35 sports movies you have to watch in your lifetime, ranked
These are the sports movies you have to see at least once in your life.
There are classics like "Rocky," "Field of Dreams," and "White Men Can't Jump."
And there are also more recent titles like "Air" and "King Richard."
35. "Murderball" (2005)
This unique and insightful Oscar-nominated documentary follows the fearless players who make up the U.S. wheelchair rugby team.
Along with chronicling their inspiring stories, directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro build up the drama as the US team faces its rivals from Canada at the 2004 Paralympic Games.
34. "Blue Chips" (1994)
Director William Friedkin is known best for movies like "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist," but in the 1990s, he made one of the most outside-the-box titles in his filmography.
With a cast made up of basketball stars and legends like Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Larry Bird, and Bob Cousy, plus Nick Nolte as a fierce college basketball coach, Friedkin highlights the shady side of college sports.
33. "Happy Gilmore" (1996)
In this Adam Sandler classic comedy, the Sandman takes his brand of outlandish jokes and physical comedy to make an instant classic.
His character is a not-very-good hockey player who turns to golf in an effort to earn enough money to help his grandmother keep her home.
Thanks to his super-long drives and bad boy swagger, he doesn't just succeed but becomes a star on the pro tour.
32. "Warrior" (2011)
Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy are fantastic in this drama where they play two mixed martial arts fighting estranged brothers who find themselves on a collision course when they enter the same tournament.
Nolte makes it onto this list again, this time playing the alcoholic father of the brothers.
31. "Senna" (2010)
Director Asif Kapadia relies on archival footage to tell the life of Brazilian Formula One racer Ayrton Senna.
The powerful story looks at the racer coming into his own until his sudden death in an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
30. "Major League" (1989)
This beloved comedy casts the likes of Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen, Wesley Snipes, and Dennis Haysbert to make up the worst MLB baseball team, the Cleveland Indians.
We follow the team on their improbable run from the basement in the standings to the playoffs, having a lot of fun along the way.
29. "I, Tonya" (2017)
This dark comedy mixed with a mockumentary looks at one of the most infamous sports figures of all time, figure skater Tonya Harding.
Played by Margot Robbie, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance, we follow her rough life filled with domestic abuse but also glory thanks to her talents as a skater.
But all of that changes when fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan is assaulted before the 1994 Winter Olympics and Harding's ex-husband, Jeff (Sebastian Stan), is the prime suspect.
Topping things off are the amazing performances from Paul Walter Hauser as Jeff's friend Shawn, and Allison Janney as Harding's abusive mother. She won an Oscar for the performance.
28. "Seabiscuit" (2003)
Oscar nominated for best picture, this drama looks at one of the greatest race horses of all time.
Touching on the setting in America at the time of the horse's greatness, The Great Depression, and the challenging lives of its jokey (played by Tobey Maguire) and owner (Jeff Bridges), the movie is a emotionally charged true underdog story.
27. "Sugar" (2008)
One of the most authentic movies about baseball ever made, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck tell the fictional story of Dominican pitcher Miguel "Sugar" Santos as he's plucked from the small village he was born and raised in and shipped to the minor leagues in Iowa in hopes of making it to the majors.
26. "Miracle" (2004)
Starring Kurt Russell as hockey coach Herb Brooks, this based-on-a-true-story Disney movie looks and the 1980 Winter Olympics USA hockey team.
Known better as the team behind the "Miracle on Ice," it beat the heavily favored Soviet team to win the gold.
25. "The Wrestler" (2008)
In this drama, director Darren Aronofsky delivers an intimate tale and also revived the career of Mickey Rourke.
He cast the actor in the role of an aging professional wrestler as he tries to navigate his life and reconnect with his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) all while trying to cling to his love of wrestling despite health issues.
Rourke scored an Oscar nomination for the performance.
24. "Air" (2023)
Ben Affleck does not disappoint in this look at the birth of sneakerhead obsession as he directs the inside story of how Nike's Air Jordans were created.
