The current issue of Sports Illustrated has a list of its 50 Greatest Sports Movies; unfortunately, if the list is online, I can't find it on the website. SI's top ten:
1. Bull Durham (1988) - Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon.
2. Rocky (1976) - Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire.
3. Raging Bull (1980) - Robert DeNiro, Catherine Moriarity.
4. Hoop Dreams (1994) - Documentary.
5. Slap Shot (1977) - Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean.
6. Hoosiers (1986) - Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey.
7. Olympia (1936) - Documentary (Leni Riefenstahl film about the 1936 Olympics).
8. Breaking Away (1976) - Dennis Quaid, Dennis Christopher.
9. Chariots of Fire (1981) - Ben Cross, Ian Charleson.
10. When We Were Kings (1996) - Documentary (Ali-Foreman, 1974).
The Palm Beach Post has a competing list. Its top ten:
1. Rocky
2. Raging Bull
3. Bull Durham
4. Hoosiers
5. Caddyshack (1980) - Ted Knight, Bill Murray.
6. Brian's Song (1970) - James Caan, Billy Dee Williams.
7. Field of Dreams (1989) - Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones.
8. Hoop Dreams
9. Breaking Away
10. A League of Their Own (1992) - Tom Hanks, Geena Davis.
Like all of these lists, this one's subjective; the Post's has 100 films, so if you didn't see your favorite, odds are it's on the list somewhere. Maybe at some point SI will put its list online (I can't imagine why they didn't; if somebody finds it on the site, please let me know).
Updated: the balance of SI's list can be found by clicking "MORE."
11. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) - Michael Moriarty, Robert de Niro.
12. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002) - Documentary.
13. A League of Their Own
14. The Freshman (1925) - Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston (silent).
15. The Endless Summer (1966) - Documentary (ed. note--haunting guitar theme music)
16. North Dallas Forty (1979) - Nick Nolte, Mac Davis.
17. Brian's Song.
18. Caddyshack.
19. Downhill Racer (1969) - Robert Redford, Gene Hackman.
20. Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) - Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason.
21. Pumping Iron (1977) - Documentary.
22. The Set-up (1949) - Robert Ryan, George Tobias.
23. The Hustler (1961) - Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason.
24. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) - Max Pomeranc, Ben Kingsley.
25. Horse Feathers (1932) - The Marx Brothers.
26. The Bad News Bears (1976) - Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal.
27. National Velvet (1944) - Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney.
28. Eight Men Out (1988) - John Cusack, David Strathairn.
29. Rollerball (1975) - James Caan, John Houseman.
30. The Rookie (2002) - Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths.
31. Baseball--A Film by Ken Burns (1994) - Documentary.
32. Vision Quest (1985) - Matthew Modine, Linda Fiorentino.
33. Fat City (1972) - Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges.
34. Everybody's All-American (1988) - Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange.
35. Million Dollar Legs (1932) - W.C. Fields, Jack Oakie.
36. Jerry Maguire (1996) - Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding.
37. The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1971) - Arthur Brauss, Erika Pluhar.
38. Field of Dreams.
39. The Harder They Fall (1956) - Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger.
40. The Longest Yard (1974) - Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert.
41. Remember the Titans (2000) - Denzel Washington, Will Patton.
42. The Pride of the Yankees (1942) - Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright.
43. Fists of Fury (1971) - Bruce Lee, Maria Yi.
44. The Deadliest Season (1977) - Michael Moriarty, Kevin Conway.
45. Grand Prix (1966) - James Garner, Eva Marie Saint.
46. Any Given Sunday (1999) - Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz.
47. It Happens Every Spring (1949) - Ray Milland, Jean Peters.
48. The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) - Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor.
49. Phar Lap (1983) - Tom Burlinson, Ron Liebman.
50. Best in Show (2000) - Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy.
Gallipoli should be there somewhere. "What are you?" "A leopard" "How fast are you going to run?" "As fast as a leopard."
And, don't forget Prefontaine. I fancy myself a runner, although I'm much more of a Bingham Penguin in reality. I do love the running movies, though.
Posted by: Skatemom at August 1, 2003 11:03 AM
What???
No "Ice Castles"????????????????
Toe Pick!!!!! (a joke in the movie, if you blinked and didn't happed to see the movie)
Ice Castles is 59 on the Palm Beach Post list, Ms. Toxic. ;)
Posted by: Linkmeister at August 2, 2003 07:44 AMI'm glad to see SI had the good sense to include Slapshot in its top 5.
Am I the only person who HATED Bull Durham?
Posted by: michele at August 2, 2003 08:49 AMToe Pick is from The Cutting Edge, isn't it? I love that part in the movie. Not having seen Ice Castles (wasn't it a sappy love-story esque movie?), I don't know, though, that the toe pick part in TCE wasn't an homage...
Posted by: bunny at August 3, 2003 11:40 AMwhat about MAJOR LEAGUE??
Posted by: at August 4, 2003 11:18 AMEr, Mr/Ms Anonymous, take it up with SI and the Palm Beach Post. ;)
Posted by: Linkmeister at August 4, 2003 11:29 AMas i write this, my television is showing "the natural" with robert redford, at least the best baseball movie, if not one of the best sports movies ever made.
Posted by: skippy at August 5, 2003 06:24 PMsh#t! i just read the entire list! no way "rollerball" is on there and "the natural isn't! bull sh%t!
Posted by: skippy at August 5, 2003 06:27 PM