>> Speaker 1: 1 point behind, 30 seconds to go.
The crowd's going wild and the odds are infinitesimal.
It's the final match, the title bout, the championship game, the gold medal race.
These are our picks for the top ten sports showdowns of all time.
>> [MUSIC]
>> Speaker 2: So a hearty welcome to all our listeners in England.
There are just a few minutes to go before the kickoff of this historic match.
>> Speaker 1: Kicking us off at number ten,
we're looking at none other than the beautiful game, which is either soccer or
football, depending on how you pronounce your foil.
And while Bend it Like Beckham's final match is impossible not to love and
the insanity of Shaolin Soccer's showdown goes so far over the top that it has to
get a mention, there were two other showings we were torn between.
The first was from Goal: The Dream Begins, a soccer film made in collaboration with
FIFA that features actual premiership players, cleverly integrated match
footage, and some of the slickest shot and most exciting soccer scenes ever filmed.
Unfortunately, the mountain of cliches was just too tall to climb over
in order to sneak onto our list,
so instead we're happy to hand our number ten to Escape to Victory.
It's a story of allied World War II POWs who
face a professional German team in an exhibition game meant to embarrass them,
all the while planning to escape captivity during the excitement of the match.
Sure, it lacks the polish of Gold, but it more than makes up for it in style, heart,
and a far better storyline.
And as for actors, who can argue with Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and
mother [BLEEP] Pelé?
It's a great ride and there's nothing quite like watching Pelé
laser home a slow-mo scissor kick to land solidly on our list.
>> [MUSIC]
>> Speaker 3: There are a lot of cowboys out there that they're trying
to prove themselves.
Some of them are gonna get hurt.
So keep your distance, keep your focus, all right?
>> Speaker 1: Next up at number nine,
we've got to give it to some of the badass films that feature extreme sports.
Now most extreme sports films aren't so much stories as they are show reels for
the pros, and if that's what you're into, by all means check those out.
But if it's a cinema experience you're into and we are, you've got to
look elsewhere for your extreme drama, and there are few really good choices.
Lords of Dogtown's got a great tournament that takes a turn for the violent,
and Trashin' has a pretty cool downhill skateboarding race that
features stunt work from pretty much every legend ever.
And we really like Bodhi's final paddle out into the 50 year storm, but
if we are talking big wave surfing we've got to give it to the climax
of Chasing Mavericks for intensity.
Do yourself a favor and skip the first two-thirds of this movie.
But we don't have a single qualm with the final sequence that sees 14-year
old Jay Moriarty paddling out into mavericks to ride monster waves,
in a final showdown between boy and nature.
The filmmakers don't hold back.
The cinematography and stunt work during the sequence are absolutely astonishing,
and completely makeup for the color-by-numbers storyline.
These are real surfers out there putting their lives on the line,
riding triple overhead waves.
Gerard Butler almost died during the shooting, and
that was only in ten foot surf.
It's tense, gorgeous, and awe-inspiring.
And for that, we have no problem including this otherwise underwhelming movie on our
best of list.
>> [MUSIC]
>> Speaker 1: Of course we couldn't talk sport if we didn't have a spot for racing.
So next up at number eight, that's exactly what we plan to do.
But it's not for Breaking Away's little 500 or
even Cool Runnings' endlessly lovable Jamaican bobsled team.
No, our number eight goes to the slicker-than-an-oil spill
Henley Royal Regatta >From The Social Network.
Most people don't care about rowing unless they're up [BLEEP] creek with or
without a paddle.
But director David Fincher turns what must be one of the unlikeliest of movie sports
into the tensest of battles.
And while it's often been criticized as stylistically inconsistent with the rest
of the film, which it sort of is, tilt-shift cinematography and
electronic Hall of the Mountain King and all,
it's an incredibly pivotal moment in the narrative.
Fincher knew he had to drop us into an event that has had no build up and
make us care.
Make us believe that this single defeat, this last straw of just missing first,
propels the Winklevi into action.
So he pulls out all the tricks in his rather deep bag to do so, and
we think he absolutely nails it.
>> Speaker 4: And welcome to the first annual Two-on-Two for
Brotherhood Basketball Tournament, also known as the TTBBT.
