Sports Movies: The Second Half

 Sports Movies: The Second Half

Hello and welcome back for the second half of Cinema Wellman’s Favorite Sports Films! Today we’ll take a look at 10 more sports films that are beloved here at the Cinema. 

This list features movies that were nominated for a total of 12 Oscars (exactly the same amount as our first half films!) and won 3 Oscars (also the exact same amount as our first half films!). 

Today’s list is more mainstream, but I will warn you! If you’re here to read about Field of Dreams, Rocky, Rudy, or Bull Durham, you are in the wrong place since they are NOT on my list. I know that will annoy a lot of people, but I was asked to document “favorite” sports films, not the sports films that everyone else likes. When it comes to liking what everyone else likes, we here at Cinema Wellman tend to be quite contrarian.

I wanted to make sure I didn’t have too many films about the same sport, so I capped that at two for this project. Our first half list featured 10 movies and 10 different sports. 

We will also touch upon other films directed by these directors (listed next to their names), and I think you’ll be impressed. There are some heavy hitters here. 

Sports pun intended.

The formation lap is complete! Lights Out! 

#10: The Bad News Bears (1976)

Director: Michael Ritchie (Semi-Tough, Fletch)

baseball

This is the OG of the Bad News Bears universe that includes two sequels, a short-lived TV series, and a reboot in 2005. Like many OG’s, it’s the best of the bunch.

Walter Matthau plays Morris Buttermaker who may be the last person on Earth you’d want coaching your child’s baseball team. Beer-swilling and foul-mouthed (love him already), Buttermaker is the perfect coach for this band of misfits. Tatum O’Neal and Jackie Earle Haley are the two standouts on the team, but the supporting cast is quite funny. Tanner is a HOWL!

I saw this when it came out. I was in 8th grade and still playing organized baseball, and I found this to be perfect in almost every way. 

The best part is the ending. Skip to the next movie if you haven’t seen The Bad News Bears and don’t want it spoiled…

They lose. The underdog team that you’ve been rooting for to overcome everything loses the championship game. Like I said, it’s pretty perfect. My very last game of organized baseball was a championship game while I was in high school. I was on second base when the game ended. 

We lost. It happens. And it should happen more often in movies. It’s certainly more realistic than winning all of the time. 

#9: The Longest Yard (1974)

Director: Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen)

football

Oscar Nomination for Editing

This is a prison football movie, so it’s not as funny as you may remember it. There’s some nasty business in this one. Adam Sandler’s 2005 reboot was more comedic. 

There’s a reason why Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest box office stars of the 70s. He’s pretty damn likable in just about everything he’s in. The Longest Yard is no exception.

Reynolds plays Paul Crewe, a former pro quarterback now serving time in prison (on a bizarre trumped up charge if you ask me). He is recruited by the warden (an evil Eddie Albert) to put together a team of prisoners to play a game against the guards (and presumably lose). 

The supporting cast is tremendous with Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad, and Richard “Jaws” Kiel. 

Spoiler Alert: The Mean Machine does defeat the guards 36-35, so our movies are 1-1 so far. The Bears lost 7-6.

#8: North Dallas Forty (1979)

Director: Ted Kotcheff (Uncommon Valor)

football

This may be the most realistic film ever made about professional football. It is based on a novel written by Peter Gent who was a member of the Dallas Cowboys from 1964-1968. 

It’s all here. From the glitz and glamor to the behind the scenes ugliness of drug abuse, steroids, and the mistreatment of women. 

It shows a professional sports league that is only about business and winning with little regard to the personal safety or health of their players. Sound familiar?

Singer/songwriter Mac Davis (in his first role) and Nick Nolte star in this all too realistic look at pro football. It alternates between being very funny and pretty depressing, which makes for a dynamic movie. 

The supporting cast is wonderful including Charles Durning as the coach and Bo Svenson and John “Caveman” Matuszak as two of the more unhinged players on the North Dallas Bulls. 

Spoiler Alert: The Bulls LOSE the championship game. Our movies are now 1-2. 

#7: Caddyshack (1980)

Director: Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day/Vacation)

golf

What can I say about Caddyshack that hasn’t already been said? It’s unbelievably quote-worthy, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase are at their best, Rodney Dangerfield is hysterical, and Ted Knight is absolutely brilliant.

One tag line read, “It’s The Snobs vs. The Slobs,” which is a hole in one as taglines go. 

