Entertainment
The Most Inspirational Sports Movies
List Rules
Vote up your favorite inspiring sports films.
Inspirational sports movies get us to cheer along with the crowd. From football movies to baseball films, these are the most inspirational sports movies of all time. This list of the best sports films has been chosen by the wisdom of the crowd, which means anyone can vote up their favorite inspirational sports movies. You will also find that several inspiring sports movies are based on true stories.
So if you've ever asked yourself: "What are the most inspirational sports movies?" You're in the right place. Rudy and The Natural are definitely contenders for the best inspirational sports film. Help decide which inspiring sports movie should top the list with your votes. The best part about this list is that you can vote for all your favorites, not just the one that you think should be in the number one spot. Whether you're a film geek, a sports fan, or a little bit of both, this list is a winning play when it comes to finding the best inspirational movies about sports.
Ranked by
- 1Sean Astin, Ned Beatty, Charles S. Dutton
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: David Anspaugh
Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) wants to play football at the University of Notre Dame, but has neither the money for tuition nor the grades to qualify for a scholarship. Rudy redoubles his efforts to ...more - 2Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Donald Faison
- Released: 2000
- Directed by: Boaz Yakin
In Virginia, high school football is a way of life, an institution revered, each game celebrated more lavishly than Christmas, each playoff distinguished more grandly than any national holiday. And ...more - 3Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith
- Released: 1976
- Directed by: John G. Avildsen
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a small-time boxer from working-class Philadelphia, is arbitrarily chosen to take on the reigning world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), when the ...more - 4Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: Gavin O'Connor
When college coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is hired to helm the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic hockey team, he brings a unique and brash style to the ice. After assembling a team of hot-headed college ...more - 5Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: David Anspaugh
Failed college coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to direct the basketball program at a high school in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher (Barbara ...more - 6Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron
- Released: 2009
- Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a homeless black teen, has drifted in and out of the school system for years. Then Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her husband, Sean (Tim McGraw), take him in. The ...more - 7Florence Pugh, Lena Headey, Nick Frost
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Stephen Merchant
Born into a tight-knit wrestling family, Paige and her brother Zak are ecstatic when they get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try out for the WWE. But when only Paige earns a spot in the ...more - 8Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones
- Released: 1989
- Directed by: Phil Alden Robinson
When Iowa farmer Ray (Kevin Costner) hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying "If you build it, he will come," he feels the need to act. Despite taunts of lunacy, Ray builds a ...more - 9André Holland, Zazie Beetz, Bill Duke
- Released: 2019
- Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
A sports agent pitches a controversial business opportunity to a rookie basketball player during a lockout. - 10Chadwick Boseman, Nicole Beharie, Alan Tudyk
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Brian Helgeland
42 is a 2013 American biographical sports film directed by Brian Helgeland. The powerful story of Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman), the legendary baseball player who broke Major League Baseball’s ...more - 11Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: David M. Evans
When Scottie Smalls (Thomas Guiry) moves to a new neighborhood, he manages to make friends with a group of kids who play baseball at the sandlot. Together they go on a series of funny and touching ...more - 12Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Ian McShane
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: McG
In 1970, Marshall University and the small town of Huntington, W.Va., reel when a plane crash claims the lives of 75 of the school's football players, staff members and boosters. New coach Jack ...more - 13Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: Ericson Core
Lifelong football fan Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) sees his wildest dreams come true when he becomes a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. While teaching at his high-school alma mater in Pennsylvania, ...more - 14James Caan, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Warden
- Released: 1971
- Directed by: Buzz Kulik
Brian Piccolo (James Caan) and Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) are teammates on the mid-1960s Chicago Bears. At a time when professional football still bears a certain amount of race-based ...more - 15Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith
- Released: 1979
- Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
Although working-class Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) lost his high-profile bout with the cocky world champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), his Cinderella story has caught the ...more - 16Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: Peter Berg
A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), is seriously injured during the first game of ...more - 17Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Four Jamaican bobsledders dream of competing in the Winter Olympics, despite never having seen snow. With the help of a disgraced former champion desperate to redeem himself, the Jamaicans set out to ...more - 18Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, Lane Smith
- Released: 1992
- Directed by: Stephen Herek
After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn't ...more - 19Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
- Released: 1985
- Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
After reclaiming the boxing championship title, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) plans to retire and live with his wife, Adrian (Talia Shire). However, during an exhibition match, Rocky's friend ...more - 20Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: Barry Levinson
On the way to a tryout with the Chicago Cubs, young baseball phenom Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is shot by the unstable Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey). After 16 years, Hobbs returns to pro baseball as ...more - 21Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: John G. Avildsen
Daniel (Ralph Macchio) moves to Southern California with his mother, Lucille (Randee Heller), but quickly finds himself the target of a group of bullies who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo. ...more - 22Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Thomas Carter
In 1999, Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) returns to his old high school in Richmond, California, to get the basketball team into shape. With tough rules and academic discipline, he succeeds in setting ...more - 23Sylvester Stallone, Mr. T, Talia Shire
- Released: 1982
- Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
Having become the world heavyweight champion, former working-class boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is rich and famous beyond his wildest dreams, which has made him lazy and overconfident. In ...more - 24Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Ron Howard
During the Great Depression, ex-boxer James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) works as a day laborer until his former manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) offers him a one-time slot against a rising young ...more - 25Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Bennett Miller
Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A's, one day has an epiphany: Baseball's conventional wisdom is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must reinvent his team by ...more
