Tag: Entertainment

• Release date: January 20, 2006
• Director: Kenny Ortega
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 67%

Your first thought may be to roll your eyes. High School Musical? On a list of the greatest sports films of all-time where there are plenty of other classics that can take their spot. That argument is a valid one, but if you are old enough to remember this era, then you know that the High School Musical series had the game on lock for a serious couple of years. The franchise ultimately ended up getting a theatrical release, but it was the first installment that was more centered on sports. High School Musical was everywhere, and you couldn’t escape it. Not all of the movies on this list are appropriate for children/tweens/teenagers, so when it comes to that category, you absolutely have to mention High School Musical.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “This is interesting because High School Musical has got its legions of fans. I want to keep this in the list because it does something very different as you don’t usually get singing and dancing in sports movies. In a weird way, High School Musical shows off the athleticism of the cast in a way that most sports films would. The basketball in itself is sort of central to the plot—there’s a lot of stuff going on in High School Musical. It belongs just because it’s such a different way of looking at things, but not a top 25 film.”

• Release date: July 3, 2002
• Director: John Schultz
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 57%

Again this is a matter of personal preference. If you don’t believe ‘kiddie’ movies belong on an all-time list, then you will disagree with this selection (although this wasn’t a super kiddie film as it focused on more serious topics at different points in the movie.) In our opinion, Like Mike was for the culture. The film featured Bow Wow (then known as Lil Bow Wow), who at the time was one of the biggest young stars in the world, and Morris Chestnut, along with cameo appearances from Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and more.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I love this movie, but I can’t put Like Mike in the top 20—even though it’s a tribute to the legacy Michael Jeffrey Jordan. It feels like more of a kids movie as much as it is a sports movie—which is fine because kids need it, and I love that they are learning about MJ through the film.”

• Release date: April 7, 1989
• Director: David S. Ward
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 83%

Major League is a 1989 sports comedy that starred Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, and Tom Berenger. The film is based on a sultry Vegas showgirl named Rachel Phelps (portrayed by Margaret Whitton) who inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband. Phelps desires to move the team to party city Miami, but in order to get out of Cleveland, the squad has to have a terrible season. Major League was a huge box office success, and can now be watched on multiple streaming services.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “What I love about Major League is that it has a lot of comedy in it. Sometimes when people think about all time sports movies they think about the Raging Bulls and Rocky movies of the world, but those aren’t necessarily funny. When you can combine sports and comedy and still keep the mystique of the film with this team coming together to do something everybody thought they couldn’t do—even ownership—it definitely belongs in the Top 25. It was a hit when it came out in 1989, and it needs to be on any list of the best sports films.”

• Release date: June 18, 2004
• Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 71%

2004 was a great year for film releases, and one of the best was Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller as two members of a group of troublemakers determined to save their local gym from being taken over by a corporate health fitness chain, the movie was a box office success grossing over $114 million domestically, and nearly $170 million worldwide. 

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Dodgeball feels like a spiritual younger sibling of Major League because it’s got a lot of that same vibe where it’s just a bunch of average joes that are trying to go against this huge corporation. What Dodgeball did really well was take a sport that we all played in gym class and gave it a unique take. The key to any great sports film is to have a killer duo of announcers. The reason why it belongs in the top 35 is because Gary Cole and Jason Bateman as the announcers were so funny. They are the reason why it belongs here.

• Release date: November 6, 1979
• Director: Gilbert Moses
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 70%

Speaking of films from the 1970s (though was technically the end of the decade), The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh is a classic. This movie doesn’t get nearly enough appreciation in our eyes, as it set the tone for future basketball films in terms of its storytelling. Starring Julius ‘Dr. J’ Erving as basketball standout Moses Guthrie, the movie highlights the story of the atrocious Pittsburgh Pythons basketball squad. In desperate need of a miracle, the waterboy (played by James Bond III) comes up with an idea to form a team consisting only of players whose Zodiac sign is Pisces. Does it work? Well you’ll have to catch the movie to find out.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh is pretty special because how often do you get to see Dr. J in a lead role, but I don’t know if it holds up as well as some of the other sports movies. We need to keep it on the list for historical purposes, but it’s definitely lower.”

