While we got the Tokyo Olympic Games, we just want to support their amazing effort as well as their sportsmanship.
So we decided to celebrate our way to select Top 3 sports movies of all time. What’s yours?
Abe Friedtanzer
1. Remember the Titans (2000)
2. The Replacements (2000)
3. Pelé: Birth of a Legend (2016)
As someone who is the furthest thing from a sports fan, I only encounter sports coincidentally when they play a part in a popular film. I do remember two influential experiences from a young age, both in the same year. Remember the Titans was an engrossing, inspirational story of collaboration and the idea of teamwork, with strong performances from an ensemble cast that included established greats like Denzel Washington and future stars like Ryan Gosling and Hayden Panettiere. The Replacements was the opposite in every way, a comedy about people with even less of a desire to work together and with extremely different strategies. I’d like to think that, though it’s not anywhere near as heartwarming, it paved the way for an immensely popular sports-focused series that’s airing now, Ted Lasso, with its championing of the truly unprepared underdog somehow succeeding. And for my last choice, a more recent, less-known film, Pelé: Birth of a Legend, which captures the energy and spirit of a timeless and brilliant Brazilian footballer, particularly his novel approach to movement and scoring.
Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
1. I, Tonya (2017)
2. Bend It like Beckham (2003)
3. The Karate Kid (1984)
Whether it’s I, Tonya’s engaging and ambitious anti-hero, or Bend It Like Beckham’s young girls whose aspirations are thwarted by their families, or The Karate Kid’s inspirational mentor-apprentice relationship, these films convey the power of sports as a physical, mental and moral elevation.
Karen Bernadello
1. The Fighter (2010)
2. Warrior (2011)
3. Bring It On (2000)
The most memorable sports films feature conflicted protagonists who must overcome emotional adversity in order to become heroes. Such examples of this type of sports movies include the boxing biopic, The Fighter; the mixed martial arts drama, Warrior; and the teen cheerleading comedy, Bring It On. The Academy Award-winning The Fighter focuses on the lives of professional boxer, Micky Ward, and his older half-brother, Dicky Eklund, who, despite their conflicts, worked together to make sure the former succeed in the ring. The Oscar-nominated Warrior also follows two brothers, who, after being estranged, both enter into a mixed martial arts tournament, which makes them come to terms with their lives and each other. While Bring It On is different in some ways from The Fighter and Warrior, the satire still thrives, as new team captain, Torrance Shipman, contends with whether or not she should continue her squad’s tradition of stealing their rival’s routines.
Despite their dissimilarities, the protagonists in The Fighter, Warrior and Bring It On all relatable to overcome personal hardships in order to achieve their goals, which make the films the top entries in the sports genre of American cinema.
Karen Butler
1. Cinderella Man (2005)
2. Ice Castles (1978)
3. A League of Their Own (1992)
I’m not a sports person, but I do watch movies about athletes because of my job and, every once in a while, one of them steals my heart and lives on in my memory. Starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, Cinderella Man is a biopic about New Jersey boxer James J. Braddock, who returns to the ring after a career-hing injury, to support his family during the Great Depression. Ice Castles is a shameless weeper featuring Lynn-Holly Johnson as a teen ice-skating champ who is blinded in an accident and re-learns to skate with the help of her hockey player beau, played by Robby Benson. Starring Tom Hanks, Madonna and Geena Davis, A League of Their Own is based on the feel-good true story of how women kept professional baseball alive while the men were away fighting in World War II.
Matthew Schuchman
1. Rudy (1993)
2. Eight Men Out (1988)
3. The Cutting Edge (1992)
Yes, I know what everyone is thinking; Rudy really bent the truth. Doesn’t matter, as a film, it just does everything right. Eight Men Out is a forgotten masterpiece, too. John Sayels detailed retelling of the 1919 Chicago White Socks and the players that threw the world series for cash is a must see for those who missed it. And out if left field, The Cutting Edge is another classic that people forget, and the only figure skating movie till I, Tonya came out to be worth your time.
Nobuhiro Hosoki
- Olympia : Part One, Part Two (1938)
- Raging Bull (1981)
- Field of Dreams (1989)
“Field of dreams”, directed by Phil Alden Robinson, starring Kevin Costner, is baseball still America’s pastime? The answer lies in the field that spotlights the dreamers who pursue the American dreams, but also focused on those who had broken dreams. “Raging Bull” directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro. The Depiction of a defect in humanity, which is contrary to his presence on the ring, was remarkable. You would be blown away by the range of Robert De Niro’s perfomance throughout the film. The Film, “Olympia” directed by Leni Riefenstahl. It’s very artistic, how she captured the facial expressions of the players just before challenging the competition, the movement of the hands and legs that make full use of slow motion, the shots of the spectators seems to have very uplifting feeling…some people consider this as a propaganda film, but when we think about some of Marvel films and studio’s films right now, I felt like equally equivalent propaganda films that have changed shape and continue to be produced, unknowingly eroding the minds of audiences in the name of entertainment….art is art, regardless how you want to peg them.