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Most Inspiring Sports Movies

H

honestone33

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Oct 17, 2019
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Kent, WA; about 25 miles south of Seattle
Just saw this:

www.msn.com

The most inspiring sports movie dramas

There's nothing better than a good sports drama. Whether a biopic based on true events or a work of fiction, we as viewers and sports fans love to be entertained, but also inspired, by our athletes, coaches or everyday people.
www.msn.com www.msn.com

I agree with that list, but for me, "Miracle" is #1. In "real" life, that victory by the US Hockey Team over the Soviets is consistently voted as the #1 Sports Upset ever:

www.businessinsider.com

The 11 Biggest Upsets In Sports History

Explore the 11 biggest upsets in sports history that shocked fans and changed the game forever!
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com

fansided.com

Columbus-Tampa NHL playoff series joins list of 20 greatest sports upsets

As the Tampa Bay Lightning sit on the brink of elimination going into Tuesday night, here are the 20 greatest sports upsets of all-time.
fansided.com fansided.com

By the way, I was in Florida at the time of that upset by the Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III. That would be my #2.
 
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honestone33 said:
Actually, I like the original Rocky first (in the list of Rocky movies), followed by Rocky IV, then Rocky II. Really liked the Russian connection in Rocky IV.
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Oh, I love Rocky IV (I mean, with the exception of V, I watch all of them over and over)… I just find it less inspirational.
 
honestone33 said:
I agree with that list, but for me, "Miracle" is #1. In "real" life, that victory by the US Hockey Team over the Soviets is consistently voted as the #1 Sports Upset ever:
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That's only in the US because national pride. The biggest sports upset would be Howard University--a 45 point underdog, 1:600 betting odds--beating UNLV in 2017 or 2004 Olympics Argentina team of who's that? beating a US team of who's who NBA stars. They ain't gonna make a movie about that. Maybe in Argentina.
 
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tobefirst said:
Interesting that a movie where the protagonist loses is among your most inspirational sports movies. Not saying there's something wrong with that...I just found it interesting.
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That's because the loss you mention is on other people's terms (=points). Rocky won what he wanted to win.
 
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Mousse said:
That's only in the US because national pride. The biggest sports upset would be Howard University--a 45 point underdog, 1:600 betting odds--beating UNLV in 2017 or 2004 Olympics Argentina team of who's that? beating a US team of who's who NBA stars. They ain't gonna make a movie about that. Maybe in Argentina.
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While "national pride" needs to be considered, that victory was "heard all around the world", including the Soviet Union. While the other ones you mentioned are noteworthy, the US Hockey team beating the Soviets had these factors involved:

1. The US team was composed of college kids who had not been playing that long, and not together. The Soviet team was a "well-oiled" machine, having played together for a long, long time.

2. The Soviet Team had been mentioned to be as good, and maybe in some respects better, than any National Hockey League Team.

3. The gap in talent between the two teams was easily as wide as the Pacific Ocean.

4. 10 days earlier, the Soviets had crushed the US team 10 to 1.
 
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honestone33 said:
While "national pride" needs to be considered, that victory was "heard all around the world", including the Soviet Union.
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I'd say that a similar event was the Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky chess match of 1972. Since we're talking about movies, the movie "Pawn Sacrifice" is quite a good movie about Fischer.
 
Escape to Victory
EscapeToVictory.jpg


What a line up!
 
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honestone33 said:
While "national pride" needs to be considered, that victory was "heard all around the world", including the Soviet Union. While the other ones you mentioned are noteworthy, the US Hockey team beating the Soviets had these factors involved:

1. The US team was composed of college kids who had not been playing that long, and not together. The Soviet team was a "well-oiled" machine, having played together for along, long time.

2. The Soviet Team had been mentioned to be as good, and maybe in some respects better, than any National Hockey League Team.

3. The gap in talent between the two teams was easily as wide as the Pacific Ocean.

4. 10 days earlier, the Soviets had crushed the US team 10 to 1.
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Agreed. The US team beating the Soviets was pretty much unthinkable at the time. Everyone “knew” the Soviets were going to win.
 