The gopher annoys me, as does any Kenny Loggins song, but this is not only one of the best sports movies of all-time, it’s one of the best comedies of all time. 

“Miss it Noonan! MISS! NOONAN!” is still shouted here on each and every NFL Sunday as non-Giants kickers line up for field goals. 

Spoiler Alert: Danny Noonan sinks the putt and wins the match! Our movies are now 2-2.

#6: Slap Shot (1977)

Director: George Roy Hill (The Sting, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid)

hockey

This is one of the first R-rated movies I had ever seen, along with Animal House, and I recall it being very dirty at the time. The language used is poetically obscene at times. 

If North Dallas Forty attempted to show the nasty underbelly of pro football, Slap Shot does the same with minor league hockey. 

The fictional Charlestown Chiefs are an awful team with poor attendance, an aging star, and financial problems. Things are so bad that the word is out that the Chiefs are going to move. That all changes when they start to goon it up and turn every game into fight night. 

The characters in this film are legendary including the Hanson Brothers, Killer Carlson, Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken, and Ogi Ogilthorpe. 

The poster cracks me up because they added something under the R-box: “Certain Language May Be Too Strong For Children.” Yikes! Certain language?!?

Spoiler Alert: The Chiefs win the game, but they are still folded.  Our movies are now 3-2.

#5: Raging Bull (1980)

Director: Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas)

boxing

8 Oscar Nominations

2 Oscar Wins: Actor (DeNiro), Editing

When constructing this list and attempting to put it in order, I decided to place the comedies at the bottom on purpose. I didn’t want to think about comparing films like Raging Bull with Caddyshack. That’s way too complicated, so I loaded the comedies at the bottom.

There’s also a reason Raging Bull is “only” 5th on this list and that’s simply because I don’t like boxing. This film is considered to be the best film in the entire decade of the 80s, and some consider it among the all-time greats. I do agree, but I still put it at five on this list. I have my reasons. 

Nominated for 8 Oscars and walking away with two including one for De Niro, this film is stunning. I still think it’s the most violent movie I have ever seen that doesn’t feature any weapons. Other than fists. 

It is brutal, and it is tremendous. It’s also the ONLY film on this list that I don’t want to see again. Doesn’t make it bad by any means, but I have a list of movies that I thought were great but never want to see again. What a surprise, another list!

Spoiler Alert: I’m going to call this one a loss. In the ring, and out of the ring. Not a pretty sight.   Our movies are now 3-3.

#4: Breaking Away (1979)

Director: Peter Yates (Bullitt, The Hot Rock)

cycling

5 Oscar Nominations

1 Oscar Win for Original Screenplay

This movie transcends being a sports movie since it’s really about everything. It’s about fitting in, it’s about trying to be something you’re not, it’s about determination, and it’s about all sorts of relationships (parents, friends, lovers). 

Breaking Away takes place in Bloomington, Indiana. Dennis Christopher plays Dave Stohler. Dave and his friends are “Cutters,” another word for “townies” or locals. They are looked down upon by the upper crust students at the nearby University of Indiana. I guess this happens in a lot of college towns. I don’t know since I went to college in Boston.

Dave is obsessed with cycling and, in particular, the Italian cycling team. He acts Italian at home much to the annoyance of his father, the great Paul Dooley. His mother, played by Barbara Barrie, is more understanding as mothers tend to be in these cases. Barrie was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her wonderful performance. 

Dave’s friends are played by a trio of accomplished actors. Dennis Quaid is Mike, Daniel “Diner” Stern is Cyril, and here’s Jackie Earle Haley again! This time he plays Moocher. These friends agree to join Dave in a bicycle race that will include most of the state of Indiana.

The training sequences are wonderfully shot. My favorite is when Dave has the give and take with the trucker on the highway. He later falls in love with an IU student which complicates many things because she actually thinks Dave is Italian. 

The race is the set piece of the film and it’s suspenseful and well-paced. The Cutters in Breaking Away are another true underdog in a sports movie who are very worthy of our support. 

Spoiler Alert: The Cutters overcome all sorts of adversity and win the “Little 500.”   Our movies are now over the .500 mark at 4-3.

#3: Miracle (2004)

Director: Gavin O’Connor (The Way Back)

hockey

Did you watch the “Miracle” game from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY live? You may think you did, but you did not! That’s a great story in itself, but not what this blog is about. We’re here to celebrate great sports movies, and Miracle is certainly one of those. 

