA tournament to figure out who is the best in the world. Tommy is a military veteran and Brennan is a school teacher. The first reason that makes Warrior so special is this movie is more about the fighters than the fight. The characters of Tommy and Brendan are so fleshed out and you understand their motivations, failures, struggles, and history. The other reason is that when, inevitably Tommy and Brendan make it to the final against each other, I genuinely don’t know who to root for. All I know is that I would be totally happy with either, but would also be completely devastated. For a movie that’s supposed to be about bones breaking, this movie does a great job at breaking hearts. (Aaron Schweitzer)
I feel as though The Fighter is one, if not the best, portrayal of what it’s like to become a prizefighter and all the pressure that brings, especially if your brother knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard. The relationship between Micky and Dicky Ward (Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale) is at the heart of this movie, constantly asking the question of whether or not family knows the best for you, or if they are just trying to use you as a stepping stone to further their own fame. The performance from Bale is just astounding, as he goes further and further into his addiction and destroys every relationship he fought so hard to keep in the process, even singing “I Started A Joke” to his ex-wife Alice (Melissa Leo) just to keep her in his life. Bale and Leo went on to win their own Oscars, Golden Globes, for their respective roles, with talks of a sequel as a result, centering around Ward’s fight with Arturo Gatti.
If you’d like to watch The Fighter, you can watch it with an HBO Max subscription or rent it on the digital storefront of your choice. (Austin Belzer)
A common complaint against wrestling is that it’s all theater and that none of it is real. Mickey Rourke plays aging professional wrestler Robin Ramzinski aka Randy “The Ram” Robinson past his prime wrestling on the weekends indie wrestling circuits and working part-time at a supermarket. After an injury sidelines any chance of wrestling again, Randy is forced out of the ring and into working full-time at the supermarket. In his new life, Robin strikes up a relationship with local stripper “Cassidy” (Marisa Tomei) to heal the void that his retirement caused in the hopes to maybe move on and have a normal life with her. Rourke’s performance is heartbreaking here with every glance showcasing an immense level of pain and trauma that his persona has caused to his personal life. Unfortunately, while The Wrestler won several awards and finished its box office run turning a profit, this film never really gained an audience outside of wrestling fans, indie movie fans, and Darren Aronofsky fans. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you rent it and watch one of the best sports movies ever made. (Austin Belzer)
I’ve written on this movie a few times now, including for the BEC of Siftpop’s favourite movies of 2019. Therefore it should come as no surprise that when this challenge was presented to us, this film was the first to come to mind. Christian Bale and Matt Damon are absolute powerhouses, and you can tell that they’re having an absolute ball of a time as they depict the Ford team in this epic battle. Bale finally gets a chance to use his natural accent for once playing the eccentric, yet lovable, Ken Miles. Meanwhile, Damon takes the role of the straight man as Carroll Shelby, playing a man who’s aching to break loose, but is forced to stay steady for the team and for his health. The driving scenes are absolutely visceral, harkening back to filmmaker James Mangold’s expert directing in previous vehicles (see what I did there ;)) such as 2017’s Logan, where every shot is used to bring the audience further on the edge of their seat, until they’re practically biting their nails in anxiety (or at least that was my experience). Fun, enigmatic and just an all around good time, you could do worse on a Friday afternoon than to experience this gem of a sports movie. (Alice Micheli)
I’m not proud to admit this, but it wasn’t until recently that I saw Moneyball; boy, was I impressed. Brad Pitt gives a riveting performance as Billy Beane, a man who is faced with a very tight budget who must resort to unconventional means by outsmarting the other ball clubs with the help of Ivy League graduate Peter Brad (brilliantly portrayed by Jonah Hill). What makes Moneyball so special is that at its core it’s a movie about family and one man’s relationship with his daughter. While Moneyball is a sports movie, it’s much like Jerry McGuire in the sense that it’s so much more than that. It’s thoughtful, an underdog story, and just an excellent movie about what some contend is the greatest sport in the world. (Ben Davis)
It’s not often that you see a movie mix the sports and fantasy genres as well as Field of Dreams. But instead of feeling akin to something like Angels in the Outfield, Field of Dreams takes its genres and uses them to tell a human story about faith, hope, and reconciliation. This movie is heartwarming, iconic, and meaningful 30 years later. It brings a unique and interesting look at what family and yes, sports, can mean to a person. But what makes it so eternally lasting is its ability to work on a human. (Robert Bouffard)
