The 25 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time, Ranked (by The Hollywood Reporter)

From 'Hoop Dreams' to 'Bring It On,' 'Raging Bull' to 'Bull Durham' and beyond, THR's critics pick their all-time champs.

It’s rare that a sports movie is just a sports movie.

Through the prism of athletics, sports movies are love stories and tales of the underdog, opportunities to process war and addiction and immigration and euthanasia and economic inequality. They’re showcases for our biggest stars, our pluckiest protagonists, our most virtuoso directors, and even the occasional golden retriever allowed on the court by a rule-book loophole. They reflect our complicated past and predict our dystopian future. They speak a language understood around the globe.