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In these perilous times, sports fans have a problem: What to watch? Usually, at this time of year, television screens abound with baseball, basketball and hockey action, along with an array of soccer matches and that football spinoff known as the XFL.
We recently tried to help baseball fans by offering a list of 20 movies, ranging from “Fever Pitch” in the No. 1 spot to honorable mentions like“Bad News Bears.”
That prompted a note from a fan of the Boston Bruins, urging The Republican to do the same for his favorite sport. Well, we decided to do that — and more. We hereby offer Top 10 lists of hockey, basketball, football and boxing movies.
In each case, we review the film we rate as No. 1, then let the others fall into line.
So here we go:
1. Miracle (1984): Its very subject – Uncle Sam’s stunning upset of the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid – automatically makes it the No. 1 hockey movie. Kurt Russell gives a compelling portrayal of Herb Brooks, the University of Minnesota coach who brings a roster of collegiate players together to knock off a Red Army powerhouse that had manhandled them 10-3 in an exhibition game only a month before the Olympics. Some great inside-hockey scenes, including one in which the displeased coach makes his players skate wind-sprints (called “Herbies”) until they are ready to drop. Later, it’s all worth it when BU’s Mike Eruzione scores the goal that beats the Soviets 4-3. Next, Team USA defeats Finland 4-2, thereby completing its “miracle on ice.” Best dialogue, from Brooks prior to the Soviet Union game: “If we played ’em 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight WE are the greatest hockey team in the world.”
2. Slap Shot (1977). This Paul Newman gem would be No. 1 if not for “Miracle.”
3. The Rocket (2005). The legend of Maurice “Rocket” Richard, superstar of the Montreal Canadiens.
4. Pond Hockey (2008). One critic calls it “the best and purest hockey movie ever.”
5. The Mighty Ducks (1997)). Kid hockey and Emilio Estevez at their best.
6. Mr. Hockey (2013). In 1973, Gordie Howe returns to hockey at age 44.
7. MVP (2000). A monkey that plays hockey becomes Most Valuable Primate. This one’s a real charmer.
8. Soul on Ice (2016). Documentary study of African-Americans in hockey, then and now.
9. Goon (2011). A Canadian comedy, starring the fictional Doug “The Thug” Glatt.
10. Hockey Champ (1939). Donald Duck skates with Huey, Dewey and Louie.
1. Hoosiers (1986): The uplifting story of a small-town high school team winning the Indiana state championship against all odds. Gene Hackman does a great job as the team’s oft-controversial coach. Dennis Hopper plays his assistant, a recovering alcoholic, and the role earns him as Oscar nomination. This story of fictional Hickory High School is modeled after rural Milan High School, which did win the Indiana state tournament against large schools in 1954. Best dialogue (Coach to player): “Stick with your man. Think of him as chewing gum. By the end of the game, I want you to know what flavor he is.”
2. White Men Can’t Jump (1992): A tour de force for Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as streetball rivals who become fast friends.
3. Space Jam (1996): Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny get together in a very convoluted but entertaining plot. Of course, it ends with “That’s all, folks.”
4. Coach Carter (2005): True story of a high school coach dedicated to making his players strike a proper balance between academics and basketball. Samuel Jackson is just right for the role.
5. Juwanna Mann (2002): Banned NBA player Jamal Jeffries turns female impersonator and stars in the WNBA before his scheme unravels. Kevin Pollak shines as Jeffries’ agent.
6. More Than a Game (2008): A documentary that follows LeBron James and four of his teammates through their high school years in Akron, Ohio, and James’ journey on to NBA fame.
7. Glory Road (2006): In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins starts the first all African-American lineup in an NCAA final and stuns No. 1 Kentucky.
8. He Got Game (1996): Denzel Washington and Ray Allen (the NBA player) star in this father-son basketball drama, directed by Spike Lee.
9. Air Bud (1997): A golden retriever shoots hoops. Who could ask for anything more?
10. Blue Chips (1994): Nick Nolte as a college coach trying to handle the high-pressure world of recruiting. The cast includes NBA players Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway.
1. Rudy (1993): Sean Astin stars in the true story of Rudy Ruettiger, an undersized defensive end who finally lives his dream when he makes the football team at Notre Dame as a walk-on. He never plays until the final game of his senior season (1975), when coach Dan Devine sends him onto the field in the closing minutes of a victory over Georgia Tech. Rudy sacks the quarterback on the game’s final play, and gets carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates. Hollywood puts its own spin on some key scenes, but the real Rudy later said the movie is “92 per cent true.” Memorable line (Rudy, on entering Notre Dame Stadium): “This is the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen.”
