The Top 5 British Sports Movies of All Time

Some genuinely remarkable athletic moments have been captured on film.

As the globe has worked to curb the spread of coronavirus in recent years, cinema has become one of the last venues where people can get their fill of football, cricket, rugby, and other sports.

This style of film has undoubtedly flourished in American cinema, with its life-affirming tales of baseball, basketball, American football, and others crossing geographical lines to appeal to viewers all over the world. This also helped make sports betting a popular hobby around the world. And with the advancements in technology, you can now do it online. If you are interested to learn more about how to start betting online, you can click here and see where you can go from there.

British cinema has not been as successful in reaching a larger audience, using the sport as a background for dramatic, often comedic, sometimes sad character studies that lack the grandiose flair and feel-good endings of its Hollywood counterpart. As a result, several brilliant works of cinema have gone unnoticed.

With that said, here are the five best British sports movies of all time:

 

Bend It Like Beckham

David Beckham’s name is possibly the most known in the world of football, and his relocation to Los Angeles after periods at Real Madrid in Spain and a lengthy and successful career at Manchester United in England ensured that he would forever be one of the sport’s most famous players and advocates.

The film chronicles the antics of eighteen-year-old Jess Bhamra, who must contend with her Sikh parents, who unfortunately do not share her love of David Beckham and football. The combination of breaking down religious barriers and gender identification makes for an exciting and enjoyable voyage.

 

The Flying Scotsman

The 2006 film by Douglas Mackinnon is based on the life and career of Scottish rider Graeme Obree. The film, starring Jonny Lee Miller, depicts a period in the cyclist’s life when he set, lost, and then retook the world’s one-hour distance record.

Meanwhile, his bipolar disease is pulling him back into a downward spiral. Despite Obree’s problematic mental state, his efforts to revolutionize cycling and his achievements in setting world records make this a joyful and emotionally moving film.

 

Marvellous

Toby Jones acts as real-life Stoke City kitman Neil Baldwin in Julian Farino’s scintillating comedy-drama. Growing up with learning disabilities, he is hesitant to accept the restrictions that others feel he has, defying the odds and enjoying a full and, at times, quite interesting existence.

A breezy, feel-good biography featuring Jones’s subtle charm, who skillfully avoids caricature while delivering a compelling portrayal replete with empathy, honesty, and heart. Baldwin’s passion for football becomes a central theme in the novel; he is an honorary life member of Keele University Students’ Union, in part because he founded the Neil Baldwin Football Club there in 1967.

 

 

Twenty-Four Seven

Some critics have compared Shane Meadows’ debut feature film Twenty-Four Seven to the gritty 1960s British sports films The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and This Sporting Life. The director, whose subsequent credits include This Is England, A Room for Romeo Brass, and Dead Man’s Shoes, foreshadowed the themes that would dominate his filmmaking.

We witness here how disillusioned youngsters, crippled by the lingering effects of Thatcher’s disastrous rule on the suburban working class, deal with boredom and lack of direction by joining Bob Hoskins’ boxing club. They study the sport there and focus their efforts on fighting in the ring rather than away from it.

 

Chariots Of Fire

If Chariots of Fire wasn’t already well-known, it became so during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Chariots of Fire is the iconic British sports movie, appearing as a significant element of the opening ceremony, at the moment where Mr. Bean begins dreaming of jogging on the beach while allegedly helping the London Symphony Orchestra produce Vangelis’ renowned theme music. It is also one of the most accessible films in the genre from the United Kingdom, showing a pair of underdog sportsmen competing in the 1924 Olympic Games. Chariots of Fire received seven Academy Award nominations, winning four of them, including Best Picture.