# sports movies... there, must be some good ones, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311 "2001-11-03T14:44:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/21 "2001-11-04T02:36:45Z")
**Prefontaine** , with Jared Leto. ---
**Author:** ![aramis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@aramis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aramis)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/22 "2001-11-04T02:52:38Z")
Yet another Costner sports pic, American Flyers. Mystery Alaska Cool Runnings ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/23 "2001-11-04T03:24:51Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned _The Bad News Bears_! They lost at the end didn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![velouria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ac91a4/32.png) [@velouria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velouria)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/24 "2001-11-04T05:23:33Z")
The Natural ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/25 "2001-11-04T13:21:28Z")
yes! there may actually be hope for the genre after all! but i don’t want to limit sports movies to the scenario i described in the OP - this is just a cliche that seems to be the basis of all sports movies. i mean, two sports movies that i’ve seen recently that both seemed to be trying _really hard_ to be something more than a sports movie, **any given sunday** and **remember the titans** both lapsed into the cliche. so i’m after great movies that are about sports. in the same way that _almost famous_ was a great movie, not just a great rock n roll movie, and sixth sense was a great movie, not just a great thriller. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/26 "2001-11-04T20:06:32Z")
_Lucas_ is a sports-themed movie that is excellent, and although it does have a “big game”, it doesn’t follow the cliche. _Searching for Bobby Fischer_ is wonderful. Chess as a sport? Sure. This movie has the form of a sports movie, but has style and substance that go beyond the formula. _The Karate Kid_ is pure formula, but it’s done about as well as this formula can be done. _Battling Butler_ and _College_ are Buster Keaton send ups of boxing and pretty much every college sport respectively. _Breaking Away_ (bicycle racing) is a charmer, and the climactic scenes are better than you would expect. _Fong Sai Yuk_ is a kung fu movie in which the kung fu master (Jet Li) meets the love of his life when he needs a forth person for his relay team at a track meet. Ok, the sports aspect is pretty dumb, but there’s some great kung fu in it. _Vision Quest_: Almost another formula picture, but much better than most. _The Great White Hope_: One of the great boxing movies. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/27 "2001-11-04T20:44:56Z")
How about _Diggstown_? Maybe _61_\*? _Bring It On_? And, while it did follow the cliche, I loved _The Replacements_ as a good comedy about football. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/28 "2001-11-04T21:19:30Z")
It’s not about sports per se, but more about the athlete, so how about _Cobb_ ? ---
**Author:** ![brido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@brido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brido)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/29 "2001-11-04T21:31:21Z")
The tearjerker to end all tearjerkers : the champ. And how about caddyshack, that still makes me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/30 "2001-11-05T01:05:01Z")
[**Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India**](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0282674) You like Cricket? This ones pretty fun. And holy cow can that girl **Gracy Singh** move! Any although it is cliched and you know the outcome you still laugh it up. But Gracy, Gracy, Gracy … ---
**Author:** ![JDeMobray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@JDeMobray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDeMobray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/31 "2001-11-06T04:24:31Z")
Damn, almost everything I was going to say (Brian’s Song, Prefontaine, Rocky) so let me reccommend two movies, that while they have a couple of the cliches you mentioned are still worth seeing. 1. _Victory_ - How can you go wrong with a cast of Michael Caine, Sly Stallone and PELE~! 🙂 WWII POWs in a German concentration camp conscripted to play a soccer match against the German National team. Down 4-1 at halftime they have a chance to escape, **but come back to finish the game**. While not “Good” or “Historically Accurate” in the traditional senses, a purer sports-conquers-all movie you will not find. 2. _Rudy_ - In spite of what was said earlier, I liked this film. Sure, it was overly sentimental and you could tell it was trying to get sports guys to cry but still if you can sit through the whole thing and _not_ get choked up at the ending (which, it should be noted, really happened) then you’re barely human. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/32 "2001-11-06T05:04:03Z")
Movies important for reasons in addition to the sporting element: **Hoop Dreams** One of the best documentaries ever made. **The Hustler** Great performances, in a story about much more than pool. **The Cup** The story of Buddhist monks obsessed with the World Cup. _Buddhism is their philosophy. Soccer is their religion._ All worth a look or a relook. ---
**Author:** ![obidiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@obidiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obidiah)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/33 "2001-11-06T13:34:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Oblong_ > **Jerry McGuire was not a sports movie. It was a sinister plot to get us to see a chick flick.** Naw, this was a sports movie. What’s more, I really didn’t want to see it and fully expected to hate it. Turns out I thought it was fantastic. So it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/34 "2001-11-06T14:46:43Z")
\*\* The Longest Yard \*\* Sports [football] Prison [roadgang] Distruction of a French car[Citroin] Sorry about the spelling ---
**Author:** ![Zanshin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e274bd/32.png) [@Zanshin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zanshin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/35 "2001-11-06T15:16:17Z")
I’d second the nomination for **The Program** , and have to add a few of my own. **Any Given Sunday** did indeed lapse into the cliche, but (rather surprisingly for an Oliver Stone joint, IMHO) turned out to be a great movie! I thought this movie did the most effective job of using the soundtrack that I’ve seen in a long time. **Tin Cup**. As much as I hate Kevin Costner, this was a fun movie. Not sure if non-golfers would enjoy it as much as us duffers. Definitely didn’t go for the happy fuzzy ending, and Cheech Marin was a great addition to the cast. **Blue Chips**. A little hackneyed and cliched (and further proof that Shaq sure as hell can’t act), but a good movie nonetheless. **Major League**. A comedy movie about baseball rather than a baseball movie itself, still funny as hell and one of my favorite comedy movies of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Izzardesque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@Izzardesque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Izzardesque)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/36 "2001-11-06T15:19:01Z")
Is pool a sport? If so, I go for the Hustler **and** Colour of Money. Cool Runnings - I’m with you there. To my knowledge, there are no good rugby movies, but as Living with Lions (the story of the Lions tour) is almost cinematic in itself, I don’t think we need one ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311/37 "2001-11-06T15:19:11Z")
**Something for Joey** was good for a made-for-TV-movie, plus it was based on the real life story of Heisman winner John Cappeletti (spelled w/o confidence). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-there-must-be-some-good-ones-right/91311.md?page=1)