The Best of Sports Movies
“The amount of variety and emotions that sports movies can give you is actually insane. They can go from laughter to joy to even crying. Some of these movies can inspire you to do something great since the message and story is so powerful.”
People, no matter what, seem to have some idea of what happens in the sports world, like the Super Bowl or World Series. However there are people who don’t really like to watch sports in general, as they find it boring or just not entertaining. But what brings joy to most people around the world is movies.
Sports movies can either be funny or serious, but often they bring out a powerful message or are just great cinema. Since I was young I was never a movie type of guy but for some reason I always loved a great sports movie, and there are so many sports movies that have a variety to them, so that is why I will give you a bunch of movies to check out.
Kids Sports Movies
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
This Movie stars Emilio Estevez where he acts as “Gordon Bombay” who is an Adult who gets arrested for drunk driving, His friend helps him get bailed out but now he has to repay by becoming a hockey coach for a bunch of little kids. Bombay hated hockey and hated the kids but he had to do it so he didn't go back to jail. Bombay then creates a bond in these kids where he teaches them how to be successful in Hockey.
Space Jam (1996)
This Movie stars NBA Hall Of Famer Michael Jordan where he actually plays himself in this movie. He decides to play what every athlete plays in their free play AKA golf. He then gets tied to a rope and then goes to a new world where he meets Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck and he helps defeat a whole super team in basketball but instead of going against people like charles barkley or Patrick Ewing. He was helping the Looney Squad defeat aliens.
Like Mike (2002)
This Movie stars rapper “Lil Bow wow” and he plays a little boy that goes by the name of Calvin Cambridge who was at the time an orphan. He lived in an orphanage and always had a passion for basketball. The orphanage then gives him a pair of basketball shoes that were previously owned by Michael Jordan. Once he wear the shoes he then starts to play like Michael Jordan and then became a phenomenon
AirBud(1997)
This Movie actually starred two actors, Kevin Zegers where he plays as “Josh” and then there was Buddy the dog. Josh is a little boy who loves to play basketball because of his father who tragically passed away. He would always be depressed due to him losing his best friend. Until he meets Buddy the Dog who magically appears one day. Buddy somehow knows how to play basketball like a human and everyone started to recognize Bud.
The Sandlot (1993)
This Movie starred Tom Guiry where he plays “Scotty Smalls” who is a socially awkward who doesn’t know how to make friends.and Scotty actually really loves Baseball. But he isn’t the only one, he lives in a neighborhood full of baseball lovers and they all become one friend group. They love to play baseball in the neighborhood and just go to the baseball field everyday.They even chew tobacco together like they was Babe Ruth.However They go through funny and serious adventures throughout the movie but they face one big problem.
Comedy Sports Movies
Happy Gilmore (1996)
The Movie starred Icon Adam Sandler where he plays “Happy Gilmore” who is a person who loved playing hockey and wanted to go pro, until he realized he had a secret talent for golf, he needed to make some quick money for his grandmother so she does not lose her home so he then becomes passionate about the sport and becomes a local golf hero and faces actual pros.But he goes through other events during that path.
Major League(1989)
This movie actually had a lot of stars like Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes but there are a lot more great actors. This is actually about the MLB team the Cleveland Indians (who are now the guardians) and they have a total rebuild on their organization and they have a manager who wants to move their team to another state. The team is then full of absolute nobodies and they play in the MLB and are trying their best to keep the Indians alive and in Cleveland.
The Waterboy(1998)
The movie starred Adam Sandler where he plays “Bobby Boucher” who is raised in Louisiana and lives with his very overprotective mother. He was a waterboy for hometown college football team which is very popular. He then gets fired and goes to a rival team. Becomes a waterboy again and gets made fun of and then beats up a player which gets him a spot on the football and becomes the star linebacker for the football team.
Dodgeball : a true underdog story (2004)
The movie starred Vince Vaughn where he is an owner for a gym called “Average Joe’s but does not get enough money. There is another competitive gym called globo-gym which wants to put vaughn’s gym out of business, so Vaughn and a group of peers joins a volleyball tournament to win a huge cash prize.The problem is how globo gym also joined this tournament to stop average joe’s and make sure they shut down for good.
The Benchwarmers (2006)
This movie actually starred 3 actors who are David Spade, Rob Schneider and Jon Heder who are three little nerds with missed opportunities of childhood due to bullying. So a millionaire helps them out to create a little league baseball team to stop other bullies and teams, but they all have fun doing this. Until they go viral and find out how one of them was originally a bully.