In many ways sports movies are still attempting to live up to the perfection of this 1986 classic’s underdog formula. Everything is here; the beleaguered coach, the David vs. Goliath, the game-time speeches, the exuberance and innocence of youth, the bench-warmer’s big moment, and the hardwood hollywood ending. It helps that you’ve got two time Oscar winner Gene Hackman firing on all cylinders and Dennis Hopper giving a performance that earned him his second acting nomination. If you love sports movies and haven’t checked out Hoosiers yet, do yourself a favor and seek it out. I guarantee it will hold your attention so well, you’ll know what flavor of chewing gum it’s chewing by the end. (Aaron Dicer)
Having grown up across the river from Philadelphia, the question of “who is the most beloved Philly figure?” is an interesting question. But to many there is a very easy answer…and his name is Rocky Balboa. Few characters have transcended art to the point that Rocky has by inspiring a whole city of people. Rocky gave the world one of the greatest underdog stories ever as “The Italian Stallion” went toe-to-toe with the world champion, Apollo Creed. Sylvester Stallone’s script is injected with love and passion and paints a great and memorable man who might not be the brightest or the strongest but makes up for it in every way with the heart and guts he has. The “training montage” has become iconic and so has Bill Conti’s soulful score. The film delivers on a dramatic story of a down-on-his-luck man who is given the chance of a lifetime. Who could not relate and love that? (Shane Conto)
Honorable Mentions:
Rudy
This week, we’re on the road to South Bend, Indiana to discuss another favorite movie of mine from the year I was born with Rudy (man, 1993 has a lot of good movies). Starring Samwise Gam- er, Sean Astin as Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, this movie is a great story of achieving your dreams despite the odds. Despite the fact he is an undersized player, is not the best student due to Dyslexia, and by all accounts seems destined to follow in his father’s footsteps and work at the steel mill, Rudy has a dream he sets out to achieve: to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish despite the odds. Despite some moments of the film being fictionalized to add drama, the more this movie builds to it’s ultimate climax the more you feel yourself rooting for the undersized kid who walked onto the team as his family, friends and teammates join together to support him against the odds. In the end, you can feel yourself moved by this feel good story of the first of only two players carried off the field on his teammates’ shoulders in Notre Dame History. (Joseph Davis)
The Way Back
With movies like Miracle and Warrior, director Gavin O’Connor has given us a couple of sports films that, despite taking part in some genre cliches, have still managed to make our hearts soar with their ability to create emotion that was earned. He continued this trend earlier in the year with his latest sports drama, The Way Back. The story follows alcoholic construction worker Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) who’s recruited to coach the basketball team at the high school that he used to attend. Affleck, who starred in O’Connor’s 2016 film, The Accountant, delivers one of the best performances of his career, drawing upon his experiences with alcoholism to bring us a heart-rending portrayal of a man who’s trying to overcome his vices. What’s impactful about Affleck’s work in the film is that this isn’t an overblown performance, but one that is subdued in such a way that shows how Jack’s issues have broken him down. Although the movie dabbles in some redemption-story tropes within the first half hour, the rest of the film brings us in some refreshing directions that help this movie rise above others of its kind. This is Affleck baring his soul to the audience, and O’Connor creates a superb character study that highlights the talents of both the filmmaker and the star. (Vincent Abbatecola)
Dodgeball
What is the best way to honor the age-old tale of the underdog story? Lampoon the heck out of it with a comedic ensemble who come to play, that’s how! Dodgeball takes the classic underdog story and fills it with laughs by focusing on a silly sport (dodgeball), a team filled with the most ragtag group of losers, and pit them against an absurd villain that is so dumb that you cannot help but laugh at him. Throw in a fake ESPN station (“The Ocho”), a team of overly serious and deadpan announcers, and an old and grizzled coach to make for a perfect sports comedy. The cast is stacked with Vince Vaughan and Ben Stiller leading a full roster of talented comedic actors. Is this film dumb? Yes. Do we care? Not at all. Just remember to Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge! (Shane Conto)
The Karate Kid (1984)
