by Rex Smart
It is the story of the underdog doing amazing things and achieving amazing results that drive us to keep looking for games such as these. It is all rooted in the human nerve, the human desire for risk and gambling. So, in order to keep the rush of the victorious underdog going, we have decided to provide you with a list of films that will keep your on your toes and let you experience a feeling of the underdog winning one more time. The three movies listed below have all been considered either masterpieces or incredibly important cultural pieces throughout their years of existence. They are all about the odds of something happening being as low as possible and they are about the sports people involved in the games proving everybody wrong by winning. They are not only exciting, but they also serve as an example that the best strategy for victory is to never give up. Let’s get into talking about them. You can also read the article in full.
Miracle (2004)
A film that in many ways has influenced the way the film below this one has been made. It is the story of the US hockey team in the 1970s, preparing for the Olympics, knowing that they will be facing the Soviet Union in the finals and will probably end up losing. The reasoning for this expectation is simple – the USSR has been victorious for so many years in a row that many don’t even dare to challenge their supremacy. But this is not a story about giving up, it is about trying your best. And team USA did just that. They gathered the right people for the team and prepared for the Olympics in the ways that they knew would allow them to win. After a gruesome training regime, a lot of drama and a lot of effort put into the team, the coach had to leave, but team USA did not give up and in the end, the team won. A true story that seemingly came out of a fairy tale. The film might not have won any high-level awards from academies, but it did win the hearts and minds of the many people that watched.
Moneyball (2011)
As mentioned before, we believe that this film has a lot to it that was inspired by Miracle, but there are a whole lot of things that the movie did on its own, and earned itself the Academy Award nomination it deserved. The story revolves around baseball and a coach who is trying to take his team to the top of the league from the seemingly lowest point that a team can be. All the coach has to do is gather the right team and build this team into a reliable combination of players that can consistently push towards victory in the game. All he has to do, according to him, is pick the right players that can combine their skills in ways that would allow them to become the ultimate team. The beautiful part of it all is that he does actually manage to do so and lead his team of losers through a number of victories that nobody had ever expected them to be able to achieve. This film is a great storytelling example and the performance given by Brad Pitt is something many actors can learn from. Some have said that ageing has provided him with more platforms to showcase his acting, in comparison to earlier in his story when many were simply blinded by his uniquely and unrealistically good looks.
Creed (2015)
Who could have known that taking the old Rocky films and making them into something new, something that only Creed could be, would be as much of a success as it has turned out? But it was, and it has garnered the attention of many awards ceremonies. The film itself has some exceptional cinematography and provides the viewer with some powerful moments of storytelling, character studies and the showcasing of the emotional toll that a high stakes sport that boxing has on a person. The need for success is powerful in the heart of the young boxer and it drives him to win the battle that matters the most to him, as well as the battle that he thought would be impossible to win. The film has evolved the way we see films and has taken the Rocky franchise and made it into a transcendental experience of pure cinematic storytelling. Highly worth watching.