• Release date: July 7, 1993
• Director: Daniel Stern
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 41%

Rookie of the Year is one of those weird films that received an almost overwhelming amount of negative reviews from critics who panned the movie, but was still a huge box office success. Starring Gary Busey and Thomas Ian Nicholas, two players for the Chicago Cubs, Rookie of the Year, the movie was an entertaining tale with cameos from Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Pedro Guerrero. Like it or not, the movie remains a baseball cult classic.

Mark Ellis’ Take: ” I don’t think this a top 20 sports film of all time, but there is a magic to it. It’s not just Thomas Ian Nicholas’ role even though he’s just the perfect adorable kid—it’s also that you had this Cubs franchise that had been terrible forever, and now here comes this kid with this weird arm surgery that healed in a way that allowed him to crush fastballs. Daniel Stern steals this movie for me.”

• Release date: November 15, 1996
• Director: Joe Pytka
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 43%

While Space Jam isn’t considered the best basketball movie ever, in terms of cultural impact it has a case for being the prominent hoops movie of all-time as even non-basketball fans are familiar with the film. Space Jam starred Michael Jordan as he teamed up with the Looney Tunes to fight the infamous Monstars.

Mark Ellis’ Take: Fun fact about me—I still rewatch The Last Dance all of the time. Space Jam was also fun because Jordan was making his return to basketball at that time, and then it was like oh by the way he’s gotta go save the world with The Looney Tunes. As far as it being on the greatest sports films of all time—it belongs, but I can’t put it in the top 10 or 20. You have MJ, Larry, Bill and Wayne Knight playing golf—I can watch that movie all day.”

• Release date: July 25, 1980
• Director: Harold Ramis
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 72%

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Caddyshack belongs on any sports films list. I don’t think all of the humor holds up particularly well after forty years, but enough of it does—particularly with Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray. Really all four of the stars of Caddyshack are the forces behind this movie, and they still make me laugh way too hard.”

• Release date: January 18, 2003
• Director: Gurinder Chadha
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 85%

Anybody who questions Bend It Like Beckham just wasn’t there to experience it. Simple. To understand the power of this movie, you have to revisit the landscape of popular culture in 2002. David Beckham was at the peak of his global popularity, which was enhanced by his relationship with Spice Girls superstar Victoria Beckham. The two were a ‘power couple,’ and their impact both together and individually was something that may not be seen again for a very long time. Titling the film Bend It Like Beckham was already enough to get seats filled and theaters, but then when you add in the fact that Beckham himself was actually in the movie-this was sure to be success.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Bend It Like Beckham was a plane movie for men—I was on a plane the first time I ever watched. I’d heard a lot about it—it was getting a lot of buzz. You obviously have a budding star in Keira Knightley, and the most famous soccer player on the planet at the time was David Beckham. I actually think Bend It Like Beckham belongs on this list. Part of it is because soccer isn’t the first sport we first think of, at least in the states, when it comes to the basis of a great sports movie. We’re usually more of a baseball/basketball/boxing culture in that regard, but soccer is a worldwide game, and this has a lot of international elements to it. Regardless of your background or where you come from, you can get something out of Bend It Like Beckham.

It’s a unique sports movie, I like how we get to focus not just on dudes trying to make it to the pros, but also on young ladies who are making their way in the world of sports.”

• Release date: November 20, 2009
• Director: John Lee Hancock
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 66%

The Blindside tells the story of Michael Omer, a young boy dealing with the effects of homelessness and trauma that goes on to become an All-American football player and first-round NFL draft pick with the help of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), and her husband (Tim McGraw). Now it’s important to note that in the years since, the movie has sparked controversy due to its negative racial stereotypes, but at the time of its release, The Blindside was considered a commercial success, with Bullock ultimately winning an Oscar for ‘Best Actress.’

Mark Ellis’ Take: “A movie that has a recent agenda to it with the unfortunate pending lawsuits back and forth between the family and Michael Oher. When you put all of that stuff aside and just focus on the movie itself—let’s just be honest—a lot of these movies that are “sports bio pics” take a lot of liberties with the source material. When you look at the material as is, it’s a wonderful sports movie, and one of the rare football movies people would hold up and say it’s one of the best sports movies of all time. You don’t hear it as much with football films as you do with some of the others. Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for it, and there aren’t a lot of sports movies that can get somebody the gold like that.

