Very few films have the distinction of being described as one of the most beautiful made, and Chariots of Fire, without doubt, is such that. The opening scene of runners on the beach is absolutely powerful and represents what the movie is all about: the celebration of human spirit. Honor and virtue are routinely stressed and backed by actions.

When people talk about the power of cinema, the best example is Rocky's training montage which is uplifting, powerful, and unforgettable. Not just an outstanding boxing film, it also has the romance of a lifetime with an all-time great ending. Terrific acting and direction transcend Rocky into a moving motion picture for all people.

"There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was." The Natural is what myth is all about: making legends bigger than they seem to be. Robert Redford will always be Roy Hobbs. He's just perfect. His character's story is almost what if Mickey Mantle never existed, hence "my life didn't turn out the way I expected." Every line uttered by the characters is superficial and never big on explanations. Instead, it's about the look, hence the Best Cinematography Oscar nomination for Caleb Deschanel, and the feel that shouldn't be read too deeply.

Rocky II is a phenomenal boxing movie. Apollo Creed is a great champion. Rocky Balboa was in the match of his career with him, and he showed heart by winning it. The training montage is a can't-beat when Rocky ran up the steps with the children at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The best baseball picture made, Major League wins points when it comes to the cast, characters, comedy, classic moments, one-liners, and direction. The ending is excellent. Who can forget Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, and Tom Berenger as the Wild Thing, Willie Mays Hayes, and Jake Taylor, respectively?

"Listen, man. I've raced with my legs broke, heart bruised, eyes popping out of my head like they're on springs. This is going to go away just like anything else." The be-all and end-all of auto racing pictures, Days of Thunder is 100% speed, fun, cool, exciting, stylish, thrilling, macho, and rewatchable. Tom Cruise and Michael Rooker play larger-than-life characters: Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns.

"A team is not a team if you don't give a damn about each other." Because of the South Korea national karate team's training montage, Best of the Best is a tremendous rush. Standouts include Eric Roberts, Chris Penn, Simon Rhee, and James Earl Jones. The ultimate match is what the film is about.

Stallone, Pelé, and other international soccer stars take on the Nazis for a game of soccer. That's one half of it, and the other half is The Great Escape plan. The most impressive sight is Pelé doing a bicycle kick. No matter what time of the day is, Victory is an entertaining WWII soccer picture that simply defies logic.

*table crashing* "Bodder me abott a steak? Huh? You bodda me abott a steak??!" That scene pretty much sums up what Raging Bull is about. As almost unrecognizable as he looks, Robert De Niro gives a performance that's among the ten greatest in history. Both cinematography and editing are the icing on the cake to reach for that certain oomph.

James Caan and Billy Dee Williams...they're unforgettable in Brian's Song which is among the greatest, most powerful movies ever made. It's also one of the saddest, proving a made-for-TV picture with a simple moving story is infinitely better than a pointless violent film with an overblown budget.

Before there was Steve Prefontaine and before there were Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, there was Larry "Rain" Murphy. The best memory I have of The Jericho Mile is the slow motion of him running topless in gray shorts with his hair in the wind. It's the highlight and my favorite moment of the movie. Simply unforgettable.

Who could play Muhammad Ali in a film about himself? The answer is nobody other than Muhammad Ali. I remember when ESPN ran a rubbish contest to find out who the best North America athlete was of the 20th century. It turned out to be Michael Jordan. They did another version and came up with Bo Jackson. Wrong on both counts, and it's not even close. Muhammad Ali was the greatest North America athlete of the 20th century, having an unparalleled worldwide impact.

This is Chariots of Fire stuff. The subject is unique: competitive sailing. Epic doesn't come to my mind for most films, but Wind should be labeled so. Putting the sailboats against the backdrop of hundreds of spectators and the ocean makes them look larger than life, and there are the competitors who work furiously to operate these machines. It's truly a spectacle.

"If you build it, he will come." That's the mantra of Field of Dreams which is an all-time great baseball film. There's no doubt of movie magic in the spirit of James Stewart's time-honored pictures such as It's a Wonderful Life and Harvey. Simply put, they don't make movies like them anymore.

The Hell of the West race is dramatic to watch, and the tactics used in the stages are technically correct and sound with authentic crashes. The cinematography of Colorado is wonderful, and the sight of the riders going through the roads over the Rocky Mountains is vertiginously jarring. On the other hand, Kevin Costner and David Grant give excellent performances.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a brilliant, sad movie about a now-banned sporting event that went on during the Great Depression. The most surreal moment is when the contestants performed the derby and everybody was all exhausted and desperate not to be the last couple to cross the finish line. It's powerful stuff.

The Color of Money is a cinematic rarity: two heavyweight actors, movie idols in their own right yet come from different generations, clash with each other before they make a change of the guard. It's a dog-eat-dog world of hustling. What's interesting is, as the mentor-protégé thing goes astray, the former ends up wanting a shot at the latter who in turn denies him his best game.

