Friday, August 04, 2006

Best sports movies?

Best sports movies? The Richmond Times-Dispatch devoted much space to that question -- "Hoosiers" was their No. 1 -- in today’s sports section with The Best Sports Movies.

Writing for Richmond.com in 2000, I tackled the same topic with my Five Favorites: In spite of how many bad movies there are about sports, there are a few good ones. For today, I'll stand by my list then (which is shown below). Of course, tomorrow is another day, and the list could always change with a passing mood-swing. For this list I’m doing only team sports -- no boxing, no race cars, etc.

Bang the Drum Slowly” (1973); Directed by John Hancock; Cast: Michael Moriarty, Robert De Niro, Vincent Gardenia
Bull Durham” (1988); Directed by Ron Shelton; Cast: Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins
Hoosiers” (1986); Directed by David Anspaugh; Cast: Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey
The Longest Yard” (1974); Directed by Robert Aldrich; Cast: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert
Rollerball” (1975); Directed by Norman Jewison; Cast: James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams
Note: This post was updated on 8/6/06 at 3: 45 p.m., to include the list

6 comments:

Spank That Donkey said...

no mention of Slap shot? The Longest Yard? The Bad News Bears? What's wrong with these people?

F.T. Rea said...

spankthatdonkey,

Click on the links to the T-D's story and mine, and you'll see two of the three you mentioned listed.

Anonymous said...

I agree with K about Bull Durham -- a fabulous movie.

But nowhere a mention of Love and Basketball? Clearly a major oversight.

And, if you think cheerleading is a sport (since we now award school letters for it, I think it qualifies) there's Bring It On.

Anonymous said...

"For Love of the Game" makes me cry. I'll continue to be anonymous because of this.

Reel Fanatic said...

Great list .. if I may make one suggested addition, I highly recommend "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," an entertaining about the late Hammering Hank made by his daughter

Anonymous said...

3 Words:

Days of Thunder.

'nuf said.