I think Bend It Like Beckham was better than Bull Durham. Good film.
I agree that Rocky is astonishing. That moment during the fight (hell with the Spoiler code) where he lands a solid hook to a smiling and joking Apollo Creed and Creed’s face suddenly goes all serious…
That’s the moment that Rocky (the movie) went from hack to real.
But Bull Durham is still the best precisely because it’s not about the game. It’s about the way baseball (or any sport) can hold a person. There’s never even any scores mentioned in the movie (except once a mention that LaLoosh is throwing a shutout). Instead it has father-son relationships, boy to woman, man to woman, man to man relationships. It has tragedy, comedy, joy and sorrow.
That makes it head and shoulders above the normal ‘sports’ movies.
Number one checking in here to say: Ohmyfreakinggawd, he lost?
Seriously, I knew that. And the Titanic sank and stuff, yup.
Anyway about the OP: I don’t watch many sports movies (obviously) and I’m not really into sports, but I did see both Bull Durham and Field of Dreams. I’d say as an outsider I got more of a clue into the mythic proportions of baseball with Field of Dreams, though I will certainly always remember that scene where Kevin Costner makes what’s-his-name stop playing the guitar.
Still find it hard to imagine that there aren’t better sports movies than both of them though… but that’s more of a suspicion.
What was that movie with Shaq and Nick Nolte? Blue Chips or something?
How about that? 
What? No mention of Gladiator? It’s about sports! Hell, if they brought back gladitorial games (not the crappy “American Gladiator” crap) I’d be a season ticket holder! Like to see some of the guys in the NFL go up against a gladiator!
I vote for Wildcats - or more accurately Goldie Hawn naked.
Rocky, for the record, is one of the worst movies of all time, eclipsed only by its own horrid progeny.
I don’t have my copy of SI with me, Neurotik. but I’m fairly certain The Natural didn’t make the top 50. Bang the Drum Slowly did, The Bad News Bears, Field of Dreams and Bingo Long’s… all did, but I don’t think I saw The Natural. I’ll check tonight.
Personally, I don’t think The Natural should be number one or even in the top 10, but it should have been on the list.
For some reason, I’ve never seen Bull Durham, so I can’t comment on it. My favorite? Probably one of Hoop Dreams, Breaking Away or Bang the Drum Slowly (although the book is better).
Champion was better than Rocky.
“We’re not hitch-hiking any more, we’re riding!”
Keep in mind that this is the same magazine that, only a couple of weeks ago, said on their cover that Jeremy Shockey was the most exciting player in the NFL.
Apparently Michael Vick retired when I wasn’t looking.
Bull Durham won because it always wins these things. It also won ESPN.com’s list.
For my money it’s one of the most overrated movies of all time, but that’s all subjective.
Rocky is a great movie, but from a sports standpoint, it’s a piss-poor representation of boxing. These guys are championship caliber fighters who have apparently never heard of defense, because there’s not a slip or a block or a feint in the entire fight. Hell, they don’t even throw jabs. Every punch is a big looping haymaker, and most of them land flush. To satisfy the casual boxing fan that only watches to see punishing, highlight-reel knockout punches, it puts forty in every round. It’s exciting and cinematic, sure, but I wouldn’t call it a great sports movie.
My #1 sports movie would be Bull Durham as well. Say what you want about Costner, the guy’s got a sweet swing. For my money, he gives the best physical performance of an athlete of any actor I’ve seen. He’s got a pretty good golf swing too.
Boo Boo Foo, what are some of the non-American great sports movies? I’m not arguing, I’m just curious as to what they are. I will say that I probably won’t watch many of them if they are about futbol/soccer/whatever-term-you-prefer.
Bull Durham captures the essence of its sport pretty well, and it is funny and sexy. The mound conversations are great. Real players say that it is pretty spot-on, which it should be, sinc ethe writer-director was a minor league player.
I prefer The Natural, but Bull Durham has its points.
Rocky, the first one, really is a good film. The Longest Yard really is a more of a prison film.
Hoosiers has Dennis Hopper, so I can’t consider it the best of anything. It’s pretty good without him, but I just loathe him.
The Jim Thorpe story really glosses over the racism he faced and doesn’t even really show how amazing Thorpe was as an athlete. It’s pretty good, though.
I still don’t understand why Rudy wasn’t amongst the Top 50 sports movies of all time. SI even said before the article started that before one complains about their favorite movie not making the list, “One mans Rudy is another man’s . . . Rudy”. So what does this mean? NOBODY at Sports Illustrated liked that movie? Even if some writers hated it, there had to be a few people who thought it was good enough to be placed in the top 50!!
I’m not a Notre Dame fan, but Rudy has to be one of the best sports movies of all time . . . and, to top it all off, IT’S TRUE (unlike Rocky, Bull Durham, or The Natural).
A good non-American sports movie is Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, a cricket(baseball’s cousin) movie.
But I would probably agree with SI. Bull Durham is a great movie. Rocky, Field of Dreams, Caddyshack, and Major League round out my personal top 5.
A good non-American sports movie is Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, a cricket(baseball’s cousin) movie.
But I would probably agree with SI. Bull Durham is a great movie. Rocky, Field of Dreams, Caddyshack, and Major League round out my personal top 5, although not necesarily in that order.
I vote for Hoosiers in terms of “best” sports movie (Rudy is a close second). In terms of importance, I concur with Rocky. (It made the 50 Most Important Hollywood Films listing.)
You guys are out to lunch.
The best baseball movie made was Eight Men Out.
The second best was Field of Dreams.
Bull Durham would be the third best Baseball movie.
Rocky is a better sports film.
So is Slapshot. That movie is a hilarious comedy, but it also captured the very essence of blue-collar minor sports leagues which make up the backbone of sports in America, even if we only really focus on the big leagues.
My biggest problem with the lsit is the inclusion of non-sports movies like Searching for Bobby Fischer, Fists of Fury, and Best in Show.
Exactly–if you include “Searching for Bobby Fischer”, you really have to include “The Hustler”.
I have to go with “Raging Bull”, myself.
Dr. J