The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris start soon. If you’re ready to relive classic stories or hear about some fictional sporting endeavors, here are the ten best Olympic movies to get you ready for the real-world drama that’s about to unfold.
Blades of Glory
The ridiculous Will Ferrell comedy Blades of Glory is as hilarious as it is absurd. Ferrell plays fictional Olympic figure skater Chazz Michael Michaels who is in a heated rivalry with Jon Heder’s character, Jimmy MacElroy. The two are banned from competing in the singles event after getting into a fight but learn that they can still compete if they go in as a duo.
The Boys in the Boat
The Boys in the Boat is based on the book of the same name and tells the true story of the 1936 boy’s rowing team at the University of Washington. The team wants to qualify for the 1936 Olympics but is met with an uphill battle.
Eddie the Eagle
Eddie the Eagle is a biopic that tells the true story of British Olympian and ski jumper Michael Edwards. Interestingly, Edwards (who was known by the nickname Eddie the Eagle) helped break a decades-long streak of Britain not putting any athletes up to represent them during the ski jumping event in 1988.
Richard Jewell
Richard Jewell, directed by Clint Eastwood, tells the true story of the security guard of the same name who worked at Centennial Park during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Jewell found a pipe bomb on the premises and reported it to the police. However, he was accused of planting it himself, leading to a lengthy investigation.
Race
One of the best Olympic narratives came in the 1936 Olympics when Berlin hosted the games amidst the terrifying rise of the Third Reich. Jesse Owens, an unparalleled African American track and field athlete, showed up to the games to prove a point in front of the Nazis and won a mind-blowing four gold medals right under Hitler’s nose. The story is retold in detail in the 2016 biopic Race.
Foxcatcher
Foxcatcher is an interesting movie, showcasing Steve Carell shortly after his departure from The Office when he was trying to broaden his resume. The film follows the grim true story of John du Pont, who hired wrestling gold medalists Mark and David Shultz to train Olympic hopefuls before murdering David.
Cool Runnings
The movie Cool Runnings was inspired by the inherent humor of the existence of a Jamaican bobsleigh team. In the movie, John Candy’s character has to teach a group of Jamaican sledders how to compete at the Olympic level despite the country only receiving snowfall at the peak of the Blue Mountains.
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a superbly good movie about Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, two British athletes who competed in the 1924 Olympics. The film focuses on the two men’s psychology, examining not how they run but why they run.
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I, Tonya
Tonya Harding had a frankly bizarre career as a figure skater. She’s played by a phenomenal Margot Robbie in I, Tonya, a bizarre dark comedy that loosely chronicles her life. Of course, the main story is the 1994 assault of her rival, Nancy Kerrigan, by an assailant hired by Tonya’s ex-husband. This incident saw Harding banned from competing in figure skating events and was national news.
Read More: 15 Olympic Scandals That Rocked the World
Miracle
The Miracle on Ice is the single greatest sports moment in human history, bar none. Kurt Russel stars as Herb Brooks in the film Miracle and absolutely nails it. This is classic sports movie stuff: the scrappy American underdogs beat their insurmountable Soviet opponents with determination and the power of the American spirit.
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