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From Rudy To Sidekicks: Our Ultimate Guide To The Best Movies About Sports
Are you ready to kick off the season with some of the best movies about sports? I have just the list for you. No matter what sport you are a fan of, here are some of our favorite movies about sports that everyone can enjoy - whether you like sports or not.
9 Best Movies About Sports
1. The Love Bug
2. Rudy
3. Remember the Titans
4. Invincible
5. Mighty Macs
6. The Last Champion
7. Ice Princess
8. Sidekicks
Each of these films focuses on a great athlete from different sports backgrounds. The thing about each of these films that make them really great is that they aren't particularly about the sports, but a drama surrounding the character.
This makes it so that these really are the best movies about sports for the whole family because everyone can enjoy them regardless of how well he knows the sport.
And, as always, we offer our honest thoughts about each film in our Points to Consider section so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not this is the film for your family.
Best Movies About Sports #1: Experience The Thrill of Love Bug: The Car That Drives Itself!
Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) is just your ordinary racer, but it goes against his heart to see an innocent little car misused by any man.
Accordingly he offers to buy a rather clunky little bug that he sees the local car seller Peter Thorndyke (David Tomlinson) abusing. What he doesn’t know is that the little car has a mind of its own and a determination to find him not only adventure but love as well.
Jim soon finds himself with his hands full as the little car takes him from victory to victory in the racing arena. But Jim soon forgets what he owes to his little car “Herby”.
Mr. Thorndyke has not forgotten nor will he forgive Jim for tricking him out of such a winning little car and is now determined to buy “Herby” back if it costs him everything he owns.
Through a trick of his own, “Herby” lands himself in car jail and it’s up to Jim to get him out.
The only way to get his little car out is to race against Mr. Thorndyke. And so off they set to find that his opponent has plans of his own and tricks galore to enable himself and hinder “Herby” and Jim from winning.
The race is completely cut-throat with an “anything goes” rule and it’s about to get ugly between the two racers.
2. The Best Sports Movie Ever: Rudy With Sean Austin As The True College Football Underdog
I feel my list of best movies about sports could not be complete without including Rudy, the true story about Rudy Ruettiger and his determination to play as one of the Fighting Irish.
Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) doesn’t have much going for him. He was “five foot nuthin, a hundred an’ nuthin, with not a speck of athletic ability.”
Plus, he’s not even that academically apt.
But he is ready to give whatever it takes to defy all these set backs and make it on the football team at the university of Notre Dame.
Despite the doubt of his entire hometown and even his family, Rudy perseveres and even goes so far as to make it to the football team.
But now he has to show himself, his coach and his teammates that he is worthy of more than just making the dress list. He puts his entire heart into his game and yet still it seems as though he will never make it onto the Notre Dame football field.
But Rudy's heart and passion are about to win the day when he steps onto the field at last.
Points to consider: One of the characters has a hard time with using our Lord's name in vain. This is something he addresses in the story as his new girlfriend won't let him talk like that anymore, but it is completely unnecessary to the story.
Other vulgar words and sayings are used.
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Number 3 On The Best Movies About Sports, Remember The Titans Addresses A Different Aspect Of Football History
When an all white school is combined with an all black school, tension heightens as both sides struggle to settle in.
But one determined black football coach is hell bent on bringing harmony to his team to create a truly invincible team made up of black and whites.
An inspiring true story that touches on a fundamental truth: it isn’t our skin color that makes a difference in who we are, but how we treat others and how we always get so much farther working as a team.
No one ever goes far only looking out for themselves and those who are just like them. They get far when they learn to care about others, work as a team and help even the people who aren’t exactly who they are.
Points to consider: As far as language goes, this movie was pretty good. The theme being what it is, racial slurs are used. There are some vulgar suggestions among the high schoolers including some teasing about homosexuality which ends in one of the boys kissing the other.
4. Invincible Ranks On Our Best Movies About Sports For Its Inspiring Story About The Oldest Rookie In Football History
Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) has always loved football. It's what connects him to his friends, it's where he turns for comfort when times get rough.