I feel for all the college football coach cameos alone that The Blind Side deserves to be on this list. It’s Nick Saban’s best performance! It’s the best he’s ever been on camera!”

• Release date: December 25, 2001
• Director: Michael Mann
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 68%

For some reason Ali gets largely ignored when it comes to the topic of sports movies because it did horrible at the box office. Starring Will Smith as Ali, the film covers the renowned boxer’s many different successes and controversies as he aimed to secure his spot as one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports. Even though the film bombed commercially, the acting was praised with Smith and co-star Jon Voight receiving Academy Award nominations.

There are a few reasons why many believe Ali didn’t do well in terms of overall success. Some feel Ali’s character development could have been better, and it also could have been that the movie’s subjects were too ‘heavy’ for the time period. 2001 was the height of the ‘bubblegum’ era where feel good movies like The Wedding Planner were dominating the box office. So that also could have played a part in the movie’s lack of success.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Ali is an interesting case study. I remember there being a lot of anticipation for it because it was going to be a very different Will Smith than we’d ever seen up to that point. This was Will Smith it felt like gunning for an Oscar. Lost in the wash is a well-done telling of Muhammad Ali, who when you talk about all-time great 20th century sports figures—he’s at the top of list with Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan. Those are the top three. The performance of Will Smith—to make us forget he’s super famous Will Smith doing a very capable job of playing Muhammad Ali who we all know and has been omnipresent in our lives since we were born—that alone is enough to make me say yeah. There’s a lot of great performances in that movie. Michael Mann got the best out of everybody.”

ONE37pm: In your opinion, why do you think Ali was so poorly received at the time of its release?

Mark Ellis: “I think it came out at a time of the year where you had a lot of Oscar movies being released that were getting that awards push. It just felt like you were going to see this film around Christmas, and then it gets lost in the wash of all the other new movies coming out the following year because it had a run in January, and I don’t think the folks were ready to see that version of Will Smith on the big screen.”

• Release date: January 19, 2018
• Director: Craig Gillespie
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I, Tonya is a movie that a lot of people don’t think is a sports film, but it is. There’s so much to this film, and the fact that Margot Robbie could pull off Tonya Harding that well—it was mind blowing watching this movie because you are literally watching somebody at the peak of their acting game.”

• Release date: May 16, 1950
• Director: Alfred E. Green
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 63%

The Jackie Robinson Story is a biographical movie chronicling the life and times of hall of famer Jackie Robinson. The film focuses on Robinson’s trajectory and struggles with poverty, racism, and many other issues as he eventually becomes the first African-American MLB player. The Jackie Robinson Story is widely regarded as one of the best sports films to ever be made, and can be re-watched on various streaming platforms.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I love that this film is on the list because obviously it’s one of the great stories, not just in sports, but one of the great stories of the 20th century. This film is obviously going to be the oldest on this list, but there’s a reason why you keep it around. The movie is great, and I also encourage everybody to go back and look back at the movie poster. It’s one of the greatest movie posters I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s got that classic old school movie poster feel, but it feels like you’re going to see a big time event.”

• Release date: May 11, 1984
• Director: Barry Levinson
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 83%

The Natural is a 1984 sports film based on the 1952 novel of the same name. Starring Robert Redford, the film focuses on the journey of rising baseball extraordinaire Roy Hobbs who unfortunately is shot on the way to a tryout with the Chicago Cubs. Sixteen years after the incident, Hobbs decides he wants to make a return to professional baseball. The Natural was nominated for four Academy Awards, and you can now catch the classic on a variety of streaming platforms.

Mark Ellis’ Rating: “When you talk to people on the street, many are going to name The Natural as their favorite sports movie. It’s just got this amazing ending to this incredible comeback story, and it’s beautifully shot with the ball sailing off the bat. Then you’ve got the lights crashing down as Robert Redford is going around the bases—it’s great! The music is swelling, and Wilford Brimley is the main reason to watch this movie again for me. He’s so good as the crusty baseball manager that’s got a bit of heart to him. It’s a great movie, but doesn’t necessarily belong in my top 10.”

