Posted on 02/18/2009 9:50:28 AM PST by TheConservativeComeback
If you have been reading this blog since its inception one month ago, you know that we like to mix in a lot of sports and movie posts. Today we combine those with our top 5 sports movies of all time.
A couple of rules you should be aware of with our selection process. First, if your favorite sports movie was made in the 40s or 50s...it is not on this list. I'm going to speak the truth right now and say what a lot of people won't say, Pauly Shore would've been a 5 time Oscar winner in the 40s. For the most part the acting was terrible.
Second, being that this list is so short we decided that sports comedies would be put under a different category. So while Slapshot, Major League, and Caddyshack are some of the great movies ever made, they fall under a different list.
(Excerpt) Read more at theconservativecomeback.blogspot.com ...
sw
schu
We Are Marshall deserves to be mentioned.
My. Aren’t you full of yourself. I find Redford’s movie to be dull as dishwater. It was the 2nd longest film I avae had to sit through, beaten by “Once Upon a Time in America”. And humor, be it juvenile or “sophisticated”, keeps one young at heart.
It’s been about ten years since I read it, but I think it goes something like this: Roy takes the gamblers’ money to strike out and throw the game to the other team. Then when he’s at bat he changes his mind and decides to swing for the fences, hoping to win the game honorably. But he strikes out anyway. Soon it comes to light that he took the gamblers’ money, and although he had resolved in his mind to do the honorable thing, he is cast under a cloud of shame.
That’s about how it ends. Too depressing for Hollywood, I guess, but compellingly written and a darn sight more original than the hackneyed old game-winning homerun. Also truer to the game of baseball, where, in any given at-bat, even the best player is statistically more likely to fail than to succeed.
Rocky
The Natural
Breaking Away
Raging Bull
Cinderella Man
Slapshot
Remember the Titans
Brians Song
Field of Dreams
North Dallas Forty
Semi Tough
Tin Cup
Caddyshack
The Longest Yard
Invinceble
Miracle
Wow, I never heard that. I dont think Hollywood would ever make that ending.
1. Chariots of Fire - Great story about a time when sports was about more than just winning.
2. Hoosiers - In all honesty, this should be a lousy movie, but for some reason it is just the opposite. If it wasn’t for the contrived romance between the teacher and coach it would just about be perfect.
3. Running Brave - Story of Billy Mills, American Indian that won gold medal in Tokyo. A balanced movie that does a good job of showing that Mill’s problems came as much from his own doing has they came from racism.
4. Rocky - works because it really isn’t about sports. It’s about two losers that find a way to not be losers.
5. The Running Man / Rollerball (original) - I’ve lumped these two together because they have similar themes (sports star brings down establishment.) The violence in these movies was meant to be over the top. Who would imagine that 20/30 years after they were made that from that as far as sports violence/outrageousness they look less like parody and more like prophecy.
Nope, probably not. But I guess it was only a few bookworms who felt totally betrayed when they saw the movie. ;-)
Any body here like A League of Their Own? ( Theres NO crying in BASEBALL !)As it happens, I love the film. Not quite enough to rate it ahead of the ones I listed, but it's a terrific film on its own terms, it treats the audience respectfully enough while drawing its somewhat exaggerated composite of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (why they felt the need to fictionalise the Wrigleys, the Chicago Cubs owners who were heavily involved in financing the league, escapes me, though), and anyone who thinks there's no crying in baseball wasn't paying attention to the single tear crawling down the cheek of Wade Boggs as the 1986 World Series ended. ;)
Aside from which, the closing credits featured the single best song of Madonna's career . . .
LOL
Happy Gilmore: [to Chubbs about Shooter] Hey, if I saw myself in clothes like that, I’d have to kick my own ass.
Given that tremendous handicap, I think it delivered amazingly well. Kurt Russell was absolutely flawless as Herb Brooks, the players were great, and the movie managed to provide a real sense of what we all felt back then. The scene with the gassers, where the players are skating back and forth until Eruzione finally recognizes who they really play for, was just outstanding.
Wow, I never heard that. I dont think Hollywood would ever make that ending.You mean, Robert Redford wouldn't ever make that ending. (And he's the one who went on to completely bowdlerise the story of the 1950s quiz show scandals.) But another filmmaker might. Given that, The Natural on film still holds up well enough, even with a) Darren McGavin (who worked without taking a screen credit) damn near stealing the show as the shady gambler; and, b) Robert Duvall overacting slightly as the equally sleazy sportswriter/cartoonist.
I couldn’t agree more with your thoughts on Hoosiers when it comes to the relationship between the coach and teacher. Most awkward kissing scene ever
thank you. I recall the language was a little foul, but the movie was great.
What about Broke Back Mountin? I heard that was some kind of gay sporting going on. Those cowboy sheepherders were really quite the sportsfags.
“Fear Strikes Out”
F1 Spa-Francorchamps 1966 - Grand Prix (The Movie) <---See the race start
F1 Monza (oval) 1966 Grand Prix (The Movie)
.
‘Slap Shot’ was a comedy? ;~)
Alot of the stuff that happened in that movie happened in some of the bar leagues I used to play in.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.