And it's a rough time right now as the 1970's economic crash is in full swing.
But recently his team, the Philadelphia Eagles, haven't been doing too well.
In fact, they are doing so poorly that they hire a new coach who finds a desperate solution by inviting fans to tryout for the team.
Having his world recently tumble to pieces around him with his wife leaving and losing his job, the opportunity seems ripe for Vince Papale.
His buddies encourage him coming from the angle that he's the best player in their backyard games. With nothing to lose, Vince decides to try out. Much to his surprise, he is invited to come back after the tryouts.
Although he is teased for being the "old man" since he's in his thirties, Vince excels as the fastest and usually most decisive player. The team prepares for another long season. And still Vince waits to get cut from the team. But the cut never comes and he is ready to ride into victory as the oldest rookie in football history.
A classic underdog story with a new twist based on a true story.
Points to Consider: This story is based on a true story and the main character is a divorced man who begins dating another woman. There is a scene with some passionate kissing. The ending frame explains that later the two were married and had a few kids together.
In an attempt to sell the era, there was a little bit of flipping off in the early scenes and a little bit of language.
When Vince's wife leaves, he reacts by destroying the house by smashing a stool into the walls and throwing things.
Vince is a bartender before he joins the football team. That being said, many of the scenes take place in the bar with lots of beer being served. None of the main characters ever appear to be disturbingly drunk, however.
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5. How The Mighty Macs Defied Odds: The Ultimate Geek-To-Athlete Transformation
The Macs were always the underdogs. With their goofy Catholic school uniforms and teachers that are much more interested in academics than sports, it is safe to say that there was good reason.
But when the sisters who run the school hire a new basketball coach, Cathy Rush, things are about to change. Coach Cathy doesn’t care too much about formalities but is ready to instead use her own experience and expertise to make her new team win.
Although Coach Cathy is determined, she certainly faces an uphill battle.
The school is failing.
The girls have never been taught to be athletic.
The gym recently burnt down.
But nothing deters Coach Cathy as she works through it all, working to make a winning team out of the awkward girls. And she knows that with the help of Sister Sunday she will be able to.
Points to Consider: One of the scenes a girl is wearing rather short shorts. As she sits with her head on her knees, very high thigh can be seen.
When Coach Cathy and Sister Sunday go into a bar for a drink after one of the games, Sister Sunday takes her veil off. This isn't a big deal since she is portrayed as the sister that is a little different than the rest, but it is a little undermining as priests and nuns are meant to be priests and nuns no matter where they are.
There is also a scene where Coach Cathy confesses to Sister Sunday that she is not a Catholic as though that is an expectation. Sister Sunday acts as though this doesn't matter, as long as she is a believer, which is rather undermining of the Catholic Church as this character is portrayed to be a Catholic nun.
6. Underdog Story: The Last Champion Highlights An Overlooked Sport And Teaches Lessons About Overcoming The Past
John Wright messed up and, as wrestlers would say, he messed up bad. No Olympian likes losing his medals for cheating and this medaling wrestler has no desire to return home to face the shame of what he has done.
When his mother dies, he finally returns home to go through her stuff and finds out that his worst fears are true: practically no one in his hometown has found it in themselves to forgive him yet.
But there are a few who are willing to move on: his old wrestling coach and his old girlfriend from high school. When his coach dies suddenly, John is given a new chance, to prove himself by becoming the high school wrestling coach.
He enjoys watching a particular wrestler excel and hopes to make him into everything he himself threw away when he cheated during the Olympics. Suddenly this kid, Michael Miller, is facing his own crisis when his mom leaves and he is left as the only support for his two sisters. Quitting school and going to work seems to be the only option.
But John is not about to allow that to happen.
Instead he stands up before the whole town, all of the people who still appear to despise him, and asks for them to pitch in and help Michael's family to keep him in school. John acknowledges that he made his own mistakes, but they can't let Michael throw away a future because of things he can't help.
