I am not a sports fan (at all) but I can still appreciate a good sports movie. I guess it’s the “underdog” element. The best films have a rag-tag group of people joining together, making a team and proving that they have what it takes to rise above others preconceptions of them.
Some of my favorite movies are sports movies—“Rudy” being my favorite, and then “Hoosiers” and “Hard Ball”. Love 'em. Even though I don’t understand the game so much (well, except baseball) I still get the gist of what the goal is, and why it is so important to them to win. I cry every time I see “Rudy”. Especially the end. Anyone who cannot see why “Rudy” is a wonderful movie has no heart whatsoever, in my opinion!
But right now I’m seeing “Junction Boys” (currently airing on ESPN) and it’s about real-life football coach Bear Bryant. I guess the movie is supposed to present him as some sort of sports icon, but all I’m seeing is a mean old fart who runs these boys too hard and has them eager to get away from him. What is the deal here? What am I not getting?
I guess this is a combo thread. I’d like to know what other good sports movies are out there, but also, I’d like to understand why I don’t “get” some movies like “Junction Boys”. Is it because I’m not a football fan that I don’t get it?
I’ll toss in a foreign film, Lagaan follows the scheme you mention in your first paragraph with cricket. It’s Indian so it’s subtitled, has music numbers and is pretty damn long but worth it in my opinion.
And it kinda sounds like you already answered your 2nd question. You don’t respect Bryant and his validation isn’t satisfying to you. Although I haven’t seen the movie, or intent to, so it could be something about the filme itself.
Bull Durham, Tin Cup, and Field of Dreams are all good sports movies that don’t follow the convention the OP mentions.
I haven’t seen Junction Boys (nor do I intend to), and what I know about Bear Bryant could scarcely fill one paragraph. But, the TV Guide review made it seem like the movie was more about Bryant’s motivation, however flawed. Actually, here’s what the TV Guide review says:
Chariots of Fire A wonderful film about two British sprinters running in the Paris Olympics (of 1922 IIRC). Based on real events though with a few changes. Just a solid film with good acting,cinematography and story. A famous opening theme by Vangelis doesn’t hurt.
I don’t watch sports movies very often, but one I liked was Victory, featuring WW2 POWs playing soccer against the Nazi army. (Check the ‘Trivia’ link on that page.)
And then there’s Men with Brooms for the Teeming Millions of curling fans out there.
Ok, for starters, Mystery, Alaska isn’t set in Canada, hence the title!
My list-
Eight Men Out
Pride of the Yankees
The Natural
Field of Dreams
Bang the Drum Slowly
Is it a coincidence that some of the best sports movies ever made are about baseball? I don’t think so. It is a game that lends itself well to “life issue” stuff.
Honorable mention to-
The Rookie
Any Given Sunday
Bull Durham
Major League
Sad bit of trivia- the highest-grossing “sports” movie of all time? The Waterboy. Ack
Thanks, rastahomie, for the TV Guide review snippet. I was really beginning to worry about “Junction Boys”. TV Guide seems to have the same take on it that I did. It is true that he (Bryant) did seem to regret the way he’d behaved by the end of the film, but I still thought he was one mean SOB.
I just got “Field of Dreams” on VHS, but haven’t seen it yet. Saw “Slapshot” years ago, when I was young and I confess, I didn’t get it. I never had the desire to see it again.
I also saw “Major League” recently, and thought it was pretty good, but it was no “Rudy”. (“Rudy” being my all-time favorite sports film, ever.) And “The Rookie” is very sweet—I’m glad I saw that. Wow. There are a lot of good sports movies that I’d forgotten about. I’ve not seen “Bull Durham” yet. I guess I’d better, eh?
“Men with Brooms”—just got the DVD for that (I’m a Paul Gross fan) and I liked it, but there were a lot of references that I thought were more for Canadians, so I know I missed a lot. And—what can I say? They are playing with brooms! But it was good.
I wanted to be the first one to mention Lagaan, but I see it was mentioned in the first reply. I liked it a lot and I don’t even know anything about cricket, being a silly American. All I knew was that it was similiar to baseball. Yet I was still able to follow it pretty well.
EJsGirl already mentioned how baseball lends itself well to movies. Another sport that does that is golf. Caddyshack, Tin Cup, and Dead Solid Perfect are some of the better golf movies. Happy Gilmore is okay too.
I love sports movies that are based on actual events, even if they are dramatized: Hoosiers, Rudy, Remember the Titans, Pride of the Yankees, etc.
I also love Major League. One of my all-time favorite exchanges:
“Hi! I’m Willie Mays Hayes. Run like Hayes, hit like Mays.”
“Well, you may run like Hayes, but you hit like shit.”
Tis unfortunate that the quality difference between Major League and Major League 2 is exponential. Stay away. Stay far, far away.
But, my all time favorite sports movie (already mentioned by Random) that I can happily watch over and over is Breaking Away. It is such a great movie and is about so much more than just sports. Great cast, great drama, great dialogue, and a great ending.
Mystery, Alaska, is in Canada? Did I miss something? Can we have Hawaii too?
As for sports films, I most appreciate films that can capture the sport in a new and unique way. Most sports films are pretty bad, from a narrative standpoint. One of my favourites is Any Given Sunday. The story is crap and I know that Cameron Dias can’t really act, but the way the football scenes were filmed was amazing.