Honestone33 is correct.

The Lake Placid US hockey team was mostly comprised of former college players and a few semi-pros due to international hockey rules preventing professional athletes from competing in the Olympic Games.

The Soviets simply appointed all of their best players as army officers to sidestep around this issue.

Basically the US team field a bunch of guys who weren't talented enough to make it in the NHL, CHL (or whatever the Canadian league was called), or any of the major European pro hockey leagues.

It's worth pointing out that the US-USSR game was a semifinal. USSR was expected to win the whole thing and didn't even make the gold medal match.

US beat one of the Scandinavian countries for the gold medal (I think it was Sweden because I vaguely remember blue-yellow jerseys). That was the second upset. But no one remembers that. People only remember US beating the Soviets.

The other crazy match I remember is Germany's complete demolition of Brazil (at home) in the World Cup, easily the worst beatdown of any high profile football match I have seen in my lifetime. There was no major movie. Germany was considered a worthy adversary but what they did to Brazil was mind boggling.

That said, most sports movies are pretty weak. The actual competition is better. A hundred movies could be made about 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat but they will never replace the 6.25 minutes of actual racing. And the fact that Secretariat still owns all three track records 47 years later.

My favorite sports movie is The Natural which isn't really a sports movie. It's the Grail legend.
 
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Very inspirational movie even if the actual contest depicted in the movie never happened.

That's part of the incongruity of this thread. There are amazing real-world sporting moments (which typically have been poorly captured on the big screen) and there are inspirational fictitious cinematic moments (that happen to revolve around sports).

When I watch a movie, I typically expect to be entertained rather than be presented with something historically accurate. That's the same expectation I have with any dramatic performance: opera, ballet, theatre, film, etc.

If I want actual inspirational real-world sports moments, it's best to watch the actual event/footage. Knowing the context and history is often a big part.
 
honestone33 said:
there were more cold war tensions going on at the time of the 1980 Winter Olympics.
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I would tend to disagree. 1972 and whereabouts had the Vietnam war going on, several tensions in the middle east as US/USSR proxy wars, skirmishes between China and the Soviets, etc.
Not to say that 1980 was rosy...
 
yaxomoxay said:
Could be :) Since I like chess more than hockey, I might be extremely biased :)
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I also like chess (not a "grate" player), but the impact of that hockey game was just so, so inspiring! I've always been tempted to asl Al Michaels if that is the greatest sports event he has ever called. It certainly is well remembered for his infamous "Do you believe in miracles?" statement:

From the movie:


Then there are these (second one is long):



I STILL get goose bumps watching it!
 
Not a Notre Dame fan, but Rudy should rank higher on that list IMO.

Also, while I really like Field of Dreams, it's not really inspiring in a sports sense. The baseball is sort of merely a backdrop to the story. Still get teary eyed when he plays catch with his Dad, though! :)
 
dmr727 said:
Not a Notre Dame fan, but Rudy should rank higher on that list IMO.

Also, while I really like Field of Dreams, it's not really inspiring in a sports sense. The baseball is sort of merely a backdrop to the story. Still get teary eyed when he plays catch with his Dad, though! :)
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Could not agree more. In fact, watched it yesterday, and it's inspiring!

And yes, Field of Dreams is another good one.

One thing about Rudy, Moneyball, and Miracle is that all 3 of them 1) are based on actual, true events, and 2) for the most part, are accurate depictions of what actually happened. Scott Hatteberg's home run in that crazy 11 to 10 game, and the "Do you Believe In Miracles" scene, were spot on!
 
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I don’t have a good track record watching inspirational sports movies, but I‘ll mention The Black Stallion (1979) which is not only a work of art but ends with a climatic horse race that gives me shivers of emotion every time I see it.

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No. 2 Breaking Away (1979)- Bicycle racing. Great movie.

5D885357-2375-4461-BE6E-4ADDA2A869C3.jpeg​
 
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