And so Michael is also given a second chance and one that he more than deserves as he is on his way to State. An old enemy awaits both him and his coach in the ring for the title match.
This film was well-told with epic wrestling sequences especially the last match with moments that made the viewer hold his breath. I am a wrestling fan, so it's difficult for me to say whether I enjoyed it because I love wrestling or because the film was engaging. I appreciated that the film didn't have too much "high school drama".
Points to Consider: There is a part where the church is used as a meeting hall, which is a little weird. Michael's mother is an alcoholic, so she is shown drinking, and she is a single mother who leaves her children. The situation is never portrayed in a good light.
7. Pursue Your Passion: How Ice Princess Teaches Viewers To Dream Big
Casey doesn't have anything to do with athletics. But when a science project leads her to study the physics behind ice skating, she finds a new passion.
Despite every obstacle in her way, Casey will stop at nothing to become a skater, giving up even her science scholarship to pursue what she is now finding she loves.
It seems as though nobody believes in her.
But the only person she really has to convince is her coach. Mrs. Harwood may have other plans, but Casey is relentless.
8. Sidekicks with Chuck Norris: A Karate Sports Classic You Need to Watch To Complete Our Best Movies About Sports List
Barry Gabrewski isn't able to be as active as other kids.
With asthma that acts up when he does anything physical, Barry has built himself a dream world where he is able to everything he wishes he could - coming in at the last moment, defeating all the bad guys almost single-handedly and saving the damsel in distress - but the best part: he gets to do it with his all time favorite hero, Chuck Norris.
This dream world begins to concern his dad and a certain teacher of his as Barry is struggling more and more with staying out of his dream world enough to focus on his lessons.
As soon as the lesson tends toward the boring side Barry is off with Chuck Norris in Africa or Japan or some other distant land to rescue once again the fair maiden.
Barry's teacher plots something that she's sure will bring him out of his dream world to something just as exciting in the real world and teams him up with her karate master uncle, Mr. Lee. Through this man's expertise, Barry learns to overcome both his asthma and dream world impediments to real life.
But the punk kid at school who thinks he's the karate expert isn't about to let Barry get away with just learning the sport and stealing the most desirable girl in the school.
He challenges Barry to the karate championships.
With Mr. Lee and his teacher's help, Barry puts together a team and prepares himself to meet his rival face to face, but there is one problem: the team needs a fourth member.
Fortunately for the struggling team, there is a particular guest of honor at the tournament who is just humble enough to agree to join their team for the tournament.
In a surreal moment, Barry finds himself being asked by his hero if he's ready to go win this thing and ends up competing alongside Chuck Norris in real life.
Points to Consider: As Barry's focus in real life changes, so does his dreamland. In one of the scenes where he saves maiden fair it is the girl who he has a crush on and the scene ends with a kiss between the two teenagers.
Since Barry is quite imaginative and his dreams need a conflict which causes him to be the hero, some scenes can be a little intense for small children, but each of the scenarios are quite corny and don't last long.
Vulgar speech is also resorted to.
Few Honorable Mentions That Didn't Quite Make It To Our List Of Best Movies About Sports
There are a few movies which, although not the best movies about sports, deserve a little bit of recognition. And so here I have a few honorable mentions.
These are films that capture the nostalgia of sports films, but that I cannot recommend because they do have serious problems. So enjoy at your own risk and seriously consider my points to consider, please.
Jamaican Bobsled Team's Inspiring True Story In Cool Runnings
Derice Bannock has always dreamed of following his father's footsteps as an Olympic racer. But when his chance is shattered after tripping at try-outs, it seems as though this dream is never to see fruition.
And yet, he isn't ready to shelve his dream.
Instead he looks for another way to get to the Olympics. Armed with a new idea and a picture of his dad and a friend from the Olympics, Derice sets out to find someone to coach a completely new idea: a Jamaican bobsledding team to compete in the Olympics.