Remember...Andre does not eat raw meat 'cause Andre is a vegetarian. The best scene is when Robert Loggia gave a halftime speech before proceeding to tear off his clothes and then getting everybody to pray together afterwards. Memorable characters, strong script, plenty of laughs, and solid acting are the key ingredients to make this film a winner.

Forget the kid, and forget the sob story. The arm wrestling is where the action is in Over the Top. "You got guys from M.I.T., and you got guys who can't spell M.I.T." There's no competition: pure testosterone bleeds everywhere as arm wrestlers eat cigars, drink motor oil, and trash-talk that are backed by pounds of muscle, intense mentality, and do-or-die attitudes.

Hoosiers is among the most famous sport films made because it's inspiring. If you love a David-vs-Goliath story about high school basketball, this is it. Gene Hackman thought the movie would fail and end his career for good, but the opposite happened: he's famously associated with it. The cinematography is outstanding all the way through.

"I'm workin' on my first million, and you're still workin' on eight seconds." Junior Bonner beautifully captures the rodeo cowboy lifestyle for the posterity to get a glimpse of what it was like back then. Looking almost finished, Steve McQueen is at his best, never having to say a lot of words. He lets the action speak for him and is therefore larger than life.

Trapeze is a fun movie to watch and is the right avenue to show off Burt Lancaster's acrobatics background. Performance-wise, Gina Lollobrigida steals the show by setting up a weird love triangle. Shot on location in Paris, the filmmakers have done the smart thing by including as many acts in the background just to keep the eyes busy, hence the Wellesian effect.

The pairing of D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly is top-notch. Their back-and-forth bitching is what makes The Cutting Edge go. The way the chemistry is built up between the two opposites pays off dividends at the end when they realize they're in love with each other before turning in the best skating performance of their lives.

The Program is by far the most inspiring college football picture ever made. Having heard that many players watched this to get ready for a game, it's not hard to see why. The acting is quite good: Omar Epps as Darnell Jefferson, Andrew Bryniarski as Lats, Craig Sheffer as Joe Kane, Duane Davis as Alvin Mack, and James Caan as Coach Winters, among others. Watch any of the scenes, and you'll feel pumped to play some football.

Set at Notre Dame University, Rudy is a feel-good picture with an all-time great ending. Despite the heavy embellishment, the story works well, and there are many dramatic scenes. Sean Astin and Charles S. Dutton will be remembered for this movie in perpetuity.

Rad is easily the best BMX picture ever made. Who can forget Bill Allen and Lori Loughlin? Well, well, well...look at Bart Conner the blonde-haired rider of Mongoose bikes. He's the famous gymnast who won Olympics and world gold medals and is currently married to Nadia Comăneci, a much more über-famous gymnast.

Never mind the made-up story in spite of the claim basing it on actual events, Remember the Titans is a fine high school football picture. Denzel Washington is a '10' by playing himself to perfection. Everybody else on the team is excellent even though roughly eight are featured a lot with Ryan Hurst standing out the most as Gerry Bertier.

Breaking Away is a rare treat because it's a bicycling picture. Showing randomness, scene after scene have no connection, but somehow, the movie flows well. Shot on location in Bloomington, Indiana, it has charm that can only be captured in foreign films. The bike race at the end is the most thrilling of them all.

The Sandlot was already a classic baseball picture when it first came out in 1993. The story is creative. All of the child actors are natural, and they can play baseball, too. There are nice random moments from time to time to make the film memorable.

Winners Take All is the Days of Thunder of Supercross motorcycle racing pictures. The cast, most especially Don Michael Paul, Robert Krantz, and Kathleen York, turns in all-around great performances. I like the characters and their names, especially Bad Billy Robinson. The nice thing is that it has many 80's elements which makes it a fun movie to watch.

Before there was The Sandlot, there was The Bad News Bears. For the most part, it's a funny picture, thanks to Walter Matthau. He was a talented comedian who had a knack for delivering the goods with a deadpan look. Tatum O'Neal, the youngest Oscar winner daughter of Ryan O'Neal, gives the best performance and is able to match Walter Matthau line for line throughout the film.

Wrestling is one of the rare sports that anyone can beat anyone; it just takes focus and determination. The whole plot is wonderful and believable. I love the energy, and it's one of those feel-good films that aren't afraid to play around with serious questions. The best of them all is how realistic high school wrestling looks in Vision Quest.

Shot entirely on location in Hong Kong, Enter the Dragon is the most iconic picture of the kung fu genre and the most famous of Bruce Lee's short-lived career. Believe it or not, he was the first Asian thespian to gain widespread acceptance by white America. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee is captivating, especially during the fight scenes which are one of a kind.

A Brooklyn paint store clerk by day and undisputed king of the dance floor by night, it's John Travolta's most famous, iconic movie role. When I think of a film that captures a lost period, it's this one. At that time, disco was strictly underground, but when the movie came out, the subculture just blew up and John Travolta, although already famous because of the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, became an instant international superstar.

