Jump to content

Top Ten Sports Films


Recommended Posts

1. This Sporting Life

2. Raging Bull

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Please, fill in.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 73
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Not saying these are top ten, but I have enjoyed the following over the years:
Belleville Rendezvous
Cool Runnings
The Wrestler
Shaolin Soccer
Chariots of Fire
Rocky (despite the sport scenes being the least convincing part)

I'll think on this a bit more and see what else comes to mind.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Belleville Rendezvous and Fighting With My Family mentioned above good calls.

Baseball has an embarrassment of riches with Field of Dreams, Eight Men Out and Bull Durham (the last one in particular) warranting a place in the top 10.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A League of their own (despite the presence of Madonna in the cast)
Caddyshack (sloppy and incoherent, but with plenty of funny set-pieces)
Escape to Victory (not actually very good, but entertaining)
The Damned United
Does 'Gregory's Girl' count as a Football film?
The Longest Yard, aka Mean Machine (definitely NOT the pointless remake)

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Futtocks said:

A League of their own (despite the presence of Madonna in the cast)
Caddyshack (sloppy and incoherent, but with plenty of funny set-pieces)
Escape to Victory (not actually very good, but entertaining)
The Damned United
Does 'Gregory's Girl' count as a Football film?
The Longest Yard, aka Mean Machine (definitely NOT the pointless remake)

Yes. And should go on the list.

And I may now have to watch it.

Shame they never ever even considered making a sequel and no sequel was ever made. Ever.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ooh, one just popped out of the distant memory: Paper Lion (1968), based on George Plimpton's book about trying to play a professional American Football game.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Shadow said:

Invictus ?

Le Mans 66

Rush

Fast Girls

TT Closer to the edge

Fighting with my family 

 

6 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Not saying these are top ten, but I have enjoyed the following over the years:
Belleville Rendezvous
Cool Runnings
The Wrestler
Shaolin Soccer
Chariots of Fire
Rocky (despite the sport scenes being the least convincing part)

I'll think on this a bit more and see what else comes to mind.

 

2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Belleville Rendezvous and Fighting With My Family mentioned above good calls.

Baseball has an embarrassment of riches with Field of Dreams, Eight Men Out and Bull Durham (the last one in particular) warranting a place in the top 10.

Good work, you lot!

16 minutes ago, Bob8 said:

1. This Sporting Life

We are British and rugby league fans. The message is so similar to Raging Bull, that what works on the sports arean does not work in life, that you could think one was a remake. Comes top because British, rugby league and Richard Harris. Not about sport.

2. Raging Bull

About a bull headed approach to live, the brutal approach suited to the ring. Not about sport.

3.Chariots of Fire

Not seen it

4. The Damned United

Personalities not fitting. A bit of a theme with the good ones.

5.Rush

About two differnt approached, with a made up personallty rift. Great fun. Not really about sport.

5.Fighting with my family 

Not seen it.

6.Gregory's Girl

Not seen it.

7.Le Mans 66

8.Bull Durham

9.Belleville Rendezvous

10.Field of Dreams,

 

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm excluding feature-length documentaries, as that would make a good top ten in its own right. 

So, sticking with movies:
Personal Best (for <ahem> artistic reasons, amongst other things)
The Karate Kid
Heaven can wait
The Hustler
Million Dollar Baby
Horse Feathers
 

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

I'm excluding feature-length documentaries, as that would make a good top ten in its own right. 

So, sticking with movies:
Personal Best (for <ahem> artistic reasons, amongst other things)
The Karate Kid
Heaven can wait
The Hustler
Million Dollar Baby
Horse Feathers
 

Alright, this is great. I need some order and justification though.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember seeing The Club (an Aussie rules football club in this case) many years ago and thinking it was a very good film.

It was that long ago I can barely remember a thing about it though.

"I'm from a fishing family. Trawlermen are like pirates with biscuits." - Lucy Beaumont.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Bob8 said:

Alright, this is great. I need some order and justification though.

Personal Best. Mariel Hemingway is a track athlete who gets involved with a team-mate.

The Karate Kid. This needs explaining?

Heaven can wait. Warren Beatty as an American Footballer mistakenly taken to heaven by his guardian angel, and the resulting complications of how this mistake can be undone, given that his earthly body has been cremated.

The Hustler. This need explaining?

Million Dollar Baby. Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman in a downbeat story about a young women who wants to be a professional boxer. Look elsewhere for a happy ending, despite a degree of resolution at the end.

Horse Feathers. When the Marx Brothers get involved in American Football, there's going to be chaos.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In general some sports make for better movies than others. American sports, with the time-outs, give things time to develop*. See also golf, where you can fit in plenty of dialogue and story between holes.

Football, on the other hand, doesn't work so well.

*and, just for that, I'm including M*A*S*H, for the American Football match which is a great example of just this.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can I be a bit controversial?

I know This Sporting Life is a bit sacrosant because ours.

It was many ways a product of its time. I watched it the other week and like most British films it does not stand the test of time. The acting was wooden and the script was hackneyed.

For some reason American movies seem to hold up far better than British films.

 

Ron Banks

Midlands Hurricanes and Barrow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ullman said:

Remember seeing The Club (an Aussie rules football club in this case) many years ago and thinking it was a very good film.

It was that long ago I can barely remember a thing about it though.

That is a brilliant film. It’s a bit dated now (more because it looks like a glorified TV movie and the script is properly “theatre” really) but it is funny and I nick lines from it all the time.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Can I be a bit controversial?

I know This Sporting Life is a bit sacrosant because ours.

It was many ways a product of its time. I watched it the other week and like most British films it does not stand the test of time. The acting was wooden and the script was hackneyed.

For some reason American movies seem to hold up far better than British films.

It is dated, and a bit stagey in places. I still admire it, but it has flaws.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we have a separate top ten for sports documentary features, this genre has seen a huge growth since the release of the superb 'When we were Kings'. More are being made all the time, often to critical acclaim.

I'd definitely nominate 'Fire in Babylon' for the top ten in this category.

I know many rate 'Senna' highly, but I haven't seen it.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For those who haven't seen it, here's a taste of the pure insanity of 'Shaolin Soccer'.

 

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.