• Release date: February 6, 2004
• Director: Gavin O’Connor
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 81%

Who could ever forget Miracle? Starring Kurt Russell as college coach Herb Brooks, Miracle tells the story of a young attitude-ridden hockey team, who is tasked with adjusting to their equally brash and ‘shoot from the hip’ coach. Together they try to put their differences aside as they look to defeat the nearly unbeatable Soviet team. This is a nice Saturday afternoon film that you can catch as you’re relaxing, so definitely try it out at some point. 

Mark Ellis’ Take: “This is the perfect spot for Miracle. It’s a great true story, Kurt Russell is transformative as Herb Brooks, it makes you want to skate through a brick wall, and it’s the story we all grew up hearing about. The 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey Team—it feels like a movie. It feels like you’re pinching itself asking if it’s real. You’ve got to have Miracle on here. It’s arguably the best true story of the Olympics in the 20th century, and it belongs on any list.”

• Release date: October 13, 1993
• Director: David Anspaugh
• Rotten Tomatoes: 77%

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Rudy is a fresh film, 77% on the Tomatoe meter, and it’s one of those movies where you say it’s name, and most people are going to remember it. You think of Sean Astin in the tunnel running, and he’s this kid that wants to be on the team. He doesn’t have a spec of athleticism, but he’s determined. When we talk about sports movies taking liberties—Rudy is the prime example. It’s the furthest thing from the documentary, but when you watch the film it feels real. Plus, the Jerry Goldsmith score is iconic. For the score alone Rudy needs to be on the list, and also for the inspiration is still gives us.

• Release date: November 21, 2018
• Director: Steven Caple Jr.
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 83%

When talking about the Creed series, it’s hard to decide which one is better. The original from 2015, or it’s sequel. Some believe nothing tops the first, while others prefer the second movie. Whatever the case may be, Creed II was an excellent film that saw Michael B. Jordan reprising his role as Adonis Creed as he faces off against Viktor Drago (Florian Munteau), the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). 

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Creed II did something extraordinary to me. Steven Caple Jr. at the helm, taking the reigns from Ryan Coogler’s Creed, did something that on paper feels like there’s no way to pull this off without becoming a parody of itself because Rocky IV is the film that set the lore for the Drago’s and the Creed’s where Ivan Drago kills Apollo Creed in the ring. So how do you update that mythology and make it feel as real as the first Creed did? How do you bring back Ivan Drago’s son without it feeling ridiculous? Steven Caple Jr. managed to make it feel like not that this was actually happening, but that it was vital and emotional.

Creed II was special and about the Rocky/Drago dynamic, Adonis Creed and his family welcoming a new bundle of joy and the hurdles that come with that, and settling in the ring where it’s the sons trying to make up for the sins in one case, the losses in another case, and avenging their father’s in very different ways. That scene where Rocky comes back to the restaurant and confronts Ivan Drago—I still get chills thinking about it.”

• Release date: April 12, 2013
• Director: Brian Helgeland
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 81%

A poignant film starring the late great Chadwick Boseman, 42 tells the story of Jackie Robinson through his journey of becoming the first African-American MLB player. The movie received positive reviews from critics grossing $97 million, establishing as one of Hollywood’s elite rising actors.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I think this movie was an arrival for Chadwick Boseman, and it also showed us that Harrison Ford can still do a powerhouse performance. Of course you had The Jackie Robinson Story from the 1950s, and every kid is familiar with who Jackie Robinson is, but I think you need an update for each generation. 42 brought it into our day and age with such a wonderful look back. Even though the story itself took place such a long time ago, you are going to be inspired watching it. I think 42 is also going to stand the test of time too because it’s a timeless story and was really well executed.”

• Release date: December 19, 1980
• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%

Raging Bull revisits the life of Jake LaMotta as he aims to earn his first shot at the middleweight crown, and in the process falls in love with a young attractive woman from the Bronx. The film covers various aspects of the boxer’s life, and was directed by the legend Martin Scorsese.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “It’s interesting because Raging Bull isn’t personally one of my favorites because I think I wanted more out of it. It’s not feel good or uplifting, but the film itself and the performance of Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese at the peak of his powers—I think it belongs in the top 20.”

