Eight Men Out, the movie adaptation of Eliot Asimov's 8 Men Out, about the 1919 Black Sox scandal, was the narrow winner in our baseball movie poll. Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and Major League all tied for second place, one vote back.
Can we all agree that there is a noticeable void of really good baseball movies? It seems that football is a sport much better adapted for the big screen. Friday Night Lights, the movie version of H.G. Bissinger's iconic recounting of the 1988 season of the Permian High School football team of Odessa, in west Texas, is in my opinion superior to any of the baseball movies in the poll. In fact, I wonder which sport lends itself best to the silver screen? Basketball has Hoosiers, He Got Game, Hoop Dreams. Golf has Caddyshack. Boxing has...Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby, Rocky. What others am I forgetting? I guess people really love Bull Durham--it's been at the top of a couple "Best Sports Movies" lists I just looked at--but I just don't see it. I guess I'll have to go back and watch it again.
Our next poll asks: if the season started today, which team should be favored to win the N.L. pennant?
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Where Else?
2 comments:
Well put. The movie industry has really failed to produce an outstanding baseball movie. That iconic film does not seem to exist. Still, baseball does have a deep list of entertaining films. In fact, with the exception of football, I would venture to say that baseball probably has the largest selection of decent movies out of the various US sports. Just look at the list....Field of Dreams, The Natural, Major League, Bull Durham, Eight Men Out, *61, Cobb, Pride of the Yankees, Bad News Bears (original), Bang the Drum Slowly, etc. It's an impressive list of good (but not necessarily great) films. Let's compare that list with other sports.
Yes, basketball has Hoosiers. But what else does it really have? White Man Can't Jump is funny. After that the list gets pretty thin. There's the comedy Celtic Pride, which doesn't quite cut it. Then there's Blue Chips, the ultimate box office flop.
How bout boxing. Well, two jump off the screen right away - Raging Bull and Rocky. After that it gets a little bit more difficult. Still, Hurricane was a solid movie and a case could be made for Ali. After that, the list goes downhill quickly.
Then there's golf. Like basketball, golf has one movie that stands above the rest. In this case, its Caddyshack. Standing in second place on the golf list is the fan favorite Tin Cup. Next would have to be Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore. Like with basketball and boxing, however, after these flicks things take go south rather quickly.
The next sport to look at is hockey. Hockey has an inspiring film in Miracle. Also, the movie Slap Shot is supposed to be good but I have never seen it. Other than that, I can't think of another film. There may be one or two out there, but I know there is not enough to compete with the baseball list.
The best competition for the baseball movie list is football. Let's examine the list of football movies...Friday Night Lights, Rudy, Remember the Titans, The Longest Yard (the original), The Program, Any Given Sunday...hell even Varsity Blues is entertaining....
The difference between baseball and football is the success and impact of these films....while baseball has a deep list, none of the films are on par with that of Friday Night Lights or Remember the Titans....
As I see it, the answer to your question "which sport lends itself best to the silver screen?" is as follows:
1) Football
2) Baseball
3) Boxing
4) Basketball
5) Golf
6) Hockey
The Mighty Ducks!
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