Cue a montage of motivational music
We’ve now entered the homestretch until the end of the year. As students are finishing midterms, essays, final projects, and gearing up for exams, their workload is high, but their motivation is low. If there’s any genre of cinema that can get the blood pumping and reinvigorate your “can-do” attitude, it’s sports movies. There’s no denying that there is a certain cheesy, yet uplifting, charm to our favourite movies about the underdog individual or team triumphing over impossible odds and coming out on top. One of the key elements of the sport genre that allow it to succeed is that while there is a distinct sense of universality of the stories told, each movie leaves its own unique mark so that each new release doesn’t feel like a rehash of previously released films. With this notion of unique sports movies in mind, here is my list of the top five sports movies of all time.
- The Mighty Ducks
Here comes the Mighty Ducks. This classic childhood movie has everything that a great sports movie needs. You have the coach seeking redemption and a chance to return to former glory, the plucky team of misfit kids that the coach needs to whip into shape, and the championship game that could bring them all fame. This is one of those movies that everyone who grew up during the 80s and 90s has seen, and while nostalgia may be clouding my vision when it comes to some of the more cliché moments of the film, there’s no denying the goofy charm to the story of these underdogs. The Mighty Ducks is Emilio Estevez at the top of his game, a performance that is only topped by his role in The Breakfast Club, and features a young Elden Henson as Fulton Reed, who would go on to be Matt Murdock’s legal partner Foggy Nelson in Marvel’s smash hit Daredevil.
- The Sandlot
There’s something about a gutsy group of oddballs that makes for a great sports movie. The Sandlot is another nostalgia filled film that looks at an unforgettable summer in the life of Scotty Smalls. Every kid probably wished that their neighbourhood team had as many misadventures as The Sandlot kids, or at least had their awesome clubhouse. After recently rewatching this movie, I can say it still holds up pretty well—if you can get past some of the corny lines delivered by the child actors. The movie is just old fashioned goofy fun, and includes the classic line: “You’re killin’ me Smalls.”
- Any Given Sunday
For anyone wondering whether I only enjoy movies that feature a group of spirited, eccentric kids trying to win the championship game, Any Given Sunday should show that the underdogs don’t always have to be children. While there is a plethora of inspirational football movies to choose among, from films such as Friday Night Lights and Remember the Titans, Any Given Sunday will always be the one that sticks closest to my heart. The single greatest motivational speech in sport film history is delivered by Al Pacino, and if you find yourself stuck in a rut while finishing up that lab report or final essay, give it a listen.
- Space Jam
By now it should be obvious that what I consider a good sports movie is very different than what a film critic would describe as good cinema, and maybe this fact is never more apparent than with my love of Space Jam. This fever dream of a 90s advertising campaign is easily one of the most ridiculous movie pitches ever produced. You have Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, teaming up with the cast of the Looney Tunes, and the whole idea spawned from a shoe commercial. The plot is goofy, the visuals can be incredibly weird, and the fate of the characters from Looney Tunes all hinges on a basketball game with the Monstars, the antagonists of the film from Moron Mountain. When the Deus Ex Machina of a basketball dribbling Bill Murray isn’t the strangest thing about a film, then you know you’re in for a wild wide. Critical opinion be damned, I love the Looney Tunes and I love Space Jam, besides how can you hate on a movie with such a killer soundtrack?
- Warrior
Coming in at number one is the sports movie that apparently only I have ever seen. Even with the all-star cast of Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison, and Nick Nolte, I still haven’t met anyone who has actually seen Warrior. The story of two brothers who enter the world’s largest MMA tournament, this movie is a lot quieter of a film than the title may lead you to believe. It’s the first movie that I’ve ever seen that is about mixed martial arts, but isn’t geared towards their typical fan base. If you disagree with any of my choices on this list, and would like to see me become a blubbering mess of a human being, just throw on Warrior and watch it deliver a TKO to my feelings.