• Release date: April 16, 2000
• Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 85%

Starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, Love and Basketball is a fan favorite that still remains culturally relevant two decades after its original release. The film combines basketball with romance, and explores how sports can actually play a role in the demise of a relationship. Love and Basketball airs pretty regularly on television, but the movie is available on a number of streaming platforms as well.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I think Love and Basketball is a top 20 sports film. It deals with the athletics, but it also shows you something about where somebody is in life, and in particular in Love and Basketball how sports can be such a uniting force. Sports can also be the reason why a romance or a friendship self destructs. Love and Basketball really takes you the highs and lows of sports and life. The best sports movies are the ones that make you feel something and teaches you something about life outside of the realm of sports.”

• Release date: January 13, 2005
• Director: Thomas Carter
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 64%

Starring Samuel L. Jackson as Coach Carter, this movie is widely regarded as being among the greatest basketball movies ever produced. The film focuses on Carter returning to his old high-school as the new head coach of the basketball team. The team almost instantly improves under his tutelage, but when the athletes’ grades begin to suffer due to not spending enough time on their studies, Carter shuts down their championship season, which in turn causes controversy. Coach Carter received high praise from critics, earning Jackson the ‘NAACP Image Award for Best Actor.’ The film grossed $76 million worldwide.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I’m a comedian, and when I was first in LA, I actually did a crowd warmups for the stadium scenes! I didn’t really know what is for or what the story was about. It’s not a top 10, but it’s still not your typical basketball or sports movie where you think it’s going to be this team coming together to win and everybody walks away happy. Nope! Coach Carter says they have to get their grades right, and you don’t always hear a lot of that in sports movies. It’s based on a true story and it’s Samuel L. Jackson in a performance that doesn’t get recognized as one of the best in sports movie history but should be. For some reason, Coach Carter didn’t really hit with the critics the way I thought it should have.”

• Release date: November 14, 1986
• Director: David Anspaugh
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 91%

When you blend multiple hotheads with slick mouths together, there is sure to be tension. Hoosiers is a 1986 sports drama that tells the story of a failed college coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) looking for a second chance at coaching. Along the way, Dale teams up with assistant coach Shooter (Dennis Hopper), and the two struggle with leaving their negative qualities behind while coaching the team. Eventually they are able to put their differences to the side as they look to lead their team to a state championship.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I don’t have Hoosiers as high up as some other people, but it does have the classic sports movie formula. When you talk about the Denzel’s and Meryl Streep’s of the world, Gene Hackman is another actor who every time he’s in a movie you have to think he could get nominated for this. When you go to Indiana it’s a place that’s all about basketball. Every house you drive by has some kind of hoop somewhere, and it’s the Indiana state movie for a reason. To me, and it could be something as trivial as it took place so long ago that there’s no three point line, but Hoosiers never really did it for me as much as what it did for other people.”

• Release date: December 17, 2008
• Director: Darren Aronofsky
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 98%

A 2008 sports drama film starring Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler is a film about a 40-something wrestler (Robin Ramzinski) looking to recapture the success of his early career, while struggling to come to terms with aging and waning relevance. As the film progresses, Ramzinski suffers a heart attack and relationship issues with his estranged daughter, but somehow manages to find love along the way, while never losing his passion for wrestling.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “You gotta have a wrestling movie! Even with the hype of The Iron Claw this year, wrestling is do dramatic and well written in real life that it already feels like you’re watching a movie in real time. Then you see what these guys actually go through and put their bodies through. You see what professional wrestlers of Randy “Ram’s” era did just to get by. It’s heartbreaking and Mickey Rourke is just such a force in the film—Marisa Tomei as well.”

• Release date: March 29, 2002
• Director: John Lee Hancock
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 84%

The Rookie is recognized as being one of the greatest sports films in history. Starring Dennis Quaid, the movie was based on a real life story about a high school baseball coach (Jim Morris) finally getting his first professional playing opportunity at the age of 35. A skilled pitcher with a lifelong talent for baseball, Morris proves all of his doubters wrong proving that age is indeed nothing but a number.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “This movie was a huge hit and captured the movie going nation. It’s 84% on the Tomatos meter, and the critics and fans love it. It was the perfect casting for Dennis Quaid at that point in his career as Jimmy Morris, and it was based on a true story. I remembered hearing about on Sportscenter, and didn’t do much investigating. What I like about The Rookie is that it has those sports movie moments like where he’s on the highway throwing the balls to see if he still has it. It’s a beautiful story of a guy trying to keep his family together, trying to keep his dreams alive, and sacrificing a little to get a little in return. It’s a top 20 sports movie.”

