Best Individual Sports Films List

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Last Updated: 4/15/25
Note: It's simple and straightforward: the best of the best in sports cinema history broken down by sports. In order to qualify, the film has received a rating of at least '6' from me and then must also meet either the first two of the following four criteria and may include #3; or only #4:

1. Centers around a sport, not just in the background but is a major theme.
2. Is not about a board game, cards, or academic/music competition.
3. Features a major event, usually at the end.
4. Is a biopic of an athlete, a team, an owner, etc.

On the Waterfront doesn't meet criteria #1 despite Terry Malloy being an ex-boxer while it's Cheaters for criteria #2. Multiple parts (i.e. duology, trilogy, etc.) can be put together as one if there's a continuation in the narrative. Miniseries and telefilms are fair game, but anything made after the year 2000 and documentaries are excluded.

These films have made the cut because they have shown brilliance in most, if not all, aspects: acting, characters, screenplay, plot, direction, editing, cinematography, and so on. They must also be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Then, I think about cultural phenomenon, uniqueness, famous movie moments, iconic scenes and/or lines, cinematic power, and timelessness.

This list is based on what I have seen so far and is limited to the top whatever with some notable exceptions to the rule. While ranking the films, I am simultaneously thinking about sports before quality and quality before sports.



Best Acrobatics Films

1. Trapeze (1956)

Best Aerobic Fitness Films

1. Perfect (1985)

Best Arm Wrestling Films

1. Over the Top (1987)

Best Auto Racing Films

1. Days of Thunder (1990)

Best Baseball Films

1. The Natural (1984)
2. Field of Dreams (1989)
3. Major League (1989)
4. The Sandlot (1993)
5. Major League II (1994)
6. The Bad News Bears (1976)
7. Soul of the Game (1996)
8. Eight Men Out (1988)
9. The Babe (1992)
10. A League of Their Own (1992)
11. The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
12. Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)

Best Basketball Films

1. Hoosiers (1986)
2. Above the Rim (1994)
3. He Got Game (1998)
Notable Exceptions:
♦Hoop Dreams (1994)
♦O (2001)
♦A Season on the Brink (2002)

Best Billiards Films

1. The Color of Money (1986)
2. The Hustler (1961)
Notable Exception:
♦Poolhall Junkies (2002)

BMX Films

1. Rad (1986)

Best Bobsleigh Films

1. Cool Runnings (1993)

Best Bodybuilding Films

None
Notable Exceptions:
♦Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (2008)
♦Generation Iron (2013)
♦Pumping Iron (1977)
♦Ronnie Coleman: The King (2018)

Best Boxing Films

1. Rocky (1976)
2. Rocky II (1979)
3. Raging Bull (1980)
4. The Greatest (1977)
5. Rocky IV (1985)
6. Fat City (1972)
7. Rocky V (1990)
8. The Boxer (1997)
9. Tyson (1995)
10. Hard Times (1975)
11. Rocky III (1983)
12. The Great White Hype (1996)
Notable Exceptions:
♦Million Dollar Baby (2004)
♦When We Were Kings (1996)

Best Cycling Films

1. American Flyers (1985)
2. Breaking Away (1979)

Best Dancing Films

1. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
2. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
3. Dirty Dancing (1987)
4. Breakin' (1984)
Notable Exception:
♦Breakin' 'n' Enterin' (1983)

Best Figure Skating Films

1. The Cutting Edge (1992)
Notable Exception:
♦The Price of Gold (2014)

Best Fishing Films

1. A River Runs Through It (1992)

Best Football Films

1. Brian's Song (1971)
2. Necessary Roughness (1991)
3. The Program (1993)
4. Rudy (1993)
5. Remember the Titans (2000)
6. All the Right Moves (1983)
7. Black Sunday (1977)
8. Everybody's All-American (1988)
9. The Replacements (2000)
10. The Longest Yard (1974)
Notable Exception:
♦Monday Night Mayhem (2002)

Best Golf Films

1. Tin Cup (1996)
2. Happy Gilmore (1996)

Best Hockey Films

1. Slap Shot (1977)
Notable Exception:
♦Do You Believe In Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team (2001)

Best Horse Racing Films

1. Ben-Hur (1959)

Best Martial Arts Films

1. Best of the Best (1989)
2. Enter the Dragon (1973)
3. Kickboxer (1989)
4. Lionheart (1990)
5. The Karate Kid (1984)
6. Best of the Best II (1993)
7. Only the Strong (1993)

Best Motorcycling Films

1. Winners Take All (1987)
2. Evel Knievel (1971)
Notable Exception:
♦On Any Sunday (1971)

Best Olympics Films

1. Chariots of Fire (1981)
2. Prefontaine (1997)
2. Cool Runnings (1993)
Notable Exceptions:
♦Olympia 1. Teil — Fest der Völker (1938)
♦Olympia 2. Teil — Fest der Schönheit (1938)

Best Rock Climbing Films

1. Cliffhanger (1993)

Best Rodeo Films

1. Junior Bonner (1972)
2. Urban Cowboy (1980)
3. Convict Cowboy (1995)

Best Rollerblading Films

1. Airborne (1993)

Best Rugby Films

1. This Sporting Life (1963)

Best Running Films

1. Chariots of Fire (1981)
2. The Jericho Mile (1979)
3. Prefontaine (1997)

Best Sailing Films

1. Wind (1992)

Best Skateboarding Films

1. Gleaming the Cube (1989)
2. Thrashin' (1986)
Notable Exceptions:
♦Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator (2002)
♦Wassup Rockers (2005)

Best Skiing Films

1. Downhill Racer (1969)
2. Ski Patrol (1990)

Best Skydiving Films

1. The Gypsy Moths (1969)
2. Point Break (1991)

Best Soccer Films

1. Victory (1981)
2. Ladybugs (1992)
3. A Shot at Glory (2000)
Notable Exceptions:
♦Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
♦The Two Escobars (2010)

Best Surfing Films

1. Point Break (1991)
Notable Exception:
♦The Endless Summer (1966)

Best Various Sports Films

1. Point Break (1991)
Notable Exception:
♦XXX (2002)

Best Volleyball Films

1. Side Out (1990)

Best Wheelchair Films

None
Notable Exception:
♦Murderball (2005)

Best Wrestling Films

1. Vision Quest (1985)
Notable Exceptions:
♦Beyond the Mat (1999)
♦Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (1998)
♦The Wrestler (2008)