Underdog Sports Movies
Remember The Titans(2000)
This movie starred Denzel Washington and he plays as a football head coach in Virginia who was black . He then teaches a high school team which already had a coach on the staff but he was white.But at the time racism and segregation was an ongoing thing.So the team never really clicked, they always grouped themselves by race until Washington came along and made sure before the season started that they played as a unit,he made sure his football team was one big happy family. They went from hating and fighting each other, to Singing Ain’t no mountain high enough in the locker room. They then try to go play highschool ball and win the states as one big family.
Rocky IV(1985)
The 4th movie of the Rocky series starred once again Sylvester Stalone. At this time Rocky Balboa was a retired boxer but he retired as one of the greatest boxers to ever live. However there was this Russian that went by the name of Ivan Drago who was dominating in the boxing scene, he then calls out Rocky but Rocky Declines, So rival and best friend of rocky, Apollo Creed fights Drago and is tragically killed, this then sparks rocky to train super hard to defeat and humiliate Drago.
Friday Night Lights (2004)
This movie starred Billy Bob Thornton where he is a high school coach for a team which is a very small local team in Texas. They were never a solid team to begin but had a star player who was named Boobie Miles. Sadly got injured in the start of the season and everyone thought that it is now over. It was now Bob Thornton's time to shine to try and bring this team together with his coaching skills and discipline to make sure they go far and gain respect from their town.
Coach Carter (2006)
This movie starred Icon Samuel L. Jackson where he plays Coach Carter who is a basketball coach that coaches their former highschool basketball team to success, The team when he first joined was in terrible shape, they were okay in playing but their grades were terrible. Carter’s discipline and training made sure these kids turned into men once they were done with him. These kids never lived in nice neighborhoods either so these kids were hungry for success and it was Coach Carter's job to make that happen.
Hardball(2001)
This movie starred Icon Keanu Reeves where is a drunkie and a hard gambler, he loses a bet to this very threatening guy and asks his very rich best friend for money who usually says yes.This time he said no and will only get the money if he becomes a head coach for a little league baseball team that is in the hood. All of these kids live in projects where their lives are always in danger and the majority of them did not really know how to actually play baseball or even have the equipment. So Reeves made sure he made this mediocre team into a successful little league team and led them to a trophy.
Sports Movies Based on True Stories
McFarland,USA (2015)
This movie starred Kevin Costner where he plays a highschool football coach now moving into a very latino based neighborhood. He is a gym teacher over there and realizes that a group of kids run exceptionally well overall and how they don’t get tired. He then created a Cross country high school team where at first was bumpy but then became very successful and the cross country program in the school.Became very prestigious over the years winning multiple state championships.
The Blind Side (2009)
This Movie is based on Nfl player Michael Oher on how he grew up in a very poor neighborhood and his mom was a crackhead. Therefore he became an orphan and had nowhere to go until a fairly rich white woman decided to take care of Oher. Oher then got a nice life to pursue football and to pursue his NFL dreams.The movie then shows the results of how in 2009 Oher was drafted to the Baltimore Ravens.
Gridiron Gang (2006)
This Movie was based on the coach Shawn porter where he worked in a juvenile detention center.And sees all these young kids getting into trouble even in the center. He then wanted a way to make sure these kids had a second chance so he ran a football team. Every high school team were scared to go against the team due to the fact that these kids are delinquents however Porter made it work and made sure these kids became successful.
Miracle (2004)
This movie was based on the 1980 team USA hockey team where they were playing during the cold war. Coach Herb Brooks decided to get a bunch of college all stars who were very hot headed. To take on a very very stacked USSR team who was the favorite to win the gold medal. They try to overcome all odds to win the gold medal but their culture and the patriotism overall is what made this team known.
Rudy (1993)
This movie is based on a college student named Rudy and he attends the University of Notre Dame. He always dreamed of playing for Notre Dame but his size and overall him never really got recognition. But he never gave up, he became a walk-on and kept practicing his ass off till he got to see the field. He keeps trying and trying and keeps failing but never gives up until one game he was able to play and turned his dream into a reality.
The amount of variety and emotions that sports movies can give you is actually insane. They can go from laughter to joy to even crying. Some of these movies can inspire you to do something great since the message and story is so powerful. In addition to that, hopefully these movies can you give you a new look on sports movies.