Of all the underdog stories on this list, this may be THE biggest of those dogs! How could a team of college kids defeat the powerhouse Soviet hockey team composed of some of the greatest professionals the sport has ever seen? Well, they did!

This movie gives me so many “feels” as the kids say (or said…I don’t keep track of these things). I have chills just thinking about it and my favorite scenes. 

Friend of Cinema Wellman Kurt Russell plays Coach Herb Brooks who wasn’t interested in being anyone’s friend. He makes that quite clear. Patricia Clarkson is excellent as Herb’s wife in a part that’s written to be more than just being the coach’s wife. 

My favorite scene is when he has the team skating after a poor game that ended in a tie. The arena is empty and Brooks has them skating “suicides,” or “Herbies” as the players called them. It’s one of the few scenes that’s not 100% accurate, but that’s okay with me. It was amazing. “Who do you skate for?!”

If you ever wondered where the “USA…USA…USA…” chant started, it was at Lake Placid for these Olympics and this team. 

Spoiler Alert: Seriously? You know they won, right? I mean…how could you have missed this?   Our movies are now 5-3.

#2: Hoosiers (1986)

Director: David Anspaugh (Hill St. Blues, St. Elsewhere on TV)

basketball

2 Oscar Nominations

The poster reads, “It’ll go straight to your heart.” Boy did they get that right! 

From IMDb: “A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship.” 

Gene Hackman has made an awful lot of movies during his long career, and I have this on his personal Mt. Rushmore. Dennis Hopper was nominated for his only Oscar for his performance as Shooter. The pair are what really makes this film work for me. 

It’s another underdog story, but this is also a big redemption story as well. Hackman’s Coach Dale and Hopper’s Shooter both have issues to overcome. Director David Anspaugh does a masterful job telling their story. 

My favorite scene is when Coach Dale brings out the tape measure to measure the height of the basket at the huge venue they’ll be playing in for the championship. It’s 10 feet, just like it is everywhere else. He made a good point there!

I love reading about movies after screening them, and was surprised to find out that Gene Hackman was absolutely terrible on set. He was a black cloud of doom to everyone involved. He even told Hopper that the film would ruin both of their careers. I’m glad he was wrong. 

Spoiler Alert: Hickory wins the State Championship!   Our movies are now 6-3 with one game to go!

#1: The Natural (1984)

Director: Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Diner)

baseball

4 Oscar Nominations

I will choose The Natural over both Field of Dreams AND Bull Durham all day every day and twice on Sundays. If I were to add more baseball movies to this list they would be The Sandlot, Bang the Drum Slowly, and/or The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, not Field of Dreams, not Bull Durham. I can’t stand Kevin Costner or Tim Robbins which makes both of those movies difficult to watch for me. 

Robert Redford, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. This helps secure the #1 slot on both the baseball films list and the list of all sports films.

I loved the novel, even though it has a much darker ending. The movie, directed by a favorite director of mine (Barry Levinson) is a gem. Brilliant storytelling, wonderful set direction, compelling performances all around, and Wonderboy! Some say this is schmaltzy and hokey. When I hear that, I throw Rocky at them. Along with Field of Dreams!

Baseball has always made for great movies, and we all have our favorites. I know mine, and not even Costner himself is going to talk me out of it. I’d actually refuse to speak with him if he tried. I was once in a buffet line next to Tim Robbins in a luxury box at MSG for a Rangers game and I shunned him. I was not going to give him the satisfaction of recognizing him. To me, he was just another guy eating chicken tenders. 

Spoiler Alert: In the novel, Roy Hobbs strikes out and the Knights lose the game. In the movie, Hobbs hits a home run and the Knights win. Since this piece is about movies, I’ll have to award a win. Our movies’ final record is 7-3. Not bad. Not bad at all!

Platforms

Here are the platforms on which you can screen these 10 great sports films!

The Bad News Bears - Amazon Prime/Cinemax

The Longest Yard - Amazon Prime/HBO/Paramount +

North Dallas Forty - Amazon Prime/HBO Max

Caddyshack - Amazon Prime

Slap Shot - Amazon Prime/Starz

Raging Bull - Amazon Prime/Criterion

Breaking Away - Amazon Prime/HBO Max

Miracle - Disney +

Hoosiers - Amazon Prime/Cinemax

The Natural - Amazon Prime/HBO/Paramount +

That’s it for this episode!

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for our next episode:

Cinema Wellman: Origin Story

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