When Daniel Larusso moves from New Jersey to the west coast, he has a real hard time transitioning. He is bullied mercilessly and doesn’t have any direction in life. Enter Mr. Miyagi, a handyman with a vast knowledge of Karate. While most wouldn’t necessarily consider Karate a sport at first, it takes the same amount of training, patience, and fortitude to master. Learning from Mr. Miyagi doesn’t just help Daniel fend off his pursuers, but teaches him life lessons that help him to be a better person and give him a sense of belonging. With multiple rewatches I have come to appreciate the attention to detail, often props in the background foreshadowing events to come, The Karate Kid is a quality film with a killer soundtrack. It also has sequels that entertain, and the more recent Kobra Kai offers more than I could have ever imagined, but it’s all thanks to the original being so great and timeless. (Evan Lucken)
A League of Their Own
World War II obviously had an immense impact on the lives of every American. With the draft drawing from all capable male recruits, Major League Baseball was left unplayable. A League of Their Own tells the real life story of when we turned to an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to boost the morale of the nation in these most trying of times. Directed by Penny Marshall and led by a cast of fantastic female actresses; Geena Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnell turn in terrific performances. They are joined by Tom Hanks who manages the team with a great balance of gruff indignance and soft support. A league of Their Own brilliantly delivered baseball film that also shows the emotional state of those affected by the war. It also makes it very clear, “There’s no crying in Baseball!” (Evan Lucken)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
“Will Ferrell drives NASCAR.” This was supposedly the actual pitch for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and it is impossible to top as the best summary of this movie one could come up with. Let me be clear up front: I am NOT a Will Ferrell fan-boy. I feel he has as many misses as he does hits, and his misses are just awful. However, add director and co-writer Adam McKay into this mix (Anchorman, Step-Brothers, Ant-Man, Big Short, Vice and my fav, The Other Guys) and suddenly, TN:TBORB is an underdog, come from behind story that actually has some heart under its redneck skin! Now, let’s be honest: 40% of people will see this because of Will Ferrell, and 40% of people will avoid it because of Will Ferrell. So this is written for the remaining 20%: if you watch this with no expectations, and keep an ear and an eye open for some surprisingly witty and satirical moments (as an American, the showdown in the bar is hilarious and embarrassing all at once), you might just find a great sports movie hiding in this sleeper of a gem from Ferrell & Co. (Donald Skidmore)
Cinderella Man
We love rooting for the underdog and tales of people chasing and achieving the American Dream. No sub-genre in sports lends itself quite as well to these types of stories as boxing. The true story of blue-collar James Braddock (Russell Crowe) getting his shot in the midst of the Great Depression is one of the best examples. Braddock’s rise through the boxing ranks while trying to put food on his family’s table and a roof over their head is a powerful one.
Crowe’s performance in the lead role anchors the movie, but is boosted by great supporting characters. Paul Giamatti’s performance as Braddock’s manager is immensely entertaining and Max Baer (Craig Bierko) is a villain that’s easy to hate. Giamatti’s performance earned him his only Oscar nomination to date.
The film had to bide its time before getting its shot with audiences, hampered by an odd summer release date, but is now a worthy inclusion among boxing, and sport’s, best films. (Jake Bourgeois)
Kingpin
Frantic Frank here writing about sports movies….umm…I don’t do sports…KINGPIN! Yeah, bowling is TOTALLY a sport, not a game, A SPORT. It is indeed technically a sport making Kingpin totally a sports flick, starring Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid with Bill Murray, from Academy Award winning director Peter Farrelly and his brother Bob. The film follows a washed up loser (Hey I can relate to that!) who discovers a great Amish bowler as they embark on a road trip bowling championship to change their lives. This is an all timer of a sports comedy you shouldn’t miss. (Should be noted, there are 2 versions out there. A PG-13 edit and an R rated version, go for the R version).
PS: BASEketball is another great sports comedy, but being it’s not a real sport, I’ll suggest here in a way that makes it not a real submission. But it pairs excellently with Kingpin. So yeah, watch both. KEMP OUT! (mic drop) (Frank Kemp)
Also See: Ali, Bend it Like Beckham, Blades of Glory, Bring It On, Bull Durham, Caddyshack, Chariots of Fire, Creed, Eight Men Out, Friday Night Lights, Glory Road, He Got Game, Hoop Dreams, I Tonya, Jerry McGuire, Love and Basketball, Million Dollar Baby, Mystery Alaska, Pride of the Yankees, Raging Bull, Rush, Semi-Pro, Slap Shot, The Longest Yard, The Natural, Tin Cup, Varsity Blues, Vision Quest.