Top 10 Lists of Sports Films
July 22, 2022
By Noonefromtampa
Sports movies are a unique genre of films. It is very hard for actors to realistically capture the efforts of professional athletes during games, so the actions sequences can often seem stilted.
Fans of the sports love their sports films. They will debate and argue over them as much as any real sporting event. Publications are always posting the top 10 lists of favorite things, so who are we at The Hog Sty to miss out on that trend?
I will take a different approach and list top sports movies by the sport. Who really cares about the number ten anyway?
The oldest film on my list is from 1937 and features the incomparable Marx Brothers. Some actors have more than one film on the list, such as Kevin Costner, who appears in four films. There are comedians like Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Lewis, Will Farrell, Adam Sandler, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase on my list.
Also, old time stars like James Garner, Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Spenser Tracey, James Caan, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, and Jimmy Stewart have films on the list. Even a former U.S. President is featured in a film on the list – can you find which one?
Two films on the list are derived from the same play and used two different sports in their respective tales of redemption and second chances. See if you know which two films those are.
If I miss one of your favorite sports films, post it in the comments. Maybe pick a movie you haven’t seen or one you really enjoy and watch it someone dear to you.
Steve, have you seen any of these movies?
Miscellaneous
- Dodgeball
- Rollerball (1975)
- Cool Runnings
Cycling
- Breaking Away
- American Flyers
Track & Field
- Chariots of Fire
- Personal Best
- McFarland, USA
- Walk, Don’t Run
Ice Skating
- I, Tonya
- The Cutting Edge
- Blades of Glory
- Ice Castles
- Ice Princess
Wrestling
- Vision Quest
- Foxcatcher
- Fighting with My Family
- The Wrestler
- Nacho Libre
- Win Win
Soccer
- Kicking & Screaming
- Bend It Like Beckham
- Victory
- Ladybugs
- The Big Green
Horse Racing
- Seabiscuit
- Secretariat
- A Day at the Races
- National Velvet
- Let It Ride
- Bite the Bullet
- Hidalgo
- Phar Lap
Golf
- Caddyshack
- Happy Gilmore
- Tin Cup
- The Legend of Bagger Vance
- The Greatest Game Ever Played
- The Caddy
- Pat and Mike
Hockey
- Slap Shot
- The Mighty Ducks
- Mystery, Alaska
- Miracle
- Goon
- Youngblood
- The Tooth Fairy
Car Racing
- Rush
- Grand Prix (I love James Garner films)
- Ford v Ferrari
- Le Mans
- Days of Thunder
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
- Cars
- Stroker Ace
- The Cannonball Run
- The Gumball Rally
- Death Race 2000
Boxing
- Raging Bull
- The Quiet Man
- Rocky [original one]
- Ali
- Million Dollar Baby
- Cinderella Man
- Creed
- Real Steel
- Let’s Do It Again
- Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Baseball
- Bull Durham
- Field of Dreams
- A League of Their Own
- Major League
- Bad News Bears
- The Natural
- The Sandlot
- Rookie of the Year
- Bang the Drum Slowly
- For Love of the Game
- Baseball
- The Stratton Story
- 3000
- The Rookie
Basketball
- Hoosiers
- White Men Can’t Jump
- Fast Break
- Space Jam
- The Way Back
- Coach Carter
- Above the Rim
- Semi-Pro
- Blue Chips
- One on One
- The Way Back
- Glory Road
Football
- The Longest Yard (Burt Reynolds version)
- Brian’s Song
- Water Boy
- Friday Night Lights
- Knute Rockne, All American
- The Replacements
- We Are Marshall
- Varsity Blues
- Little Giants
- Any Given Sunday
- Draft Day
- All the Right Moves
- Rudy
- The Program
- Game Plan
- Gridiron Gang
- The Blind Side
- North Dallas Forty
- Heaven Can Wait (1978)
- Jerry McGuire
- Best of Times
Yes, I hated T.C. Williams High School back in the day, so I’m not going list any movie featuring them.
Pingback: Top 10 Lists of Sports Films - AWordPressSite