Vulture's The 50 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time
Created by Fergenaprido.
Favorited 3 times, disliked 0 times, added to 3 watchlists.
By Tim Grierson and Will Leitch
This story was originally published in 2019 and has been updated to include recent releases.*
It is strange that sports movies are considered a genre since, all told, they really are just a setting. It’s like saying that “desert movies” are a genre, or “ocean movies” are. The best sports movies are independent of the sport they’re depicting, with universal stories that should appeal to anyone whether they love the sport or not. Though loving the sport does help.
This is to say: Our favorite sports movies tend to avoid the traditional “meet hero, see hero overcome adversity, see hero win big game” sports movie structure, or at least deconstruct it enough to justify themselves. The thing audiences love about sports and movies, the thing they have in common, is that they are unpredictable: You never know when you sit down to watch either what’s going to happen. But for some reason, many sports movies insist on being predictable, adhering to the formula.
Those are not the sort of sports movies you will find on our list of the 50 best sports movies of all time. The best sports surprise us: These great sports movies do the same.
*The only recent release they included was The Way Back; I don't know which film it knocked off the list from their original one.
Filter
-
1 new
Hoop Dreams
1994, in 15 top lists Check -
2 new
Raging Bull
1980, in 34 top lists Check -
3 new
Rocky
1976, in 20 top lists Check -
4 new
Bull Durham
1988, in 8 top lists Check -
5 new
Foxcatcher
2014, in 1 top list Check -
6 new
The Pride of the Yankees
1942, in 4 top lists Check -
7 new
The Wrestler
2008, in 3 top lists Check -
8 new
Ali
2001, in 0 top lists Check -
9 new
A League of Their Own
1992, in 5 top lists Check -
10 new
Slap Shot
1977, in 1 top list Check -
11 new
Million Dollar Baby
2004, in 12 top lists Check -
12 new
Breaking Away
1979, in 8 top lists Check -
13 new
Field of Dreams
1989, in 10 top lists Check -
14 new
When We Were Kings
1996, in 7 top lists Check -
15 new
Murderball
2005, in 0 top lists Check -
16 new
He Got Game
1998, in 0 top lists Check -
17 new
Chariots of Fire
1981, in 14 top lists Check -
18 new
Miracle
2004, in 0 top lists Check -
19 new
The Damned United
2009, in 1 top list Check -
20 new
Moneyball
2011, in 3 top lists Check -
21 new
Love & Basketball
2000, in 6 top lists Check -
22 new
Hoosiers
1986 — a.k.a. Best Shot, in 2 top lists Check -
23 new
Caddyshack
1980, in 5 top lists Check -
24 new
Tin Cup
1996, in 0 top lists Check -
25 new
Rush
2013, in 6 top lists Check -
26 new
Sugar
2008, in 0 top lists Check -
27 new
The Bad News Bears
1976, in 2 top lists Check -
28 new
Creed
2015, in 4 top lists Check -
29 new
The Color of Money
1986, in 3 top lists Check -
30 new
Happy Gilmore
1996, in 0 top lists Check -
31 new
The Fighter
2010, in 2 top lists Check -
32 new
Eight Men Out
1988, in 3 top lists Check -
33 new
The Karate Kid
1984, in 3 top lists Check -
34 new
Bend It Like Beckham
2002, in 2 top lists Check -
35 new
Rudy
1993, in 2 top lists Check -
36 new
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
2006, in 1 top list Check -
37 new
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
2004, in 3 top lists Check -
38 new
Major League
1989, in 0 top lists Check -
39 new
White Men Can't Jump
1992, in 2 top lists Check -
40 new
The Boxer
1997, in 0 top lists Check -
41 new
The Longest Yard
1974, in 2 top lists Check -
42 new
I, Tonya
2017, in 1 top list -
43 new
Senna
2010, in 4 top lists Check -
44 new
Goon
2011, in 1 top list Check -
45 new
Bang the Drum Slowly
1973, in 0 top lists Check -
46 new
Personal Best
1982, in 0 top lists Check -
47 new
Without Limits
1998, in 0 top lists Check -
48 new
The Way Back
2020, in 0 top lists -
49 new
The Natural
1984, in 3 top lists Check -
50 new
Seabiscuit
2003, in 3 top lists Check
Last updated on Aug 31, 2020; source