Set in the 1980s when Adidas were cool and Nike was considered just a sneaker for runners, we watch as basketball savant Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and Nike founder Phil Knight (Affleck) lock down Michael Jordan to a shoe deal that redefined the industry.
23. "King Richard" (2021)
This inspiring story of perseverance stars Will Smith in his Oscar-winning role as Richard Williams, the driven father of Venus and Serena Williams.
22. "Slap Shot" (1977)
Though this comedy wasn't a hit when it first opened, it has since become a sports movie classic. Paul Newman is the player-coach of a rag-tag minor-league hockey team that desperately needs crowds. They finally get an audience when they play ultra violently, which the blue-collar steel-mill community can't get enough of.
21. "The Sandlot" (1993)
This coming-of-age story set around a group of best friends and their love of baseball is required viewing regardless if you like baseball or not.
The movie's perfect way of capturing friendship and the joys of youth has made it a classic.
20. "Breaking Away" (1979)
Following the lives of four Indiana teens (played by Dennis Quaid, Dennis Christopher, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley) this inspiring drama examines their different hopes, dreams, and desire to find something that gets them out of their hometown.
It concludes with a thrilling bike race against their rivals at Indiana University.
The movie won an Oscar for best original screenplay and was nominated for best picture.
19. "Friday Night Lights" (2004)
Before becoming a popular TV series, it was first a movie directed by Peter Berg.
Set in Odessa, Texas, in the late 1980s, the movie chronicles the Permian High School Panthers' run to the state championship, which is filled with challenges from when they lose their star player for the season due to injury, to the kids' own personal issues.
Bill Bob Thornton is fantastic as the team's coach, as well as with Lucas Black as the team's quarterback.
18. "He Got Game" (1998)
This Spike Lee movie just gets better with age.
Casting NBA pro Ray Allen as Jesus Shuttlesworth, a high-school phenom from Coney Island, we follow as he ponders his decision on if he'll go to college or just turn pro.
Things get more complicated when his father (Denzel Washington) is taken out of prison in the hopes by the state that he convinces his son to go to the college of their choosing.
17. "Any Given Sunday" (1999)
Oliver Stone focuses on the dark side of pro football in this riveting drama that stars Jamie Foxx as a backup quarterback who suddenly becomes the starter and a star of the league.
Al Pacino also delivers a memorable performance as the coach of Foxx's team who is torn between the old ways of the game and the flashy new style of play.
16. “Tin Cup” (1996)
Eight years after making the sports classic "Bull Durham," director Ron Shelton and Kevin Costner teamed again for this fantastic romantic comedy set in the golf world.
Costner plays a washed up golfer who owns a driving range in West Texas. Rene Russo stars as the girlfriend of his rival.
Things all come to a head when Costner's character gets into the US Open leading to a thrilling conclusion in which he tries to win the Open and get the girl.
15. "Chariots of Fire" (1981)
This best-picture winner is based on the true story of two British athletes who took part in the 1924 Olympics.
But the movie has become iconic thanks to its retro synthesized theme music which has been spoofed countless times ever since.
14. "The Bad News Bears" (1976)
Mix together Walter Mathhau playing an alcoholic ex-baseball player, wise-ass kid actors like Tatum O'Neal and Jackie Earle Haley, and the insanity of youth baseball, and you have a classic.
13. "Eight Men Out" (1988)
Writer-director John Sayles' dramatization of the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal, in which the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose games in the World Series, is a must watch.
Along with a look that makes you feel you're back in the early 1900s, there are fantastic performances from the ensemble cast made up of John Cusack, Michael Rooker, David Strathairn, John Mahoney, and Christopher Lloyd.
12. "Creed" (2015)
Ryan Coogler masterfully crafts this spin-off from the "Rocky" franchise as he focuses on Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed.
Michael B. Jordan delivers a passionate performance as Adonis, a young man trying to make a name for himself while battling the ghost of his father.
The icing on the cake: Sylvester Stallone returns to play Rocky Balboa who becomes Adonis' trainer.
11. "Field of Dreams" (1989)
This movie is so beloved by baseball fans that Major League Baseball began an annual game on the farm where it was shot.
