Best Inspirational Sports Movies
by joe-2154 | created - 28 May 2013 | updated - 28 May 2013 | PublicGreat inspirational movies about athletes and sports that I can watch with my children to inspire them and help give them vision for their lives.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Cinderella Man (2005)
PG-13 | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The true story of James J. Braddock, a supposedly washed-up boxer, who returned to the spotlight to win the heavyweight championship of the world.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Craig Bierko, Paul Giamatti
Votes: 198,444 | Gross: $61.65M
2. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two ambitious girls, despite their parents' wishes, have their hearts set on careers in professional football.
Director: Gurinder Chadha | Stars: Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher
Votes: 116,545 | Gross: $32.54M
3. Rudy (1993)
PG | 114 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Rudy has always been told that he was too small to play college football. But he is determined to overcome the odds and fulfill his dream of playing for Notre Dame.
Director: David Anspaugh | Stars: Sean Astin, Jon Favreau, Ned Beatty, Greta Lind
Votes: 69,125 | Gross: $22.75M
4. Facing the Giants (2006)
PG | 111 min | Drama, Sport
A losing coach and his underdog football team face their giants of fear and failure on and off the field, with surprising results.
Director: Alex Kendrick | Stars: Alex Kendrick, Shannen Fields, Jason McLeod, Tracy Goode
Votes: 18,069 | Gross: $10.18M
5. Hoosiers (1986)
PG | 114 min | Drama, Sport
A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small-town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the state championship in 1950s Indiana.
Director: David Anspaugh | Stars: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper, Sheb Wooley
Votes: 51,117 | Gross: $28.61M
6. Miracle (2004)
PG | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The true story of Herb Brooks, the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Soviet squad.
Director: Gavin O'Connor | Stars: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Nathan West, Noah Emmerich
Votes: 58,944 | Gross: $64.38M
7. We Are Marshall (2006)
PG | 131 min | Drama, Sport
When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.
Director: McG | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie, David Strathairn
Votes: 64,846 | Gross: $43.55M
8. The Natural (1984)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sport
A middle-aged unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary baseball player with almost supernatural talent.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger
Votes: 52,490 | Gross: $47.95M
9. Friday Night Lights (2004)
PG-13 | 118 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Jay Hernandez, Derek Luke, Lucas Black
Votes: 66,884 | Gross: $61.26M
10. Hoop Dreams (1994)
PG-13 | 170 min | Documentary, Drama, Sport
A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Director: Steve James | Stars: William Gates, Arthur Agee, Emma Gates, Curtis Gates
Votes: 28,037 | Gross: $7.83M
11. The Heart of the Game (2005)
PG-13 | 97 min | Documentary, Sport
A documentary Roosevelt Roughriders, a girls' high-school basketball team in Seattle, and one player's fight to regain her eligibility to play.
Director: Ward Serrill | Stars: Darnellia Russell, Bill Resler, Ludacris, Devon Crosby Helms
Votes: 975 | Gross: $0.44M
12. Coach Carter (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown
Votes: 172,255 | Gross: $67.26M
13. The Blind Side (2009)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All-American football player and first-round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Jae Head
Votes: 360,787 | Gross: $255.96M
14. Invincible (2006)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Based on the story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who overcame long odds to play for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.
Director: Ericson Core | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Conway
Votes: 75,386 | Gross: $57.81M
15. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 232,088 | Gross: $115.65M
16. Warrior (2011)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Drama, Sport
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
Director: Gavin O'Connor | Stars: Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison
Votes: 498,205 | Gross: $13.66M
17. The Karate Kid (2010)
PG | 140 min | Action, Drama, Family
Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master.
Director: Harald Zwart | Stars: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han
Votes: 205,789 | Gross: $176.59M
18. The Rookie (2002)
G | 127 min | Drama, Family, Sport
A Texas baseball coach makes the major league after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Dennis Quaid, JD Evermore, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez
Votes: 37,203 | Gross: $75.60M
19. 42 (2013)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.
Director: Brian Helgeland | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie
Votes: 102,795 | Gross: $95.00M
20. The Fighter (I) (2010)
R | 116 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Based on the story of Micky Ward, a fledgling boxer who tries to escape the shadow of his more famous but troubled older boxing brother and get his own shot at greatness.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo
Votes: 389,113 | Gross: $93.62M
21. Radio (2003)
PG | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of a high school coach and the developmentally challenged man who he took under his wing.
Director: Michael Tollin | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Debra Winger, S. Epatha Merkerson
Votes: 44,016 | Gross: $52.33M
22. Invictus (2009)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
Nelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng
Votes: 167,955 | Gross: $37.49M
23. All the Right Moves (1983)
R | 91 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
An ambitious young football star is trapped in a dying mill town--unless his gridiron skills can win him a way out.
Director: Michael Chapman | Stars: Tom Cruise, Lea Thompson, Craig T. Nelson, Charles Cioffi
Votes: 20,409 | Gross: $17.23M
24. Moneyball (2011)
PG-13 | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 465,073 | Gross: $75.61M
25. Gridiron Gang (2006)
PG-13 | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together.
Director: Phil Joanou | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Xzibit, L. Scott Caldwell, Leon Rippy
Votes: 80,683 | Gross: $38.43M
26. Pride (2007)
PG | 104 min | Drama, Sport
The determined Jim Ellis starts a swim team for troubled teens at the Philadelphia Department of Recreation.
Director: Sunu Gonera | Stars: Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac, Kimberly Elise, Tom Arnold
Votes: 6,904 | Gross: $7.04M
27. Never Back Down (2008)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Drama, Sport
A frustrated and conflicted teenager arrives at a new high school to discover an underground fight club, and meets a classmate who begins to coerce him into fighting.
Director: Jeff Wadlow | Stars: Sean Faris, Djimon Hounsou, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet
Votes: 106,482 | Gross: $24.85M
28. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
PG | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A prepubescent chess prodigy is encouraged to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
Director: Steven Zaillian | Stars: Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Max Pomeranc, Joan Allen
Votes: 42,423 | Gross: $7.27M
29. Soul Surfer (2011)
PG | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Family
Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer, loses her left arm in a shark attack. Unwilling to pay attention to the gravity of her situation, Bethany decides to get back into the ocean and surf again.
Director: Sean McNamara | Stars: AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt, Carrie Underwood
Votes: 52,936 | Gross: $43.85M
30. Goal (2007)
167 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
Sam, a football player, gets admission in a prestigious international school under sports quota. His life changes for the better when he falls in love with a girl from the same school.
Director: Kamal | Stars: Rajith CR, Aksha Pardasany, Muktha George, Rahman
Votes: 552
31. Heart Like a Wheel (1983)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges, Diane Delano, Ellen Geer
Votes: 1,583 | Gross: $0.27M
32. Peaceful Warrior (2006)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
Dan, a college student and a world-champion gymnast, is disturbed and wants to add some meaning to his life. A chance encounter leads him to discover an enlightened way ahead.
Director: Victor Salva | Stars: Scott Mechlowicz, Nick Nolte, Amy Smart, Tim DeKay
Votes: 29,871 | Gross: $3.96M
Tell Your Friends