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| Sports Illustrated's Top 20 Sports Movies |
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 1. Bull Durham (1988)
The action and little details are perfect.
And there's Susan Sarandon.
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2. Raging Bull (1980)
It's so widely (and deservedly) praised that no one points out that the stylized boxing scenes are utterly
unrealistic.
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3. Rocky (1976)
Director John Avildsen says Rocky's and Adrian's skating scene resonates for him; we like Sly brutalizing a side of
beef.
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 4. Hoosiers (1988)
Hackman, Hopper, Hershey and hoops. It doesn't get much more
heavenly than that.
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 5. Body and Soul (1947)
Few movie lines are colder than the one delivered by
the gangster (Lloyd Gough) as he studies a boxer with a blood clot:
"Everybody
dies."
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 6. The Hustler (1961)
The foreboding Twilight Zone ambience of this pool film, with Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman, is riveting.
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 7. Chariots of Fire (1981)
Who can forget Ian Holm, as coach Sam Mussabini,
punching his hand through his hat after his student wins gold in the '24
Games?
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 8. Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
As the washed-up fighter trying to avoid
selling out as a pro wrestler, Anthony Quinn gives an immortal
performance. |
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 9. Slap Shot (1977)
The tableau of the Hanson Brothers -- dried blood, broken
glasses, blank expressions -- standing at rapt attention for the national
anthem is priceless.
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 10. Jerry Maguire (1996)
Can a movie about an agent be a sports movie? Hey,
check out the sports pages. What's more, Cameron Crowe's script is brilliant -- moving and
real.
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 11. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
The film is so powerful that we barely care that
Robert De Niro doesn't swing the bat like a major leaguer, even a dying
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 12. The Natural (1984)
The movie has a timeless aspect that, sentimentality aside, makes it watchable again and again.
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 13. The Bad News Bears (1976)
The lovable underdogs sponsored by Chico's Bail Bonds.
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 14. North Dallas Forty (1979)
A teammate tells a receiver (Nick Nolte) he has
too much respect for his body to do drugs. The receiver answers, "You'll get past that."
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 15. Breaking Away (1979)
The Bloomington, Indiana, homeboys (Dennis Christopher, Jackie Earle Haley, Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern) make this biking movie click.
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 16. Field of Dreams (1989)
Was Burt Lancaster ever in any film he didn't make a
hundred times
better?
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 17. Fat City (1972)
An ex-fighter (Stacy Keach) to his protégé
(Jeff Bridges): "Before you get rolling, your life makes a beeline for the
drain"
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 18. Damn Yankees (1958)
A baseball team singing You Gotta Have Heart? Ridiculous but irresistible.
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 19. The Harder They Fall (1956)
The film ends with Humphrey Bogart once again seeing someone off at the airport, but it ain't Ingrid Bergman. |
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 20. The Set Up (1949)
There's an exquisite Playhouse 90 tautness to this boxing drama, which was directed by Robert Wise.
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