Kevin Costner plays an Iowa farmer who is awoken by a voice that tells him, "If you build it, he will come." It leads to him tearing up most of his crops and building a baseball field.
Soon after, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson from the 1919 White Sox appears but that's not the "he" the voice was talking about. The movie is not just a love letter to baseball but to fathers and sons.
10. "White Men Can't Jump" (1992)
In between making "Bull Durham" and "Tin Cup," director Ron Shelton created another sports classic with this comedy that is beloved by basketball fans and players alike.
Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson play streetball hustlers who decide to team up so they can score some big money.
But thanks to their self-destructive attitudes, the plan becomes harder to pull off, though it's extremely entertaining to watch.
9. "Bull Durham" (1988)
Ron Shelton's classic that looks at a struggling minor league baseball team is highlighted by his perfect writing and the performances of Kevin Coster as the veteran catcher, Tim Robbins as the hot-shot rookie pitcher, and Susan Sarandon as the groupie who tries to teach both men the true ways of the game.
8. "The Natural" (1984)
Fairy tales and the love of baseball are showcased here as Robert Redford plays a skilled player decades past his prime due to a freak injury.
Now back in the game, he becomes an overnight sensation, but the evils in the ownership box aren't too happy. It leads to one of the greatest endings in movie history.
7. "Moneyball" (2011)
Bennett Miller uses dramatized events and archival footage from the 2002 MLB season to recount how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) used analytics to craft a competitive team and change the game forever.
The result is a beloved movie that touches on elements of the game never examined before on the big screen.
It garnered nominations for best picture and best actor for Pitt.
6. "Hoosiers" (1986)
One of the greatest basketball movies ever made, Gene Hackman plays a tough coach of a high-school team in a small Indiana town that makes it all the way to the state championship.
From the movie's score to Dennis Hopper's performance as the basketball-loving town drunk (both of which were Oscar nominated), the movie is a masterful look at dedication and teamwork.
5. "Caddyshack" (1980)
This classic comedy set at a country club is by far the funniest sports movie ever made.
Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Ted Knight are at the peak of their comedy talents as we watch the silly and often times lewd happenings that seem to go on daily at this posh golf course.
4. "Rudy" (1993)
Seven years after making "Hoosiers," director David Anspaugh went and made another sports classic.
Based on the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger and his unwavering desire to play football for the University of Notre Dame, Sean Astin gives a career-best performance as Rudy, who never gives up on his dream despite a road filled with rejection and doubters.
The ending is one of the best-ever in a sports movie.
3. "Raging Bull" (1980)
Martin Scorsese was reluctant at first to make this movie about the life of middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta when Robert De Niro first brought it to him. Thankfully for us, he came around.
Considered one of the greatest American movies of all time, Scorsese's look at LaMotta is filled with anger and violence but there's a beauty in it all that makes you unable to turn away.
A lot of that has to do with the performances by Joe Pesci — who was an unknown actor before landing the role of LaMotta's brother — and De Niro as LaMotta, who brought Method acting to new heights when he gained around 60 pounds to play the fighter in his post-boxing years.
De Niro won an Oscar for the performance.
2. "Rocky" (1976)
There are plenty of underdog stories on this list, it's one of the elements that makes a sports movie great, but there's none better than this one.
As a way to launch his career, Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay of an unknown Philadelphia boxer named Rocky Balboa who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot against the heavyweight champion of the world Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers).
Stallone would only agree to the movie being made if he played Balboa.
The rest is history. The movie won the best picture Oscar, made Stallone a star, and launched one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time.
1. "Hoop Dreams" (1994)
Steve James' acclaimed documentary is not just the greatest sports movie of all time, it's a reflection of our society on issues of race, class, and the sacrifice that comes with having a dream.
We follow Chicago teens William Gates and Arthur Agee to college as they try to live out their dreams of being professional basketball players. In the process we watch as the two deal with poverty, family issues, and injuries, leading to a story that is way beyond just basketball.
Roger Ebert called it one of the best films about American life he's ever seen.
Read the original article on Insider