• Release date: June 15, 1988
• Director: Ron Shelton
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%

A romantic sports comedy released in 1988, Bull Durham is based on the minor league baseball experiences of writer and director Ron Shelton. The film stars Kevin Costner as a veteran catcher tasked with teaching rookie pitcher Ebby LaLoosh everything about the game on a pro-sports level to prepare him for the major leagues. You can catch Bull Durham on many different streaming services.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Bull Durham is one of those films that some people have as the best sports movie of all time, which I understand because it’s about relationships and finding love, and it’s like—is that on the baseball diamond, is that in your personal life, etc.? The film is also about coming together as a team, it’s all got all of the elements we love in sports movies. It’s never been top 10 for me, but I understand why it’s so beloved. And if you have Kevin Costner in a baseball movie—it’s probably going to be pretty good.”

• Release date: April 7, 1976
• Director: Michael Ritchie
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%

Movies from the mid-70s are always a ton of fun to watch, and The Bad News Bears captures the essence of simpler carefree time. Starring actors Walter Matthau and Tatum O’Neal. The movie focuses on a youth team called The Bears, who in short are one of the worst youth squads in the entire little league. With the help of some recruiting, the team is able to slowly turn their season around. We won’t ruin it, so you’ll have to watch the movie to see how the Bears’ season ends up turning out.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Gotta have The Bad News Bears! You talk about the underdog sports teams—The Bad News Bears is the start of that. It’s from way back with Walter Matthau just trying to get by with this team, and it’s still funny and touches the heartstrings a little bit—but never too much. It’s there to have a great time, and “Bad News Bears” is one of those terms where even if people don’t know where it came from, it’s just something that’s become a part of society now.”

• Release date: April 7, 1993
• Director: David Mickey Evans
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65%

Next up we have The Sandlot. The GOAT baseball movie. Released in the summer of 1993, the film tells the story of a group of young baseball players during their 1962 summer campaign. When it comes to baseball cult-classics, nothing tops The Sandlot in terms of longevity, cultural relevance, and legendary status. 

Mark Ellis’ Take: “The Sandlot is the perfect kids sports movie when you talk about the feeling of summertime and just trying to stay out of trouble while still getting into a little trouble too. Everything about this movie works. You have this new kid who’s just trying to learn how to play baseball and keep up, and there’s a little bit of a class war there with the Sandlot kids versus the rich kids who have their own uniforms and things like that. There’s also the puppy love when you fall in love with the lifeguard at the pool, there’s this scary lurking figure present, and when I rewatch this movie I find myself attracted to so many different storylines. You follow everybody, but at the end of the day it’s just a wonderful movie to put on. It makes you feel like a kid again. This is another one where I don’t understand what critics were thinking because it’s 65% on the Tomato meter, and that needs to be up to the 90s!”

• Release date: September 23, 2000
• Director: Boaz Yoakin
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 72%

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Remember the Titans is 72% on the Tomato meter. Denzel Washington is always going to be great, but the way he leads this group of young men at a time where there’s so much racial turmoil—and this is based on a true story—the scene in particular that makes this such a great sports movie for me is when they’re at training camp and he (Washington) wakes everybody up at like three in the morning when the sun isn’t even up. He tells them they’re going for a run, and they go for a run in the woods for what feels like forever. They finally arrive at Gettysburg—the bloodiest battle in The Civil War, and he gives them the most motivational speech about coming together. It gives me chills and makes me want to go run through the woods.”

ONE37pm: And Denzel didn’t get nominated for an Oscar either.

Mark Ellis: No he didn’t, and the only thing I can think of is that is must have been a competitive year. Anytime that dude is on screen he’s going to be competing for an Oscar. He’s on that level.

