Sports Documentaries - All Sports

A bit off topic, ie not rugby....but was just curious is there were any Sports Documentaries that you have watched which you really enjoyed.

I mention it, as Ive just watched the basketball series "the last dance" about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Now im not a basketball fan but i couldn't stop watching this series.. and actually found it very inspiring and informing.

Another one also on Basketball at the moment is Malice at the Palace...involving a Players v Fans brawl in 2004, another very interesting watch.

Finally there is the Ice Hockey Docu, "Bad Boys" about a team bought by a Mafia big player...and all the shenanigans that went on...

Is there any others you would recommend?

Alex Smith, former Quarterback, almost lost his leg, went through 17 operations to save the leg, and returned to the NFL. This is incredible (my practice and I were involved as outside advisors) - the unflagging mental toughness of a man and top notch medical care.

Frankly, this should have been impossible. Inspirational.

I hope this link works: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/69b74e6d-3717-45db-9f87-6b09ee87541c/redirected/true#bucketId=19829

Free Solo, about Alex Honnold's free solo of El Capitan, is one of the best films I've ever seen.

When We Were Kings, about the Ali-Foreman Rumble in the Jungle is excellent

I have a huge soft spot for Marvellous, about Stoke City's kit man. It's dramatised, but with interviews with the actual participants intercut. There is almost no dramatic tension, but it's essentially the story of a guy with a lot stacked against him, who achieves his dream and makes a lot of people's lives better by being nice to people.

And there's always Building Jerusalem, about the 2003 RWC campaign.

I really enjoyed F1: Drive To Survive on Netflix where they go behind the scenes during a GP season. Also looking forward to the Schumacher documentary in the next few weeks.

Depending on how critical you are of wrestling as a sport but Bret Hart Wrestling with Shadows is great.

7.5, they are superb athletes and most of them trained wrestlers through high school and upwards etc...

Some might criticize the sport, but you cant criticize the individuals. Ill watch that.

Cheers for the recommendations, ill watch them all.

"100ft Wave" is good:



In a similar vein, "The Dawn Wall":



Another vote for "When We Were Kings". Also, with the recent Paralympics in mind, "Murderball" is worth a look.



And "Road"

Last Chance U is on Netflix, it's about college American football players who have screwed up their scholarship for whatever reason (drugs, failing exams, discipline etc) and are given one more chance to make it by a small junior college. Think it's also expanded out to basketball now but haven't seen that one

https://youtu.be/rFzvBYFrhOc

Rugby Fan wrote:"100ft Wave" is good:



In a similar vein, "The Dawn Wall":



Another vote for "When We Were Kings". Also, with the recent Paralympics in mind, "Murderball" is worth a look.



And "Road"

As shown in the Paralympics Murderball/wheelchair rugby is fascinating watching

I happened across one on Eurosports a couple of months back. ‘Rulon’ is the story of Rulon Gardner, an American Olympic wrestler (heavyweight) and his career, retirement, trying other sports, battles with injury, overeating, depression, etc. I really enjoyed it. He comes across really well on camera. Both a sad and uplifting documentary.

You can watch the full film here on this link:

https://olympics.com/en/films/watch/rulon-five-rings-films

Ah the Dawn Wall....those guys must have their brains wired up wrongly...or they have balls of steel!!

From the early 90' s: Hoop dreams is the story of two young black teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds as they try to follow their dreams of playing in the NBA. The pressure on these young men to succeed is immense and their stories are really compelling.

From the 70's: Formula 1 - the quick and the dead. Staring Jackie Stewart and several other drivers, many of whom are dead or injures by the time the film is published. the scene of Stewart driving round the Nürburgring with the top down on his roller, giving a running commentary of the track conditions, is worth the watch alone.

Some of the early ESPN 30 for 30 sport documentaries were good (though US centric obviously). There was one on Bo Jackson which is a great one for how a sportsman can become legend/mythical. There was also one called 'Broke' I think which was very candid about the amount of professional athletes that make millions doing untold damage to their bodies only to end up bankrupt shortly after retirement.

I've rewatched the Lions Invincibles documentary a number of times. I've found more recent Lions documentaries a bit too sanitised.

BOD did a documentary about Irish rugby being all island and what the northern players had to exist through during the Troubles, and how it informed the views of players on both sides of the border. While I adored BOD for his exploits on the pitch, I almost irrationally don't tend to like BOD off the pitch (too much of a calculated nice guy, often comes across as sanitised, smug and bit too much like a politician doing punditry), he did a good job of hosting that documentary.

I liked the Last Dance. I thought Isaiah Thomas was thrown under the bus in far too 'simple' a way. He is one of the all time greats in his position. It's a Bulls documentary so there is going to be that slant on things, but the success of Netflix promoting the Last Dance to so many that wouldn't follow basketball, he's tagged as 'villian' fullstop.