With every obstacle possible in his way, Derice and his team never give up and complete the race against all odds, showing not only that their nation has something to be proud of in them but also that they can stay together as a team even when the going gets a little rough.
One of those inspiring best movies about sports that will leave you with a warm feeling.
Points to consider: There are quite a bit of rather vulgar parts in this film mostly through the speech of the characters.
In a desperate attempt to raise money for the team, two of the characters set up a kissing booth. It goes without saying that this makes for an awkward scene with the married man selling his kissing abilities for a buck.
Honorable Mention On Our Best Movies About Sports: 'The Sandlot' Is A Heartwarming Ode to Boyhood and Baseball
Everyone should know this heartwarming movie about a group of neighborhood kids who gather in the sandlot to play their favorite past time: Baseball.
One of the things that makes this film fit with these best movies about sports is the uplifting 4th of July scene as the boys play their annual night game under the firework lit sky to the tune of Ray Charles’ “O Beautiful”.
The only thing that can stop these boys from their game is the occasional losing of the ball to the neighbor’s scary dog. Nothing ever shakes up the steady summer cycle until one day, Scott Smalls hits his dad’s signed Babe Ruth ball over the fence, another victim to “the beast”.
The boys will stop at nothing to get the ball from the monster-like mastiff. Overcoming your fears, facing up to your mistakes and perseverance are all qualities learned by the team as they risk their lives to retrieve the memorabilia.
Points To Consider: There are unfortunately, many points to consider for this film.
The most prominent problem is the attitude of the boys. This story element allows for a lot of room for naughty behavior.
A pool scene where one of the boys kisses the lifeguard and a scene were two kids have a sparring match to see who can use the most vulgar names are just two of many scenes and lines that are unnecessary to the story.
Field of Dreams: The Baseball Movie That Speaks Of Following Your Dreams Above All Else
Ray is just an ordinary guy.
Growing up in the 60's and all the problems that were going on in that era, he is just one of thousands of American children who grew up with a spirit of revolution against his parents and who acted on this impulse at the earliest possible opportunity.
He was raised by a father who married late and lost his wife soon when their son was very young. Ray's only shared passion with his father is baseball. On just about every other subject, they disagreed.
It's years later now and Ray's father died before Ray ever had an opportunity to make up with him. And this is just a reality that Ray thinks he'll have to deal with. Until one day...
Ray is working on his corn farm when he hears a voice that promises, "If you build it, he will come." After a vision shows him a baseball diamond in the middle of his fields, Ray is about to embark on a completely irrational adventure: building a baseball diamond in the hopes of whoever "he" is will come.
After his diamond is built, Ray's field becomes the practicing field of long-dead baseball heroes, the most prominent of whom is Shoeless Joe Jackson. But the voice is not about to be satisfied with just a field. It has a plan to reunite Ray to his father for the opportunity to seek and obtain forgiveness.
And off Ray goes, chasing ambiguous clue after clue until he is able to reunite with his father who ends up being one of the players practicing at his field.
Points To Consider: This could almost have been on the main best movies about sports list because it really does do an excellent job of capturing everything Americans love about baseball, but it did have a few serious considerations.
So here they are:
On another thread, OMG was an expression very frequently and flippantly used. This is not using the Lord's name in vain particularly, but it is a very disrespectful way of using God's name and certainly not a phrase that any Christian parents want to hear their children repeating.
This film neither condoned nor condemned a period that I would consider a dark time in our country: namely the 1960's. The time is discussed as a time of trial and confusion, but it is never expressed that the things that came out of the 60's was wrong.
I think that acknowledging that this was a time where a lot of wrong things were happening is important if we want to be able to rise above the effects. So that is something that definitely stood out to me as a downfall of this movie.
Instead, the protagonist couple are heard heralding the time as a time that they were happy to have "survived" instead of a troubled time that they were ready to put behind themselves. Ray does say that the times being what they were was the reason he had such a troubled relationship with his dad, but again, it is never said that the trends of this period were to blame.
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