Are sports movies actually war movies?

Cafe Society
1

In another thread, lissener discusses the famed Gregory Peck war movie “Twelve O’Clock High.” In the movie, a crusty father figure, General Savage, played by Peck, comes down hard on a group of fools, slackers and ne’er-do-wells (in this case, a B-17 bomber squadron in WWII) eventually turning them into a lean, mean fightin’ machine that kicks all kinds of Nazi ass.

This theme is repeated in many war movies. For instance, in “Heartbreak Ridge,” a crusty father figure, Gunnery Sgt. Highway, played by Clint Eastwood, comes down hard on a group of fools, slackers, and ne’er-do-wells (in this case, a Marine recon unit) eventually turning them into a lean, mean fightin’ machine that kicks all kinds of Grenadian ass.

In “The Devil’s Brigade,” a crusty father figure, Col. Frederick, played by Willian Holden, comes down hard on a group of fools, slackers and ne’er-do-wells (in this case, randomly selected American soldiers) eventually turning them into half of a lean, mean fightin’ machine, the other half being Canadian soldiers who for some reason all have British accents, but all of whom kick all kinds of German ass.

Or even consider “Glory.” A guy who’s more little brother than crusty father figure, but who at least has seen combat and can be a mean SOB when he needs to be, Colonel Shaw, played by Ferris Bueller, comes down hard on a group of fools, slackers and ne’er-do-wells (random black recruits) eventually turning them into a lean, mean fightin’ machine that kicks all kinds of Confederate ass.

But when you think about it, the “sporting team” movie is exactly the same, is it not?

In “The Bad News Bears,” a crusty father figure, Coach Buttermaker, played by either Walter Matthau or Billy Bob Thornton, comes down hard on a group of fools, slackers and ne’er-do-wells (Little Leaguers) eventually turning them into a lean, mean baseball machine, who kick all kinds of Little League ass.

In “Miracle,” a crusty father figure, Herb Brooks, played by Kurt Russell sporting the nuttiest Minnesota accent since Marge Gunderson, comes down hard on a group of fools, slackers and ne’er-do-wells (university hockey players) eventually turning them into a lean, mean hockey machine who kick all kinds of Soviet ass.

I won’t even get into “The Mighty Ducks.”

Are sports movies in fact war movies in disguise? What say you about the parallels between sports and militarism? Is this why NASCAR races look like Armed Services recruiting events?

2

I suppose any head to head competition could be likened to war.

Hasn’t it been said there are only 5 movie ideas? And all movies are branched from those?

3

I’ve long had a theory that the football stadiums of today are exactly analogous to the coliseums of ancient Rome. Athletes are surrogate warriors, same as movie soldiers. It all layers very nicely together.

4

My initial reaction was to disagree with the o.p. I can think of sports movies that are not war movies like It Happens Every Spring and Bull Durham or Bend It Like Beckham. Perhaps these movies just change the nature of the conflict from team against team to a man against the expectations others have against him, a marginal vet versus a naive talented rookie or a girl striving to define her place in the world. I think sports is often used as a metaphor for war but that is a cheap cliche for mediocre directors. I think that the best sports movie look for conflict, which is the essence of fiction, but a conflict that goes beyond us=good and them=bad.

5

Depends on the movie.

Sports films that describe how a team triumphs and wins the championship are quite similar to war movies.

Sports films that describe how an individual triumphs over adversity to become a champion (e.g., Chariots of Fire, Prefontaine, Rudy, The Stratton Story) are not.

Films like Eight Men Out or Cobb don’t fit in either category; these two are not war stories.

What I do find is the network TV news coverage is exactly the same as network TV sports coverage: little discussion of issues and much discussion of strategies.

6

I wouldn’t say that these sports movies are war movies. In addition to the sports movies that don’t follow this formula, there are many war movies that don’t follow it either (Das Boot, A Midnight Clear, Gung Ho, Henry V to name a few).

They’re just both in the same generic archetype : Experienced leader/father-figure type instructs and leads a group of people (men) who (will) face some external adversary. It’s the external adversary that usually provides the impetus for the group’s required discipline that the ‘coach’ has to drill into them. War and sports are the most natural, but conceivably you could have a movie like this about hunting, or outdoor survival, or even space travel.