Whenever a major sporting event approaches, it can sometimes feel like the whole world is suddenly an expert on a game that most of them don’t actually play. This can leave a lot of folks feeling alienated since they simply have no interest in watching adults engage in meaningless physical activity that corporations manage to get rich on while oftentimes the players put their minds and bodies on the line. For those individuals who find the concept of devoting their time and mental energy to looking at a screen while opposing teams run side to side with a ball monumentally tedious, but would easily get lost in the drama linked to the sporting world if told to them in an interesting and cinematic fashion, there are sports movies.
Movies about sports and athletes have existed for ages. Since the stories best suited for film tend to be about people with a clear goal in the face of overwhelming obstacles, the plight of professional athletes is a natural fit for the medium. While a horde of Tolkien devotees would probably argue with you, there are a lot of similarities between the story of Frodo taking the ring to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings and that of an amateur boxer taking on the champ, or a bunch of misfits coming together to try and win a baseball game. So, if you’re feeling left out when everyone around you is obsessing over a looming “big game” (via Yahoo), but can’t bring yourself to actually watch it, these 10 movies should keep you entertained.
10 Rocky
The ultimate story of an underdog taking on an undisputed champion, the 1976 boxing classic Rocky has everything you need for riveting drama. There’s the title character, a low-level enforcer just trying to get by on the streets of Philadelphia while training in the gym. He’s a guy who knows he’s got what it takes to make something of himself, he just needs his chance. That opportunity comes when Apollo Creed plucks him from obscurity and challenges him to a match.
At the same time, there is an absolutely gripping romance blooming between Rocky and the local pet store worker that allows us to see how vulnerable and sensitive this mountain of a man can be. You root for Rocky the whole time, not only because he’s the protagonist, but because his journey mirrors our own. Although Rocky has become an unstoppable franchise (which includes the spin-off series of films Creed), nothing beats the pure simplicity of that original masterpiece.
9 Rollerball
Maybe the idea of watching movies about real sports is still too much of a stretch for you. In that case, check out Rollerball from 1975. Starring James Caan as the greatest player who ever lived, the film is set in a dystopian near future where the world is run by a singular corporation and the violence-hungry citizens delight in watching men on skates tossing a metal ball around, dodging motorcycles, and trying not to get their heads taken off. The narrative focuses more on the corruption of the system and how one man can confront it by doing what he does best, so individuals with an interest in social commentary can really dig their teeth into the story. There’s also this overwhelming sense of doom present from the very first shot of the film that never quite lets up and keeps you wondering what terrible thing is going to happen.
8 Remember the Titans
Released in 2000 and starring Denzel Washington, Remember the Titans tells the true story of a high school football team in Virginia that’s not only struggling to be the best at their sport, but also to put aside their bigotry. The school in question has just allowed black students to attend, and that prejudice isn’t easy for any of them to deal with. Thus, it falls to their coach, a Black man himself, to show them how to stop seeing each other as a team and not as white or black. It is every bit as sentimental, overly simplistic about racism, and manipulative as you’d imagine, but the journey the characters take is so classic-Hollywood satisfying you just might be able to forgive its faults.
7 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
By their nature, sports movies can get a little full of themselves. The approach of elevating players to the point of religious figures sacrificing everything in the pursuit of achieving immortality in a given field might leave a bitter taste in the mouths of more pragmatic viewers. As an antidote, you might want to check out the 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. The sport in question is largely considered to be a game for awkward teenagers to dread in high school, so the fact that it is treated so seriously here drives the point home that most sports movies could use a reality check. As is often the case with most comedies, a lot of the jokes have aged poorly, but the central conceit of a barely-interested coach taking a team of over-the-top losers and facing off against a group of athletes who would die for the game is solid.
