Favorite Sports Movie or TV Show
Every Friday the IMDb staff contributes some of their favorite titles around a specific weekly theme. This list focuses on:
"What is your favourite sporting movie or show?"
"What is your favourite sporting movie or show?"
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1.
Field of Dreams
(1989)
An Iowa corn farmer, hearing voices, interprets them as a command to build a baseball diamond in his fields; he does, and the Chicago Black Sox come. (107 mins.)
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
“ Mine is Field of Dreams (1989) and despite seeing multiple baseball movies and attending two actual games, I still don’t understand the rules. However, I love the film and the moment towards the end where Archie Graham has to choose between baseball and (well, something else to avoid spoilers) is a top all-time movie moment for me. A total 10/10 for me (and some interesting trivia connected with J.D. Salinger too). The movie captures the love of the sport itself in a somewhat similar way to Fever Pitch (1997) and football.
________
Field of Dreams is the best baseball movie ever made. If you do not tear up at the end, at the line "You wanna have a catch?", then you are a cold and unfeeling robot from the future no doubt bent on the destruction of humanity. ” - imdb-fun
________
Field of Dreams is the best baseball movie ever made. If you do not tear up at the end, at the line "You wanna have a catch?", then you are a cold and unfeeling robot from the future no doubt bent on the destruction of humanity. ” - imdb-fun
2.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
(2001)
The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers... (224 mins.)
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
“ I very much like LAGAAN: ONCE UPON A TIME IN INDIA, all 224 cricket-playing-and-dancing minutes of it. ” - imdb-fun
3.
Bend It Like Beckham
(2002)
The daughter of orthodox Sikh rebels against her parents' traditionalism by running off to Germany with a football team (soccer in America). (112 mins.)
Director: Gurinder Chadha
4.
“ I think I’m the first to mention this one. It’s my favorite TV show of all time and unknown to the masses. Fast, fun, and witty dialogue with a central theme of (but not dominated by) sports. ” - imdb-fun
5.
Rounders
(1998)
A young man is a reformed gambler who must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks. (121 mins.)
Director: John Dahl
“ ....my actual vote, if poker can be considered a sport, would be Rounders (1998). ” - imdb-fun
6.
The Basketball Diaries
(1995)
Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction... (102 mins.)
Director: Scott Kalvert
7.
Beautiful Boxer
(2004)
Bio-pic of transgender Muay Thai boxer Parinya Charoenphol who pursued the sport to pay for his sex change operation. (118 mins.)
Director: Ekachai Uekrongtham
8.
Breaking Away
(1979)
A small-town boy obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl. (101 mins.)
Director: Peter Yates
9.
I.D.
(1995)
Four policemen go undercover and infiltrate a gang of football hooligans hoping to root-out their leaders... (107 mins.)
Director: Philip Davis
“ The spirit of football (soccer) ” - imdb-fun
10.
The Bad News Bears
(1976)
An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league. (102 mins.)
Director: Michael Ritchie
“ Although I’d be tempted to pile on to Caddyshack simply because it is one of the finer films that exists, I’m going to have to go with The Bad News Bears for my selection - I love Walter Matthau’s performance and the ending always felt more real to me than most sports films. ” - imdb-fun
11.
The Blood of Heroes
(1989)
A Mad Max-esque post apocalyptic world provides the backdrop for a brutal, futuristic game resembling football... (90 mins.)
Director: David Peoples
“ I also, much to my chagrin, really liked Blood of Heroes when it came out because who doesn’t love a classy post-apocalyptic yarn starring Joan Chen, Rutger Hauer and a young Vincent D’Onofrio. My friends and [I] even played a couple of amateur Jugger games (with a different ball) before we realized it was more effort to construct pole arms than it was fun to play. ” - imdb-fun
12.
Major League
(1989)
The new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her. (107 mins.)
Director: David Ward
“ ... it is an established fact that Major League is the OTHER best baseball movie ever made. Worth watching for Bob Uecker essentially playing himself, and a zillion other great lines. "Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid." ” - imdb-fun
13.
Pitch Perfect
(2012)
Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition. (112 mins.)
Director: Jason Moore
“ ....some might think this is bit of a stretch, but Pitch Perfect is totally a sports movie. It's about singing, sure, but it hits all the sports movie notes; the rag-tag bunch of misfits coming together as a team to defeat the slick established elites...I mean, lesbi-honest here. ” - imdb-fun
14.
Bloodsport
(1988)
Frank Dux has spent most his life being trained by Tanaka to participate in the Kumite, the ultimate martial arts tournament... (92 mins.)