Kickboxer is an excellent martial arts picture with a very imposing villain. The Muscles from Brussels, Jean-Claude Van Damme was probably the best martial arts star of the 80's and the early 90's. The story is well-done, especially how Van Damme's character came from the United States to Thailand to witness the permanent paralysis of his brother, a kickboxing world champion, at the hands of Tong Po and wished to avenge his death.

If you've never heard of Steve Prefontaine, Prefontaine is a good start. The movie does well going through the main points of his life. Comparing Jared Leto to Billy Crudup of Without Limits, the former gives a better acting performance while the latter is a lot closer to the real guy as far as looks go with a smoother running form.

"I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you." Because of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing is a timeless movie with memorable moments, fantastic music, and a killer intro, notwithstanding the strange mix of 50's/60's and 80's looks.

All the Right Moves is more than just a football picture. It's about the abuse of power people in authority have over the teenagers who are treated as slaves to accommodate their system. The example with Stefen Djordjevic and his coach is common. I love the Western Pennsylvania look, and Tom Cruise and Craig T. Nelson of Coach are excellent.

Standing at a good half foot taller, Ivan Drago famously says to Rocky, "I must break you," and the rest is history for Dolph Lundgren. Character-wise, Sylvester Stallone is in better form than he was in Rocky III. His training montage that's intercut with Dolph's is a lot better and more exciting, too.

What matters the most to the red-blooded Americans is Super Bowl Sunday. The buildup to the anticipated climax is deliberate and methodical. The performances rendered by Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, and Marthe Keller keep Black Sunday moving to the incendiary point of no return. It's beneficial to have two teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers, playing each other to heighten the realism.

Cool Runnings is a funny picture, thanks to the quartet of Jamaican characters. Embellished in many ways, it's based on a true story of the Jamaica national four-man bobsleigh team that qualified for the 1988 Winter Olympics. There are many good scenes as well.

Before there was the Ultimate Fighting Championship, there was Lionheart. There's plenty of action. Lots of movies have tried to do the same thing, but this is the only one that gets it right. Harrison Page and Deborah Rennard are excellent as Joshua and Cynthia, respectively. It's one of the best performances by Jean-Claude Van Damme. He plays an interesting, likeable character with a bit more depth than usual.

It appears that Downhill Racer has foretold the story of Bill Johnson. If you aren't familiar with the name, he came out of nowhere to be the first American male to win the gold medal in alpine skiing at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo. This is a significant accomplishment because it's traditionally an European sport. No American male had ever medaled prior to Bill Johnson, and since then, only three more have.

Whenever you're in Kansas City, be sure to check out the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum as it's an inspiring place to be at. Then, watch the film Soul of the Game which explains how black ballplayers labored for the chance to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). It's black history of professional baseball at its finest.

Plenty of famous skateboarders including Tony Hawk and Stacy Peralta appear in this. Of course, the skateboarding scenes look tame by today's standards because vert skating gave way to street skating and the technical mastery of it has increased by a thousand-fold. Now, check out these Airwalk shoes in Gleaming the Cube. Yep, those were the days.

Urban Cowboy is the Saturday Night Fever of honky-tonk pictures. It's the relationship between Bud and Sissy, who are played well by John Travolta and Debra Winger, that makes this film a romantic classic. At the same time, it's cool to see the characters dress up as cowboys and mix in with the ambience of dance hall for the country and western flavor.

There are few films that are as exciting and inspiring as Point Break. I bet if anyone watched the movie just once, he may have entertained some thoughts about changing his entire lifestyle. Bodhi perfectly describes the truth-seeking experience: "Pure adrenaline, right?!? The ultimate rush. Other guys snort for it, jab a vein for it...all you gotta do is jump." Sounds pretty simple, eh? Patrick Swayze did the skydiving stunts and is thus captivating. It's easy to realize it in Johnny Utah's eyes when he saw what Bodhi could do.

Susan Tyrrell may have been Oscar-nominated, but Stacy Keach gives the best performance as Billy Tully. His constant glassy eyes have the appearance of a brain-damaged person. What a shock Tully is only 30 years old. That's one truly washed-up person for such age. Muhammad Ali even praised Stacy Keach's performance by saying, "Man that's for real, that's me talking up there." How ironic decades later.

The way the film portrays everything is spot-on. The clothes perfectly match the time, so do the skateboards and the hairdos. The posters displayed on the walls in Corey Webster's bedroom are exactly how skateboarders' rooms looked. Not corny the least bit, Thrashin' is charming and fun, and even more impressive are the skateboard stunts.

The epic of all epics, it's a big-budget picture amassing over 15,000 extras. Rome has never been so glorious-looking since the fall of the empire. The greatest and the most breathtaking climax comes during the chariot race. That scene is the reason alone the epic remains an insurmountable work of cinema. Although it's the highlight of Ben-Hur, the movie is much more than that which includes the rise of Jesus Christ.