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30 of the Best Sports Movies of All Time, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Boxing movies mostly knocked out the competition, but there are some hidden gems that you really don’t want to miss.

ByRudie Obias|
On the set of "Raging Bull" (1980)
On the set of "Raging Bull" (1980) | Sunset Boulevard/GettyImages

Although sports movies have their fair share of clichés and plot contrivances (just like any film genre), they’re also full of joy and hope, promoting the power of sports as a way to achieve goals and overcome just about any obstacle. Some have even gone on to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, like Million Dollar Baby (2004), Rocky (1976), and Chariots of Fire (1981).

Sports movies can be a wonderful source of inspiration and showcase the triumph of the human spirit, but some are definitely better than others. Rotten Tomatoes recently put together a roundup of the best of all time, drawing from reviews and other data, like the movie’s release year. Per Rotten Tomatoes, the No. 1 sports movie of all time is I, Tonya (2017), which stars Margot Robbie and focuses on the life and times of controversial figure skater Tonya Harding. But there are plenty of others to consider if you’re planning a movie night.

Each of the 30 titles listed below scored at least 80 percent or higher on the Tomatometer, meaning they’re all “Certified Fresh” with film critics and audiences alike. There are even some picks that scored a perfect 100 percent, including The Endless Summer (1966), Changing the Game (2019), Next Goal Wins (2014), and Racing Dream (2009). All four titles are actually sports documentaries (in fact, there are 12 docs featured in the top 30 sports movies, while the rest are narratives). Additionally, the film with the lowest rating in the top rankings is 2018’s Creed II, which still earned a respectable 83 percent rating on the Tomatometer.

Here are 30 of the best sports movies of all time, based on the site’s rankings:

  1. I, Tonya (2017) // 90 percent
  2. Ford v Ferrari (2019) // 92 percent
  3. Creed (2015) // 95 percent
  4. Raging Bull (1980) // 92 percent
  5. The Wrestler (2008) // 99 percent
  6. National Velvet (1944) // 98 percent
  7. Fighting with My Family (2019) // 93 percent
  8. Free Solo (2018) // 97 percent
  9. Moneyball (2011) // 94 percent
  10. Maiden (2018) // 98 percent
  11. Bull Durham (1988) // 97 percent
  12. Murderball (2005) // 98 percent
  13. Rocky (1976) // 93 percent
  14. Hoop Dreams (1994) // 98 percent
  15. The Endless Summer (1966) // 100 percent
  16. Win Win (2011) // 95 percent
  17. Horse Feathers (1932) // 97 percent
  18. The Fighter (2010) // 91 percent
  19. Changing the Game (2019) // 100 percent
  20. When We Were Kings (1996) // 98 percent
  21. Bad News Bears (1976) // 97 percent
  22. Next Goal Wins (2014) // 100 percent
  23. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) // 97 percent
  24. Creed II (2018) // 83 percent
  25. Racing Dream (2009) // 100 percent
  26. Foxcatcher (2014) // 88 percent
  27. The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2016) // 98 percent
  28. The Hustler (1961) // 94 percent
  29. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1999) // 97 percent
  30. Undefeated (2011) // 96 percent

With seven movies in the top 30, the most popular sport represented here is boxing, followed by baseball with four films, and then wrestling with four titles. A few other popular sports have some representation on this list, though, like basketball, auto racing, and more.

The most obscure sports listed are wheelchair rugby (featured in the 2005 documentary Murderball), as well as rock climbing and retro gaming with Free Solo (2018) and The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007), respectively. And if you’re still in the mood for a sports flick and you've already seen most of the films above, you can always check out these incredible movies about the Olympics, too.

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