>> Speaker 1: Now even though sports are a lot more emotional for
some of us than most serious political news bulletins,
not all of their showdowns are faceoffs of the greatest consequence.
We here at Cinefix also like to honor those that don't take themselves
so seriously.
So if it's tongue in cheek you're looking for, we've got a few suggestions for you.
There's the backyard football match from Wedding Crashers, the rivalry between
a pitcher and his own catcher from Bull Durham, between Bill Murray and
a row of peonies from Caddyshack, the foot race from Talladega Nights,
the final from Dodgeball, or Philip Seymour Hoffman versus
Sasquatch from Along Came Polly, and we loved that pick up basketball match.
But for our number seven, we're actually giving it to the trash talking tournament
from White Men Can't Jump.
>> Speaker 5: What, you still throwing up bricks?
What is this, a mason's convention?
What?
Clank, clank, I need like a welding torch to play in this league here.
I got an idea.
Let's stop right now, and let's just gather up all these bricks, and
let's build a shelter for the homeless.
So that maybe your mother has a place to live.
>> Speaker 1: Watching Woody Harrelson's hot-headed braggadocio and
[BLEEP] talk is almost as entertaining as him and
Wesley Snipes running a two-on-two clinic in this Brotherhood tournament.
Not only can they play some serious ball,
but Woody can spout some seriously ridiculous bull.
And even funnier is watching his perplexed opponents choke
on the insults as they get their ankles consistently broken.
It's a foul-mouthed, fast paced, and flashy showdown, but
it's also [BLEEP] hysterical, which is why we love it.
>> Speaker 6: Sup, son?
>> Speaker 1: Next up at number six, we're sticking to the basketball court,
but this time with our serious faces on.
And I know, I know we all really want this slot to go to the Michael Jordan and
Bill Murray versus cartoon alien grudge match from Space Jam, but
it turns out that movie is a comedy, not a documentary.
Instead, we considered slightly less believable games, like the finals from
Hoosiers, or Coach Carter, or Above the Rim, or Passing Glory, or Glory Road.
But we didn't pick any of those championship winning, crowd screaming,
lights flashing grand finales.
Our pick for number six is the smaller, quieter, one-on-on
between Denzel Washington and Ray Allen as father and son in Spike Lee's He Got Game.
It's about so much more than just the game,
as years of emotion tumble out on the court.
And the best part is that you're not dealing with stunt doubles or
actors trying to look like they know what they're doing.
You should know that Ray was supposed to win 11 to 0, but Spike Lee just told them
to play for real, and Denzel actually knocked those five down.
That anger, that's not the character.
That's Ray Allen getting pissed off.
It's a scene two hours in the making, but it's great ball, spectacular drama,
and a perfect fit for Denzel and Ray.
>> [INAUDIBLE] >> Speaker 7: Head down.
Watch the first line.
Go for release.
>> Speaker 1: Counting down to number five, we've seen races,
but none of those run on foot.
So we're looking to the track for our next pick.
And we liked The Athlete's look at the first African runner to win the Olympic
marathon and Without Limits' take on Steve Prefontaine's 5000 in Munich.
But for our slot,
it's gotta go to the serene 100 meter final from Chariots of Fire.
Don't get us wrong, the Solomon pious 400 meter that follows is good, too.
But there's nothing quite like the 10 seconds of this 100 meter
race stretched over a beautifully taut 2 minutes to glorify the beauty of running.
The slow-motion final moments might be a cliché nowadays, but
this is certainly its inception.
It's gorgeously shot, perfectly scored, and
a must-have on the list of any sports fan.
>> [INAUDIBLE]
[APPLAUSE]
>> Speaker 1: Next up at number four,
we're looking at America's pastime, and
holy [BLEEP] does Hollywood make a lot of movies about it.
Like the Athletics' run at the postseason from Moneyball.
Or the final chance at a home run from 61.
Or the Indians winning it from Major League.
But for our number four, we think the best showdown in baseball took place between
the fictional New York Knights and the Pittsburgh Pirates in The Natural.
This heart warmer is just as nostalgic as it is made up of utter fantasy.
But it's all the better for it.
It harkens to a mythical era of the quintessential middle America,
exemplified by romance, and wheat fields, and baseball.
A time and place that never really existed, but
it sure feels like they might have.
