share comment filmOA
Follow Mag Index
← Previous → Next Page
The Fighter poster art Christian Bale Mark Wahlberg filmOA

filmOA | best of

1/7

The Best and Worst Sport Films

text James Arthur Armstrong

Sport films are always popular with the general public. Why? Sport is a universally enjoyed past time. Whether it’s playing or following it as a fan, sport unites people. It allows people to forget their day to day lives and jobs for a few hours at the weekend, some even step into this world and dream of success. Trying to recapture the adrenaline fueled emotions of a football game, or that last second knock out punch is always a hard task for any filmmaker. Some are skilled enough to make a piece of cinematic gold whilst others have made sport films that make you shudder and cringe.

The most popular sport to be portrayed in a film is boxing. Not only has boxing had the most films made about the art form, it seems to be the most successful at award ceremonies. The sport has bagged three Oscar wins for best picture (On The Waterfront, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby) as well as three Oscars for best actor and actress. American football and Baseball are also very popular in the medium of film. American football seems to lack a truly great representation, while Baseball has had great success but also had some laughable bombs.

The Noble Art

A major activity of movie pioneers in the 1890’s was filming prize fights, and there are more first-rate films about the noble art than any other sport. Boxing has become a metaphor for the dream of success, the inevitability of defeat, the struggle of life itself. Many big name actors have played boxers; Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, and Denzel Washington to name a few. Even Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of a female boxer in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby. There have been impressive recent biographies such as Cinderella Man and The Fighter, but with great films comes some shockers. Against The Ropes, Play It To The Bone, Hard Times can all lay claim to be terrible boxing tales. Even the much anticipated Ali, didn’t quite deliver the knockout punch that was expected.

arrow white

Twitter