6 Field of Dreams
Chances are that most people who have seen this Kevin Costner classic will tell you that it is not a sports movie. They’ll probably describe Field of Dreams as a movie about fathers and sons, about second chances, about human connection. While all of those descriptors are accurate, the whole reason Costner’s character is able to reconnect with his father is because of baseball. Love and nostalgia for the game drip from the film like honey. It may not be about a team or an individual trying to stand their ground in the face of a certain defeat, but it is about people who are connected by their mutual obsession over a game. Therefore, it counts as a sports movie and guarantees that even if you’re not into sports, you can still enjoy (perhaps find meaning in) the story being told.
5 Space Jam
Yes, even far-fetched, animated and live-action hybrid films starring the Looney Tunes counts as a sports movie. You’ve got the down-on-his-luck coach who rediscovers their love for the game in the form of Michael Jordan, the motley crew of players who need a master to help them get their act together in the Tunes, and an insurmountable force to be defeated with the Monstars. Everything in the film leads up to a huge, climactic game where the fate of Bugs and his pals hangs in the balance. There’s good vs evil and a lot of talk about hard work and everything that goes into making a sports movie work. Therefore, if you hate sports, but love cartoons and the narrative David and Goliath, then Space Jam is there for you.
4 Slap Shot
As far as modern audiences are concerned, the pantheon of hockey movies is ruled over by the ‘90s family film The Mighty Ducks. While that film is an undisputed, uplifting, nostalgic classic for viewers of a certain age, there’s another hockey film that might go down easier for anyone who didn’t grow up chanting “We will, we will, quack you,”: Slap Shot starring Paul Newman. Set in the world of minor league hockey, Slap Shot is an intense, foul-mouthed, and violent comedy that never lets up. Once they decide that playing the game well isn’t enough, the Charlestown Chiefs decide to get mean with their tactics, garnering nationwide attention from sports fans. It is a big, offensive, and hilarious movie that should satisfy anyone who wants more edge in their entertainment.
3 Bend it Like Beckham
Bend it Like Beckham, directed by Gurinder Chadha, is one of those small, ultra-specific movies that actually used to get a lot of traction in Hollywood. Released in 2002, it tells the story of a young British Indian girl, who loves soccer (or as the rest of the world calls it, football) so much that she’s willing to keep it from her parents, who think it’s time that she start acting like a woman. There are surprisingly frank discussions about gender roles and body image that give the story a much more grounded sensibility than you might initially expect from the trailers. Add that to the honest depiction of a culture that is underrepresented in American films, not to mention a sport that most Americans can’t understand, and you have a refreshingly real, and uplifting story that helps broaden one’s perspective.
2 The Bad News Bears
A team of underdogs who can hardly manage to tie their shoes is a common trope in sports movies and none of them did it better than the original 1976 baseball comedy The Bad News Bears. Viewing audiences who are more used to their kid-centric sports movies to be on the more clean and wholesome side will likely be shocked by the characters in this film. These aren’t adorably eccentric goofballs, they’re dirty, vulgar, and even a bit racist little brats.
Don’t let the appearance of Walter Matthau (an actor whose image got rather cuddly later in his career) fool you – The Bad News Bears is a grimy, 1970s comedy through and through. The kids curse, they drink, smoke, and fight, while their alcoholic coach (Matthau) tries to keep himself upright. If you can accept the film was made during a unique time in Hollywood, then you’ll probably enjoy it much more than watching a real baseball game.
1 Cosmoball
If Luc Besson was given the chance to make a Marvel movie, it might look something like Cosmoball. This epic space opera about the fate of the world hinging upon a soccer-like game that requires some players to use superpowers from Russia is a non-stop treat for the eyes. From a wide array of lifeforms living in familiar, yet greatly changed thanks to the poles going away, and huge action sequences, this is a truly dazzling film. Its breathless pacing, and wild concepts, make everything a tad difficult to follow at times, but it's hard to argue with such mind-blowing visuals. How this film from director Dzhanik Fayziev hasn’t garnered more attention from audiences around the world is baffling. It deserves to be seen by more people and works as an excellent alternative to usual sports viewing.