• Release date: September 19, 2011
• Director: Bennett Miller
• Rotten Tomatoes meter: 94%

When it comes to modern-day sports movies, Moneyball absolutely has to make any all-time list. Not only is it a wonderful film based on the novel of the same title, but it is one of Brad Pitt’s best acting performances (one that he received an Academy Award nomination for). The film chronicles the Oakland Athletics, as general manager Billy Beane tries to build the team to compete with larger market teams such as the New York Yankees. Moneyball also stars Jonah Hill, and grossed over $75 million at the box office.

Mark Ellis’ Twitter: “Moneyball is such a unique film where it gets really into the numbers, and it’s really about the God of analytics with baseball and trying to figure out a way around the money that’s being spent by the richest teams. Plus I still love the speech Pitt gives where he says: “There’s good teams, there’s bad teams, there’s piece of crap teams, and then there’s us.” Clearly you have the stage set with this being an underdog story, but it’s also so recent that it actually happened. The only issue I have with the movie was that it sort of skirts around the fact that the A’s had an elite pitching staff, and that’s why they were able to go on that 21/22 win streak. Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt are perfect together, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe is real good, and the second baseman on that A’s team is named Mark Ellis!”

• Release date: May 1, 1998
• Director: Spike Lee
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 80%

Is there a movie character more iconic than Jesus Shuttlesworth? No is the only acceptable answer to this question. Sure Ray Allen is an NBA champion and Hall of Famer. Sure he made one of the greatest shots in NBA history when he single-handedly saved the Miami Heat’s championship chances by draining a game-tying 3 in the final seconds of an overtime Final’s elimination game against the San Antonio Spurs. That, however, takes a backseat to his role as Jesus Shuttlesworth in this 1998 basketball movie classic that also starred Denzel Washington (you may have heard of him). We won’t spoil the film because we want you to see it if you haven’t already, but just know, it’s worth the time.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “He Got Game is a top 5 or top 10 sports film for sure. There’s nothing really bad to say about this movie because you just wondered if Ray Allen could keep up with Denzel Washington and he does! And this is Ray Allen fresh out of Villanova—we barely knew who he was, and all of a sudden he’s this hot shot NBA prospect, but also delivering a great performance in this movie. Spike Lee’s direction and this story where you’re one thing on the court, another thing off, and you can’t trust your own father—with so many of these sports movies you rely on the parents. You look at Michael Jordan’s real story and how crucial his relationship was with his father to his success, and Jesus Shuttlesworth can’t tap into that. So now you’re replacing that by putting your trust in somebody that you can’t trust 100%.

There’s a lot to this movie. I’m kicking it out of the top 5 because I am a San Antonio Spurs fan though!”

• Release date: April 21, 1989
• Director: Phil Alden Robinson
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 88%

Field of Dreams is a 1989 sports fantasy drama released to positive reviews from fans and critics. The film stars Kevin Costner, and focuses on an Iowa farmer named Ray. One random evening Ray hears a voice in his head telling him to build a baseball diamond on his land, and shortly afterwards, the ghosts of baseball greats begin to appear on his property. Field of Dreams was a box office success grossing over $87 million.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Field of Dreams is a top 10 sports film in my opinion. There’s a mysticism to it that you don’t necessarily get with all sports films. It’s such a weird premise but it works. You’ve got this guy in a cornfield who starts hearing voices, ruins his crops to create a baseball field, and then ghosts start showing up. For whatever reason, the movie just works. This would be a much harder movie to pitch than it would be watch. If you’re pitching this movie they might laugh you out of the boardroom! The proof is in the pudding, they made it work, and it’s one of my all-time favorites.”

• Release date: November 25, 2015
• Director: Ryan Coogler
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 95%

As mentioned earlier, there is often the debate over which Creed is the best film so far in the series (Creed III is expected to be released November 2022), many people prefer the former over the latter. There’s no right or wrong answer on this one, but the original will always hold a special place in our hearts. Directed by Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan made his debut in the series Adonis Creed, capturing the attention of fans worldwide. Creed grossed $173 million worldwide, surpassing its original expectations.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “This right here is going to be a top 10 movie for me. 95% on the Tomato meter says it all. Just the fact that you had five Rocky movies and by then it seemed like the franchise had finally run it’s course. Then fifteen years later they come back with Rocky Balboa and we finally get an ending. Now they come back again with Apollo Creed having had a kid. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan had worked together on Fruitvale Station, and you knew they were going to work together again on something special. What Creed does to earn its spot in the top 10 is the fact that it built on Rocky, but didn’t rely on Rocky to be the only part of the story that we cared about. That’s what’s amazing about Creed. It has the old but it gives you the new, and when you left the theater you cared about both of them.”

