A sport film is basically a movie genre which makes use of sport as the main theme of the movie. It’s a fictional production where a sport, popular sport, player, or fan of sport are heavily involved, and that rely on sport to some extent for their storyline resolution or inspiration. Some examples of this kind of movies would be Hollywood movies like Rocky, Top Gun, The Replacements, etc. These are all based on a sport that the audience at the cinema may be familiar with – such as American football, or rugby, or tennis.
The plot of these movies can be based on many different aspects, from physical skill competition between rivals, to one man against the whole world, or even the rise of a phenomenon like the Tour de France. They can also use this to further delve into the modern-day politics, or culture of a certain sport (e.g. Tiger Woods’ career achievements are discussed in relation to his personal character, or how his winning spree changed the sport of golf, or why some sports celebrities have more success than others when it comes to their chosen sport). This is often used as a way of exploring sport in more detail, as well as a means of entertainment. The viewer will enjoy the witty banter, exciting racing, as well as any other element that the director chooses to include, making it more than just an ‘American sport film’.
Sport films are used for a variety of reasons – they could be made as celebrations of a sport win, or could be about something that happened in the real world. However they are generally aimed at people who are fans of a particular sport – or even for people who don’t care about the sport but still participate in it. There can also be elements of reality included, depending on the subject of the movie itself. In the case of Hollywood movies, you’ll find that most of them take place during the World War II – and they are mainly about the efforts that were put into ensuring that America and her allies would win the war. However these movies still incorporate a great deal of physical skill and exertion, with the result that they make for some of the best cinema that has ever been made.