On October 13, 2010, Matt King, a senior analyst at BleacherReport.com posted his choices for the 100 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time. Not surprisingly, Sly had six movies that made the grade. Here are Matt King’s choices and commentary.
#79 Over the Top
You can thank Sly Stallone for knowing why you turn your hat around when you arm wrestle somebody. That’s valuable information there.
Seriously, though—it’s a movie about arm wrestling. How awesome is that? It’s Stallone right around the time he discovered steroids, facing off against some guy with more neck rolls than a pug. As a man, you just have to love this. It’s man law.
#62 Victory
What’s this? It’s a sports movie and we’re playing the Germans during WWII? Yes, please.
You could make a water polo movie where a team faces off against the Germans during WWII and I would be all in. It’s too easy. The villain is built in. You don’t need to build them up or give them any depth. It’s cool. We hate them. Let’s move along.
I also have a soft spot for sports movies ending a ridiculous note. Sly Stallone catching a penalty kick pretty much fits that bill.
#46 Rocky IV
It’s hard to rank the Rocky movies. Usually when a sports movie comes out with a sequel, it sucks. But Rocky managed to make not one, but three sequels that are extremely watchable.
Somebody has to bring up the rear and, while I do have a special place in my heart for Ivan Drago and Rocky IV, it can’t compete with the others.
It does however give us some amazing lines (I must break you) and a training montage that set the gold standard for cheesy goodness. I’ll always be thankful to Rocky and the fourth installment for singlehandedly winning the Cold War.
#32 Rocky II [and if you take a look at their original post, notice where they got the Rocky II photo]
At the end of Rocky, Apollo tells him that there won’t be a rematch and Rocky says that he doesn’t want one.
Good ending, but that’s hard for us sports fans to accept. We need some kind of resolution.
It’s the same reason most Americans hate soccer for three out of every four years: we hate ties.
Thankfully, Rocky II gave us that rematch and managed to do so without seeming like a horrible cash grab and was a really solid movie.
#24 Rocky III
Rocky III is probably the most entertaining Rocky movie. It’s got over-the-top characters like Hulk Hogan and Clubber Lang, Mickey dying, and a great final fight.
Mr. T really did kick ass as Clubber. With the first two Rockys, you always liked Apollo at least a little bit. He was mouthy, but it came with charm. Clubber Lang was just big, scary, and mean.
#6 Rocky [and don’t ask me why the photo for Rocky is from Rocky Balboa]
The ultimate underdog story.
The first Rocky was the ultimate everyman. He’s just an unassuming, humble guy from Philly who ends up getting a shot at the champ through a series of events and making the most of it.
Eventually, Rocky turns into this super fighter in later movies, but in this one he’s just your average guy with a bigger than average heart. Nothing special.
Stallone will never be considered a great actor, but he’s terrific in the movie. He nails the “aw shucks” attitude.
And who could forget Mickey. That gruff voiced little troll is one of my favorite sports movie characters of all time.
*****
I was happy to see that Over the Top easily made the top 100. I was surprised that Rocky Balboa didn’t appear on the list. What’s up with that? It should have been right there along side Rocky.
If you’d like to see Matt King’s entire list of 100 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time, you know what to do.