And here the living legend is played by Robert Redford,
a 35-year old rookie, a natural.
And in the final one game playoff for the pennant, with two strikes down,
his lucky bat destroyed, and all odds stacked against him, he hits one in for
the lights, wins the pennant,
and rounds the bases in a shower of glorious sparks and applause.
In a world where children are told legends of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and
Jackie Robinson, The Naturals' final showdown is
a perfect fictional addition to the storybook cannon.
>> [MUSIC]
>> Speaker 8: I'm sick and tired of hearing about
what a great hockey the Soviets have.
Screw them, this is your time!
>> [MUSIC]
>> Speaker 8: Now go out there and take it.
>> Speaker 1: Closing in on number three,
we're taking it to the ice with a showdown from hockey.
And of course, our minds first go to the unstoppable brilliance of the triple
deke from Mighty Ducks, then to the all out brawl in Slapshot, and
next to the final match in the recently underrated Goon.
But it finally settles on the only hockey showdown we can justify picking,
with the 1980 Olympic upset from Miracle.
Pitting massive underdog Team USA against heavy favorite
USSR in this based-on-a-true-story movie, every minute in the film has been
building up to the moment when the clock downs to 0 and we all believe in miracles.
The coverage is realistic, almost documentary-like, not flashy or obnoxious,
and the story benefits from its source material.
It just looks like real people playing real hockey.
And to top it all off,
we're offered the wonderfully nuanced perspective of Kurt Russell's Herb Brooks,
which gives us a fantastically complex experience of this historic game.
>> [MUSIC]
>> Speaker 9: Now you all have known me for a while.
And for a long time now you been hearing me talking about being perfect.
Well I want you to understand something.
To me, being perfect is not about that score board out there.
It's not about winning.
>> Speaker 1: We only got a few sports left and
we're pretty sure you can guess that football is going to be one of them.
So, spoiler alert, it's our number two.
Now there's absolutely nothing like the final touchdown to secure the win,
whether it's a Hail Mary pass or a forth down QB sneak, so
we love the final minutes of films like Rudy, Remember the Titans and
Any Given Sunday for their unique takes on victory on the gridiron.
But our number two pick belongs instead to the devastation of a loss.
We're talking about the Texas State finals from Friday Night Lights.
Sure, the best thing about the movie might be the TV series it spawned, but
that doesn't mean we can't still love its heartbreaking final moments.
So many sports films have given us the cathartic joy of the last minute clutch,
and it's the kind of story every fan likes to hear.
But the team can't always win, and
Friday Night Lights shows us what happens when it doesn't.
In fact, it's an entire movie about the reality of sports,
where everything isn't wrapped up neatly with a bow, where players don't all go on
to make it into the pros, triumphantly summed up in the closing title cards.
It's memorable as both a sports film and a human drama.
It's honest, even when it hurts,
which is why it takes the number two spot on our list.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Speaker 1: And
finally at number one, the only sport that's left is bowling.
I'm just kidding.
And no offense to bowlers, and bowling movies alike, because lets be honest,
who doesn't love The Big Lebowski?
But our number one pick is not a bowling movie, and it's not a ping pong movie, or
a rugby movie, or a golf movie, or a wrestling movie, or a pool movie either.
Although we've got to hand it to Ping Pong, Invictus, Happy Gilmore,
The Wrestler, and The Hustler respectively.
No, our number one actually goes to boxing.
So, what did we pick?
We had mentioned before how much we love Jake Lamotta's final encounter with
Sugar Ray Robinson in Raging Bull.
We're a big fan of Ali's Rumble in the Jungle, and
we don't wanna say too much about the final title bout from Million Dollar Baby.
But our number one goes to possibly the most classic showdown in the most
classic American sports movie in the most classic series.
And the first, Rocky.
About so much more than winning, Rocky's 15 rounds with
Apollo Creed go down in cinema history as the most iconic boxing match ever shot.
It's fun, brutal, memorable, and so easy to cheer for, and
it is the perfect example of what sports showdowns are all about.
Which is why we think it's the number one of all time.
So what do you think?
Do you disagree with one of our choices?
Did we leave out one of your favorite on-screen head-to-heads?
Let us know in the comments below,
and be sure to subscribe for more Cinefix movie lists.
>> [MUSIC]