Comments on: Best Football Movies of All Time

By: Ken Keith

Ken Keith — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:17:43 +0000

Tana…Keanus throwing of the football was fine, your uncle did a great job…now if Keanu had only let someone teach him to act.

By: Roseanne Luth

Roseanne Luth — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:33:32 +0000

Ok guys, I’m going to Netflicks now to order!

By: Tana Rubley

Tana Rubley — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:08:50 +0000

I have to go with the Replacements - Just because my uncle taught Keanu Reeves how to throw the football

Look for him in the credits (after the movie) - T.J. Rubley

By: Will Morris

Will Morris — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:03:39 +0000

Brian’s Song was my first favorite football movie that had my entire family crying. I was a Gale Sayers fan from the moment he ran within 10 feet of me on the sidelines of a Kansas vs. Nebraska game in 1963, on his way to a 99 yard touchdown run. Remember the Titans, Rudy, and Invincible were inspiring and great to watch with my sons and my dad. The wife of a close friend of mine graduated with the class that inspired Remember the Titans and confirmed that passion and the tension that occurred. One of my son’s loves Notre Dame and watched Rudy literally scores of times in middle school and high school. Sports movies can often create great family memories and emotions. Baseball is best, but there are some wonderful football movies.

By: Bob Graham

Bob Graham — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:40:35 +0000

My vote goes to the 1974 version of THE LONGEST YARD, directed by Robert Aldrich (who along with Sam Peckinpah, John Ford and Don Siegel) from my pantheon of the greatest directors of all time. Aldrich played football in college and knew the game and when someone gets hit in an Aldrich film, you feel it (the balls to the crotch, the slo-mo play with the sounds of bones cracking), all set against the backdrop of the Watergate era with Eddie Albert as a stand-in for Nixon.

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Tom Cruise in ALL THE RIGHT MOVES with Tom Cruise. A cut above the normal teen-age flick with some good performances.

A couple of others not mentioned:

EVERYBODY’S ALL AMERICAN with Dennis Quaid
SEMI-TOUGH with Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson and Jill Clayburgh.

I agree with Bob T on HORSEFEATHERS having a great comic football game.

I must disagree with Ben on a couple of soccer films though. I think ESCAPE TO VICTORY is one of the worst and most improbable films ever made (Hey, we can escape and not have to go back to POW camp. Nah, let’s hang around and play soccer…). And BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM features the absolute worst sport playing by actors I have ever seen. Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightly are charming and gorgeous, but they can’t play soccer to save their lives. And no, American college coaches don’t hang around international tournaments handing out full scholarships like they were movie passes. Having a daughter who just completed 4 years of playing soccer in college, trust me, it’s a lot more difficult and competitive than that.

But how about my favorite soccer movies: A SHOT AT GLORY (ed Sugar saw this recommendation coming,I’m sure) with Robert Duval as a Scottish footba’ coach whose team earns a playoff spot against national powerhouse Glasgow Rangers. I also recommend MIRACLE MATCH (a.k.a. THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES) about the 50’s era US World Cup Team that beat England. It stars Gerard Butler (of 300) and Patrick Stewart. One of the neat things about this film is the actors really look like they know how to play the game.

By: Ed Sugar

Ed Sugar — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:15:47 +0000

Merrill you missed a classic and one of my favorites; Buck Henry’s and Warren Beatty’s remake of “Heaven Can Wait”

By: Merrill Dubrow

Merrill Dubrow — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 21:31:51 +0000

Clearly I left out lots of movies and need to watch a few I have never seen.

Invincible was great - I think i forgot about it since it was so recent. Mark Wahlberg was great but let’s not forget Greg Kinnear as Coach Dick Vermeil - he was fantastic.

Keep the comments coming!

Merrill

By: Howard Fienberg

Howard Fienberg — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:12:32 +0000

“Invincible”, like some others here have mentioned, belongs on the list.

And don’t forget Keanu Reeves’ epic movie, “The Replacements” !

By: Ken Keith

Ken Keith — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:44:03 +0000

If we’re talking comedy, then give me The Three Stooges 1934 short entitled Three Little Pigskins, where they do a take off of Notre Dames “Four Horsemen”…if you love the stooges (and who doesn’t…okay I know…it’s mostly a guy thing) then this is a must see!!!

By: Bob T

Bob T — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:21:23 +0000

Although these are not really movies about football, there are a couple of hilarious football scenes in these movies:

Horsefeathers (The Marx Brothers)- I seem to recall Harpo throwing banana peals to cause the opposing players to slip and be taken out of a play, having the ball on a string, and other such monkey business….

MASH (The movie, not the TV show)- In this game, I think the doctors from MASH give the star player from the other team an injection (when he is at the bottom of a pile of players) to knock him out of the game.