2. Remember the Titans (2000): Denzel Washington as a high school coach determined to have an integrated football team, which, after much drama and racial tension, he leads to the state championship.
3. The Blind Side (2009): Sandra Bullock won an Oscar and Golden Globe for her portrayal of a mother who befriends and eventually adopts a homeless African-American youth, Michael Oher, who becomes an NFL first-round draft pick. True story.
4. Brian’s Song (1971): James Caan and Billy Dee Williams as Chicago Bears teammates Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers, close friends who must deal with Piccolo’s diagnosis of terminal cancer. A tear-jerker, but well done.
5. We Are Marshall (2006): The aftermath of a plane crash that killed 37 players and five coaches of Marshall University. Top-notch performance by Matthew McCounaughey as Marshall’s new coach.
6. Leatherheads (2008): Captain of the Duluth Bulldogs (George Clooney) struggles to save his team in the early years of pro football. John Krasinski helps as his star player.
7. Heaven Can Wait (1978): An NFL quarterback (Warren Beatty) goes to Heaven prematurely because of a mistake by his rookie guardian angel (Buck Henry). The angel must find a way to get his QB to the Super Bowl.
8. Friday Night Lights (2004): A sobering study of high-pressure high school football in Texas. Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) gives a memorable “being perfect” speech to his Permian team.
9. Knute Rockne, All-American (1940): An unforgettable oldie, starring Pat O’Brien as the player and coach who put Notre Dame on the football map. Ronald Reagan (yes, the president) plays terminally-ill star George Gipp, who says, “Tell them to go out there and win just one for the Gipper.”
10. The Longest Yard (1974): Burt Reynolds as an incarcerated former NFL quarterback who leads a team of convicts to last-second victory over a team of prison guards. Lots of laughs along the way.
1. Rocky (1976): Sylvester Stallone wrote it, and starred as Rocky Balboa, giving us one of the all-time great sports movies, and an Oscar winner. It’s a study in all-out determination as a huge underdog gets a shot at the reigning heavyweight champion (former NFL player Carl Weathers as the fearsome Apollo Creed). Rocky loses the fight, but becomes the first to go 15 rounds with the champ. His romance with Adrian (Talia Shire) and his workouts with a crusty old trainer (Burgess Meredith) add to the movie’s charm. This one is so good, it has spawned eight sequels. Best dialogue (Rocky): “Going one more round when you don’t think you can. That’s what makes all the difference in your life.”
2. Raging Bull (1980): A Martin Scorcese masterpiece starring Robert DeNiro as self-destructive middleweight Jake LaMotta and newcomer Joe Pesci as his manager/brother. DeNiro won the Academy Award for this one.
3. On the Waterfront (1954): This winner of eight Oscars isn’t really a boxing movie, but it’s best known for Marlon Brando’s “I coulda been a contender” lament.
4. Champion (1949): This melodrama traces the meteoric rise and fall of Midge Kelly, a ruthless champion. Five Oscar nominations, including one for Kirk Douglas as the hateful Kelly.
5. Million Dollar Baby (2004): Another Oscar winner for best picture and best actress (Hilary Swank). Clint Eastwood also stars in this tough-love story that does not end well.
6. Ali (2001): Will Smith stars in a film that focuses on a tumultuous time in Muhammad Ali’s life (1964-74). It covers his rise as a heavyweight champion, conversion to Islam, going to jail in opposition to the Vietnam war and his return to the ring.
7. Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956): Paul Newman as Rocky Graziano, a middleweight champion of the post-war 1940s with a hard-hitting life story, including winning – then losing – to Tony Zale.
8. The Fighter (2010): Mark Wahlberg’s searing study of the life and hard times of Micky Ward, a welterweight champ from Lowell. Oscars to the movie, and to Christian Bale and Melissa Leo in supporting roles.
9. Cinderella Man (2005): This Ron Howard-Penny Marshall production tells the blue-collar story of James J. Braddock, a heavyweight champ during the Great Depression. Russell Crowe does the fighting.
10. Play It to the Bone (1999): If a boxing movie can be light-hearted, this one gets the job done thanks to perky performances by Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas.
Garry Brown can be reached at [email protected]
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