Movies about sports and heroic moments in athletics, whether involving high school, college or professional athletes, have had a long history in Hollywood. Nearly every studio in major competition today has made at least one sports movie, and some have definitely been better than others. While movies such as "Rocky" and "Field of Dreams" often dominate contemporary sports-talk, the range of solid movies based around sports offers more to offer than mentally-slow boxers and whispering ghosts. Thus we get....

The Top Ten Sports Movies of All Time

10. The Mighty Ducks Trilogy: If it weren't for the horrendous third installment that featured the Junior Olympic Champion Ducks struggling in a high school league, this series would be a classic.

9. "The Greatest Game Ever Played": Shia LeBouf's star-making role was a near-straight to DVD release, but the movie does a great job of historically identifying the golf match between Harry Vardon and Francis Oimet, two stellar golfers who come from the wrong side of the tracks.

8. "Cool Runnings": John Candy + four Jamaican bobsledders = pure comic genius.

7. "The Sandlot": "You're killing, Smalls!" 'Nuff said.

6. "Chariots of Fire": this classic for any sports fan has been so horribly imitated (slow-motion-sequences are vastly overrated!) in recent years that it falls on the all-time list.

5. "Miracle": Not only a great movie featuring a super performance from Dennis Quaid, but the real story is among professional sports greatest underdog defeats of all time.

4. "Remember the Titans": any movie set in the 1960's or 70's attempting to justify the racial tensions of that era can be included in most people's Top 10 lists. But the chemistry between Denzel Washington and Will Patton was fascinating. Plus, any time a movie's soundtrack can be recognized by anyone from age 16 to 60, you have to give credit where it's deserved.

3. "Takedown": With Edward Hermann as a nerdy high school English teacher-turned-wrestling coach, and future-soap-star Lorenzo Lamas as a messed up, lower-class teen whose only hope of graduating lies in the 185-pound weight class, this film is Disney's best, even though the studio has never admitted to having made it because of its PG-rating. And of course, Marsha Brady (aka Maureen McCormick) plays "the girlfriend."

2. "Hoosiers": Besides launching Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper to A-list celebrity status, this film also propelled basketball into the Hollywood spotlight, paving the way for other classics such as "Glory Road," "Coach Carter" and "The Air Up There."

1. "Rudy": Any movie that can make the entire audience chant "Rudy..... Rudy..... Rudy..." has to be doing something right.

Honorable Mentions: "Field of Dreams"; "Bad News Bears" (the original and the remake, but not the sequels); "Seabiscuit"; "Vision Quest"; "The Longest Yard" (original); "Glory Road"; "Coach Carter"; "The Karate Kid"; "Goal!"; "The Little Giants"; "We Are Marshall"; "Stick It"; "Baseketball"; Saturday Night Live's "The Bears" sketch.



Copyright Brigham Young University 21 May 2008