• Release date: October 14, 1994
• Director: Steve James
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: October 14, 1994

While this is technically a documentary, Hoop Dreams still ranks as potentially one of the best basketball documentaries ever. The doc follows two Chicago youth prospects, Arthur Agee and William Gates, as they relentlessly try to follow their dreams of becoming NBA superstars. Hoop Dreams was filmed over the course of five years giving a detailed look at the challenges that high school hoopers face when aiming for a professional career.The movie was nominated for an Academy Award, making it the second documentary to receive that nomination. Hoop Dreams was also added to the Library of Congress in 2005 for its cultural relevance.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Hoop Dreams is on any top 10 list that I do whether it’s documentaries or sports movies. It’s a film that is inspiring and heartbreaking, and it was a pioneer in terms of the way documentaries were shot. We’re in such a documentary lane culture now that when you look back at what really stood out back then it would be When We Were Kings and Hoop Dreams. If you want to talk about Oscar snubs, Hoop Dreams was nominated for best documentary the year it came out, and I challenge anybody to name a documentary that did come out in 1994 that’s better than Hoop Dreams.”

• Release date: July 1, 1992
• Director: Penny Marshall
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 81%

Mark Ellis’ Take: “A League of their Own is a top 10 sports movie for me because it has historical value, a lot of comedy, and a lot of heart to it. It’s got those great sports movie moments where there’s stuff on the field that happens that’s great, and you also have the speech Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) used to their star player who’s thinking about giving it up because it just got too hard. He says “the heart is what makes it great,” and that’s just such a great life lesson where anything worth doing is probably going to be tough to do, but it’s supposed to be tough. If it was easy everybody would do it. Whether you’re talking about playing baseball, getting a job, or putting together an audacious list of the top sports movies—it’s hard and that’s why we like it.”

• Release date: November 27, 1985
• Director: Sylvester Stallone
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 39%

Mark Ellis’ Take: “Come on, this is Rocky IV! This Apollo Creed going out and Ivan Drago—the greatest villain in movie history. It has to be on this list somewhere!”

• Release date: November 21, 1976
• Director: John G. Avildsen
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%

A rags-to-riches American sports drama on the life and legacy of Italian-American boxing legend Rocky Balboa, Rocky chronicles Balboa’s story from his humble beginnings as debt collector in Philadelphia, to competing for a world heavyweight championship against Apollo Creed. Rocky is one of the films that is a must watch for any sports film, and with the movie available through many streaming services, there are absolutely no excuses as to why you can’t watch.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I can’t say enough good things about Rocky. It’s really the modern sports movie as we know it and that template was created by Sylvester Stallone in 1976. The Oscar nominations followed, the franchises because it’s not just Rocky anymore—anytime you talk about the best sports movies ever, Rocky is one of the movies that should be in the conversation. Top five for sure.”

• Release date: March 27, 1992
• Director: Ron Shelton
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 75%

A 1992 classic that reflects the early 1990s beautifully, White Men Can’t Jump starred Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes, and Rosie Perez, and focused on a street hustler named Billy Hoyle (Harrelson), who made a living by betting on African-American players underestimating his game. Hoyle meets his match when he encounters an equally smooth con-man Sidney Deane (Snipes), who eventually comes up with the idea to become partners. White Men Can’t Jump blended together hoops and comedy, netting over $90 million at the box office.

Mark Ellis’ Take: “I’ve got White Men Can’t Jump at number one because it’s my favorite sports movie of all time, and it’s one of my favorite films ever. Again, I walked into the theater too young to see the movie—I snuck in because I wanted to see Woody and Wesley play basketball. When I left, I had a crash course in managing relationships, and the best sports movies use the sport as a platform to tell a story about life. White Men Can’t Jump does it as beautifully as I’ve ever seen. Directed by Ron Shelton who also did films like Bull Durham and Tin Cup—he’s a guy who gets sports and how it relates to our livelihood. White Men Can’t Jump is the best sports film of all time in my opinion.”