Director: Newt Arnold
“ my guilty pleasure sports movie ” - imdb-fun
15.
Chakde! India
(2007)
The story of a hockey player who returns to the game as a coach of a women's hockey team. (153 mins.)
Director: Shimit Amin
“ My all time fave has to be Chakde! India (2007) a Hindi movie (d’oh!) about an underdog women’s hockey team from India competing at the Hockey World Cup. I have watched it multiple times and I still can’t stop myself from letting out a whoop of joy when the girls finally come together as a team and beat the living daylights out of a bunch of eve-teasing goons J (Just curious - Is the term “eve-teasing” even understood anywhere outside India?) ” - imdb-fun
16.
The Running Man
(1987)
A wrongly convicted man must try to survive a public execution gauntlet staged as a game show. (101 mins.)
Director: Paul Michael Glaser
“ The Running Man is like a cheesier, more ridiculous version of Rollerball. Plus, it involves chainsaws and electrocution. And Arnold Schwarzenegger. Enough said. ” - imdb-fun
17.
Rollerball
(1975)
In a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game. (125 mins.)
Director: Norman Jewison
“ Rollerball is not really a 'fun' film but it's a futuristic sci-fi movie about a sport that makes almost no sense but where people punch each other. I am amazed that in the 40 years since it was released, nobody has actually turned it into a real sport. ” - imdb-fun
18.
The Longest Yard
(1974)
A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards. (121 mins.)
Director: Robert Aldrich
“ The Longest Yard ostensibly is about football, but it's really a prison movie featuring people punching and hitting each other on the field. When I first saw it 40 years ago I had fun even if I had absolutely no idea how ‘american’ football is played, and I still don’t. ” - imdb-fun
19.
The Power of One
(1992)
The Power of One is an intriguing story of a young English boy named Peekay and his passion for changing the world... (127 mins.)
Director: John G. Avildsen
“ all-time favorite ” - imdb-fun
20.
Air Bud
(1997)
A young boy and a talented stray dog with an amazing basketball playing ability become instant friends... (98 mins.)
Director: Charles Martin Smith
“ Personally, I love sports movies even if I don’t particularly care for watching actual sports. Maybe that’s why all my favorite sports movies tend to fall into the (not especially if I’m being honest) guilty pleasure category. As it turns out I similarly also have a sweet spot for dog movies – so I’m going to take this opportunity to sing the praises of Air Bud. ” - imdb-fun
21.
Gymkata
(1985)
Johnathan Cabot is a champion gymnast. In the tiny, yet savage, country of Parmistan, there is a perfect spot for a "star wars" site... (90 mins.)
Director: Robert Clouse
“ I’ll also kick in one of best movies about bullying and sports as a non-traditional answer to this question. I love a good training montage – so I can’t help but also suggest Gymkata and the more recent insanity of The FP while I’m riffing on this. ” - imdb-fun
22.
The FP
(2011)
In a post apocalyptic future, two rival gangs fight for control of Frazier Park by playing "Beat Beat Revelation", a deadly version of Dance, Dance, Revolution(TM). (82 mins.)
Director: Trost Bros., Trost Bros.
“ see above ” - imdb-fun
23.
Intramural
(2014)
With marriage, graduation, and the real world looming on the horizon, fifth year senior Caleb Fuller reassembles the ol' team of misfits for one last epic run in Intramural football. (100 mins.)
Director: Andrew Disney
“ .… last week at SIFF I [saw] a surprisingly entertaining lightweight spoof of sports films - Intramural which included a very quotable truism as part of the traditional sports movie inspirational speech scene from the coach.
Via Intramural
Grant: There’s a structure to all sports movies – Rocky, Hoosiers, Air Buds 1,2,3, and 5.
Team member: What about Air Bud 4?
Grant: A dog playing baseball?! Are you insane?! ” - imdb-fun
Via Intramural
Grant: There’s a structure to all sports movies – Rocky, Hoosiers, Air Buds 1,2,3, and 5.
Team member: What about Air Bud 4?
Grant: A dog playing baseball?! Are you insane?! ” - imdb-fun
24.
Moneyball
(2011)
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players. (133 mins.)
Director: Bennett Miller
25.
Riding Giants
(2004 Documentary)
Documentary detailing the origins and history of surf culture. (105 mins.)
Director: Stacy Peralta
26.
The World's Fastest Indian
(2005)
The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle -- a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967. (127 mins.)
Director: Roger Donaldson
27.
