We are treated almost every day to sporting action around the world. Whether this is football and horse racing or chess and table tennis, you can usually find some form of sport to enjoy.

The popularity of the sporting world has seen the world of cinema receiving it’s fair share of sporting movies, but which ones resonate most with the viewers? Whether it is entirely fictional films or moves based on true events, AmericanCasinos.com have run down five of their favourite ever sporting films below.

 

Rocky (1976)

It probably won’t surprise many to see that one of Sylvester Stallone’s boxing bouts makes our list of the best sports films of all time.

While some have questioned the acting of Stallone at points throughout his career, few that remember seeing this in the cinema or that have watched it since would argue that it is a real blockbuster of a sports film with Stallone as a fantastic emotional centre-point of the film.

While true Rocky fans will claim each and every one of the Rocky films are exceptional, the first film has a special place in the heart of many Stallone, sports and boxing fans.

The underdog story about a little-known boxer from Philadelphia becoming one of the greatest fighters of all time resonates with sport in general, with everyone loving an underdog story.

The Italian Stallion goes onto beat his fair share of hard-hitting opponents (shout out to the character Ivan Drago here in particular), but his fight with Carl Weather’s Apollo Creed is what makes this film so great, while the famous line ‘ADRIAN!’ is something that Stallone is probably sick of hearing by now.

 

Invictus (2009)

Invictus follows Morgan Freeman’s Nelson Mandela following his 27-year imprisonment as he looks to unify South Africa, which is completely divided by race. With very little time elapsing since the end of Apartheid, cracks are still clearly visible in the country.

Seeking a way to galvanise the nation, Mandela puts his support behind the South African rugby team, with the country hosting the 1995 World Cup.

Following years of being on the sideline, the Springboks are unfancied in the competition, with the team’s difficulties often supported by their own fans, with the mostly white Springboks side seen as a team that represents prejudice.

The film continues to tell the story of Mandela’s attempts to somehow bring a broken country back together, with rugby the method in which he does this.

South Africa go onto win the World Cup with that immortal moment from the film seeing Mandela and Matt Damon’s Francois Pienaar on the pitch together following the Springboks’ 15-12 extra-time triumph over New Zealand in the World Cup final.

 

Remember The Titans (2000)

The year 2000 brought us an instant classic in Remember The Titans. The film is about a high school Football Team in Virginia and looks at what life was like in the 1970’s. Racism is rife in the team, but they eventually turn into a family under the tutelage of head coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington.

The film sees defenders Julius Campbell and Gerry Bertier hating each other at the start, only to become incredibly close friends before tragedy strikes as the latter dies in a car crash. This sees his side go onto play out a perfect season as they secure the state championship.

The film is an incredible mix of sporting action with genuine real-life stakes as a diverse team comes together to be more than just a group of individuals. By the end of the film, they are not simply a group of players, rather a team of brothers.

 

Escape To Victory (1981)

Based on Two Half Times in Hell by Zoltan Fabri, Escape To Victory follows a team of Allied prisoners of war that agree to play the Germans in an exhibition match.

Captain John Colby (Michael Caine) leads the Allied team he was a professional footballer for West Ham before the war. The film sees American Robert Hatch (Sylvester Stallone) trying to use the match as a way to escape as he contacts French Resistance to help the team break free.

The game itself then sees the Germans go 4-1 ahead at the break, with the resistance tunnelling into the Allied dressing room and offering them the chance to escape. However, the Allied team refuse and return to the field.

While there is huge bias from the officials to the German side, the Allied team battle back to 4-4 with a special mention for Luis Fernandez, played by the late great Pele, while Bobby Moore appears as Terry Brady, with Caine’s Colby and Stallone’s Hatch starring in the film.

While there are those out there that do not like watching a football match, let alone a film about one, Escape To Victory is one of those films that you simply have to watch before you die.

 

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Another boxing film that makes it into our list, Million Dollar Baby stars Clint Eastwood as a trainer named Frankie Dunn who takes on a female boxer called Mary ‘Maggie’ Fitzgerald (played by Hilary Swank) with everything eventually ending in tragedy.

Earning the Oscar for Best Picture, Eastwood stars as actor and director in a film that was as impactful as it was enthralling. The film sees questions about assisted suicide, family and guilt explored in great depth, with Eastwood, Swank and Morgan Freeman brilliant in the film.

It is not often that a film about sport can be as touching and shattering as Million Dollar Baby somehow managed to be.