Sports films are big business. The cinema-going public love nothing more than witnessing a story of redemption and seeing an underdog defy the odds. These David versus Goliath scenarios are swallowed up and often earn mega money at the box office in addition to attracting a cult following that remains decades after their initial launch.
There are so many stellar sports titles that it would be easy to compile a list of 50 or even 100 sports movies that everyone should watch at some point in their lives. As it happens, this list consists of only three films that deserve viewing time and time again.
Here are 3 Great Films Every Sports Fan Must See
1. Rocky
Sylvester Stallone was a relative unknown in Hollywood before 1976, but the release and subsequent success of Rocky made Stallone a global star. Stallone wanted to tell the story of a down on his luck boxer who made it to the big time in addition to getting the girl, and it is safe to say he succeeded and then some.
The story starts with a heavyweight boxing world champion, Apollo Creed, selecting the titular Rocky Balboa, an amateur boxer, to take him on in a world title fight. Creed is the more skilled fighter by far, and online betting sites would have him as an overwhelming favourite if this were an actual boxing match.
While Creed is afforded the best training facilities, Rocky has unorthodox methods such as catching chickens and using sides of beef as punchbags. An epic battle ensues on New Year’s Day, with Rocky knocking down an overconfident
Creed in the first round, which is the first time Creed has ever been floored. The fight scenes are still some of the best ever shown in a movie, even if they are a little overdramatic. We will not spoil the result because this is a movie you have to see!
2. Hoop Dreams
Hoop Dreams is a feature-length documentary rather than a movie; many regard it as the most outstanding sports documentary ever. Hoop Dreams followed William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African-American high school students who dream of playing professional basketball in the NBA.
Both Gates and Agee hail from poor African-American neighbourhoods in Chicago, Illinois, but are recruited by a scout from the St. Joseph High School in Winchester, Illinois. The boys face a 90-minute each way commute to attend the predominately white high school.
Director Steve James intended Hoop Dreams to be a 30-minute short film. However, five years of intense filming resulted in 250 hours of footage that was eventually condensed into 171 minutes.
Hoop Dreams received critical and popular acclaim, with Current TV ranking it number one in its 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die. It is included in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. At the same time, a critic’s review on Rotton Tomatoes calls Hoop Dreams “rich, complex, and heartbreaking” that explores issues of race, class, and education in modern America.
3. Caddyshack
Not every sports-themed movie has to be deadly serious to be a cult hit; Caddyshack (1980) is a prime example. Caddyshack was Harold Ramis’ directional debut and features Hollywood legends Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O’Keefe, and Bill Murray, among others.
As the name suggests, Caddyshack is a golf-themed film. It revolves around the elitist Bushwood Country Club, where Danny Noonan (Michael O’Keefe) attempts to gain a caddying scholarship. He usually caddies for Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) but tries to get his foot in the door by caddying for the club’s founder and director, Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight).
While that is going on, millionaire real estate developer Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) keeps making regular appearances and quite obviously has sinister plans. Throw into the mix dim-witted greenkeeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), who makes increasingly vain attempts to combat a gopher infestation that is eating its way through the course! Caddyshack sounds bizarre, but it is honestly one of the funniest sports films of all time.
Watch this space for updates in the Movies category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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