I’ve just been reading an article in today’s Guardian about the forthcoming “Borg Vs McEnroe” feature film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgfFdEOGUqE
The article looks at the difficulty of depicting the drama of tennis in a convincing manner on the big screen. It mentions the 1979 film “Players” which I’ve not seen, and “Wimbledon” from 2004, which I remember as an enjoyable piece of fluff (even though its tennis scenes were about as convincing as Tim Henman’s clenched fist).
Thinking about films that centre around football, I really enjoyed “When Saturday Comes” (1996) with Sean Bean. The drama of the storyline is stronger than the football scenes, in which Sean Bean is a stiff penguin on the ball. Then there’s “Yesterday’s Hero” (1979) with Ian McShane playing for Leicester Forest (surely the only team to be named after a Motorway service station?) I saw the trailer for this at the cinema when it came out but have never managed to see the film. There’s “Goal! The Dream Begins” (2005), again which I’ve not seen. Has anyone seen it? Was it part of a trilogy?
I really enjoyed “Rush” (2013) which tells the story of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, even though I’m not the slightest bit interested in Formula One. This new “Borg Vs McEnroe” strikes me as being a similar type of thing.
Is it possible to depict sport in a realistic way in feature films? Which films have done it well, and which have done it badly? What are your favourite “sports” films?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgfFdEOGUqE
The article looks at the difficulty of depicting the drama of tennis in a convincing manner on the big screen. It mentions the 1979 film “Players” which I’ve not seen, and “Wimbledon” from 2004, which I remember as an enjoyable piece of fluff (even though its tennis scenes were about as convincing as Tim Henman’s clenched fist).
Thinking about films that centre around football, I really enjoyed “When Saturday Comes” (1996) with Sean Bean. The drama of the storyline is stronger than the football scenes, in which Sean Bean is a stiff penguin on the ball. Then there’s “Yesterday’s Hero” (1979) with Ian McShane playing for Leicester Forest (surely the only team to be named after a Motorway service station?) I saw the trailer for this at the cinema when it came out but have never managed to see the film. There’s “Goal! The Dream Begins” (2005), again which I’ve not seen. Has anyone seen it? Was it part of a trilogy?
I really enjoyed “Rush” (2013) which tells the story of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, even though I’m not the slightest bit interested in Formula One. This new “Borg Vs McEnroe” strikes me as being a similar type of thing.
Is it possible to depict sport in a realistic way in feature films? Which films have done it well, and which have done it badly? What are your favourite “sports” films?
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