Hollywood has taken great pride in its passion for sports. Sport movies are very popular with the masses. Mostly these movies are based on real life stories of individuals. That is probably the reason why people can so easily relate themselves to the movie character and such a movie strikes an emotional bond between the viewers and the character. The characters mostly come from the lower sections of the society and by sheer talent in respective sports field make it big. It is kind of rags to riches stories. Given below are some such all time classic sports movies.
Rocky I (1976) was a movie which rocked the country. Though there was a series of Rocky films which followed the original one the original one was the finest of them all. It was a low budget movie which was completed in a record 28 days. It was probably the most influential movie in the last 30 years. The movie was given three Academy Awards from its 10 nominations. Moreover, it made Sylvester Stallone a superstar.
The brilliant story was about a simple minded, working class Italian hero who was a good-natured individual. He was handed an improbable chance to fight for the heavy weight title for which he dedicates himself. In the process he falls in love but at last realizes his potential. It had a complicated screenplay with rich characterization and splendid dialogues. This movie was influenced by a real life individual.
Field of Dreams (1989) was a celebration of the love of baseball. It is almost dream like. It was adapted from W.P. Kinsella’s novel “Shoeless Joe” by the director/screenwriter Phil Aldem Robinson. It was a sentimental, modern fantasy classic which became a smash hit in its unique depiction of America. The movie also touched upon the religious theme of faith and redemption.
Kevin Costner did full justice to the character of Ray Kinsella who is an idealistic, transplanted city boy turned lowa farmer. Standing in the middle of the cornfield he repeatedly hears a voice which tells him to build a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield. He builds it and it becomes the playground of ghostly ball players (seen only by the believers). The movie was so realistic that viewers almost really believed in the ghosts of “shoeless Joe” and the games they played with Ray to be rehabilitated.
The Karate Kid (1980) was a big hit and youngsters became crazy about Karate. Lovable loser Daniel moves to California and entangles himself in a fight with a band of moped riding karate bullies. He then turns to a Japanese maintenance staff for guidance and learns karate, learns about life and falls in love. He enters the tournament against the same bullies but in the semi final is injured on a cheap shot. He rallies back to fight his girlfriend’s ex boyfriend in the finals, and wins at last. Mr. Miyagi’s character (played by Pat Morita) was a stroke of genius.
Raging Bull (1980) was undoubtedly one of the best films ever made by the maestro Martin Scorsese. It lost out the best picture award in 1980 Oscars but is the 1980 trendsetter in all aspects including direction, screenplay, editing and cinematography. Robert de Nero probably gave his best performance in this Oscar winning role. The skillfully made film was both praised and criticized and was rated one of the best movies of the decade. It won two Oscars after being nominated for eight.
The Hustler (1961) is a realistic adult story of a small time, ambitious, struggling, self-destructive pool shark, commenting on winning and losing, life and love, loyalty, greed, self respect, selling out and ultimate redemption. The story is adapted from the book of the same title written by Walter Tevis. Robert Rossen is the director-producer-writer of this intensely dramatic film.
Paul Newman in the lead role became a leading actor with this film but he was denied an Oscar though. This famous movie, filmed in black and white, received two Academy Awards out of nine nominations.
Technology has brought with it many new and well-made movies, but these movies would never get obsolete. These evergreen movies would continue to entertain moviegoers, generation after generation.