The Blind Side
(2009)
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family. (129 mins.)
Director: John Lee Hancock
28.
We Are Marshall
(2006)
When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive. (131 mins.)
Director: McG
29.
Jerry Maguire
(1996)
When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent with the only athlete who stays with him. (139 mins.)
Director: Cameron Crowe
30.
Whip It
(2009)
In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin. (111 mins.)
Director: Drew Barrymore
31.
The Karate Kid
(1984)
A handyman/martial arts master agrees to teach a bullied boy karate and shows him that there is more to the martial art than fighting. (126 mins.)
Director: John G. Avildsen
32.
Rudy
(1993)
Rudy has always been told that he was too small to play college football. But he is determined to overcome the odds and fulfill his dream of playing for Notre Dame. (114 mins.)
Director: David Anspaugh
“ I was actually in the stadium when they filmed some of the game scenes (I’m the guy in the way back). It is so awesome… it sometime makes you a bit sick ” - imdb-fun
33.
Heaven Can Wait
(1978)
A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an overanxious angel before he was meant to die, returns to life in the body of a recently murdered millionaire. (101 mins.)
Director: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry
35.
Rocky
(1976)
Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the heavy-weight champion, Apollo Creed, in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. (119 mins.)
Director: John G. Avildsen
36.
The Sandlot
(1993)
A new kid in town is taken under the wing of a young baseball prodigy and his team. Together, they get themselves into many adventures involving rival teams, lifeguards, and a vicious dog. (101 mins.)
Director: David Mickey Evans
37.
A League of Their Own
(1992)
Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amidst their own growing rivalry. (128 mins.)
Director: Penny Marshall
38.
Bull Durham
(1988)
A fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season meets an up-and-coming pitcher and the experienced catcher assigned to him. (108 mins.)
Director: Ron Shelton
“ When I was in college, I was watching Bull Durham with a girlfriend at her mother’s house. About 25 minutes before the movie ended, a family friend of theirs showed up, and he happened to be a man of the cloth from some denomination or other. Now, the last 20 minutes of that movie have some racy stuff, so I started getting a little embarrassed to be watching with a preacher. As soon as the credits started rolling, he said, to my great relief, “Everything I believe in is in that movie.” Couldn’t have said it better myself! ” - imdb-fun
39.
Raging Bull
(1980)
An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it. (129 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
40.
The Fighter
(2010)
A look at the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s. (116 mins.)
Director: David O. Russell
41.
The Wrestler
(2008)
A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle. (109 mins.)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
42.
Miracle
(2004)
Miracle tells the true story of Herb Brooks (Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad. (135 mins.)
Director: Gavin O'Connor
43.
Without Limits
(1998)
The film follows the life of famous 1970s runner Steve Prefontaine from his youth days in Oregon to... (117 mins.)
Director: Robert Towne
44.
Foxcatcher
(2014)
Based on the true story of Mark Schultz, an Olympic wrestler whose relationship with sponsor John du Pont and brother Dave Schultz would lead to unlikely circumstances. (134 mins.)
Director: Bennett Miller
“ And I’m really excited about Foxcatcher (some of my friends actually trained in John du Pont’s pool on his bizarre estate in the early 90s and said he’d get in the water and practice with them every now and then). ” - imdb-fun
45.
Senna
(2010 Documentary)
A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34. (106 mins.)
Director: Asif Kapadia
46.
The Pride of the Yankees
(1942)
The story of the life and career of the famed baseball player, Lou Gehrig. (128 mins.)
Director: Sam Wood
47.
Caddyshack
(1980)
An exclusive golf course has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive dancing gopher. (98 mins.)
Director: Harold Ramis
“ "And I say, 'hey Lama, how about a little something, ya'know, for the effort, you know?' And hey says 'oh there will be no money, but when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total consciousness.' So I got that goin' for me... Which is nice "
Caddyshack is arguably the best sports movie of all time....it might go all the way to 11. ” - imdb-fun
Caddyshack is arguably the best sports movie of all time....it might go all the way to 11. ” - imdb-fun
48.
Kingpin
(1996)
A star bowler whose career was prematurely "cut off" hopes to ride a new prodigy to success and riches. (113 mins.)
Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
“ for the final showdown ” - imdb-fun
49.
The Stratton Story
(1949)
Star major league pitcher Monty Stratton loses a leg in a hunting accident, but becomes determined to leave the game on his own terms. (106 mins.)
Director: Sam Wood
50.
Eight Men Out
(1988)
A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series. (119 mins.)
Director: John Sayles
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