Monday, August 10, 2020 – Underdog Movies
- Mary Reed
- Aug 10, 2020
- 12 min read
There’s nothing better during a time of stress and frustration than watching an underdog movie. Watching someone or something take the giant leap to do their very best and succeed is heartwarming and good for your soul. It’s even better when it’s a true story. Hope and inspiration are what we need in depressing times like these. The first one in the list is my personal favorite. The rest of the picks are from the June 22, 2020 article “The Best Movies About Underdogs” at ranker.com and the copy on the entire list is from Wikipedia.
Spare Parts
“Spare Parts” is a 2015 American drama film directed by Sean McNamara and produced by David Alpert, Rick Jacobs, Leslie Kolins Small, George Lopez and Ben Odell. It is based on the Wired magazine article "La Vida Robot" by Joshua Davis about the true story of a group of students from a mainly Latino high school who won the first place over M.I.T. in the 2004 MATE ROV competition.
In 2004, four Latino teenagers arrive at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara; born in Mexico, raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where they attend an underfunded public high school.
Oscar Vazquez goes to an American Forces Career Center to enlist into the U.S. Army; while he is waiting for his interview, he sees a video announcement and brochures about a Marine Underwater Robotics Competition, an event sponsored by NASA and the United States Armed Forces. Although he distinguishes himself as part of the Carl Hayden High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, he is forbidden to join because of his status as an undocumented immigrant; he is recommended not to present himself to any government office to avoid being reported to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Vazquez lies to his mother about his progress in the Army; looking for another way to move ahead in life, he investigates the Underwater Robotics Competition.
With no previous formal teaching experience and between jobs, Fredi Cameron interviews for a vacant substitute teacher position at Carl Hayden High School. The principal questions his job stability record, but eventually hires Cameron because of his PhD and engineer credentials. After the interview, while in the school's parking lot, Lorenzo Santillan overrides Cameron's car temperature safety sensor for $20 to avoid a more costly repair job.
As part of his normal teaching responsibilities, Cameron is assigned to oversee an engineering club, where he meets Vazquez, who is looking for help to build a remotely operated underwater robot for the UCSB robotics competition. Cameron grudgingly accepts to help, even though he doesn't feel he is going to remain at the school for long.
Vazquez, looking for more kids to join the engineering club, talks to teacher Gwen Kolinsky, who recommends Cristian Arcega. After agreeing to help, Arcega takes the technical lead of the project and sketches an early design of the potential robot. Before starting to build it, Cameron suggests a prototype, so they can do a proof of concept model.
Cameron starts to learn about the competition rules and requirements, which demands the robot to successfully complete a series of underwater tasks. Kolinsky offers to help teaching him about the BASIC programming language, to implement the robot's intelligence module.
After catching Santillan stealing from the principal's car, Cameron forces him to join the team and the now named Robotics Academic Club, so he can help with the mechanical design and building of the prototype. They later recruit Luis Aranda, for being strong enough to help lift the machine in and out of the pool.
Because of a lack of funds to see the project through, the team starts looking for spare parts and asking for donations from the local businesses, which raise $663.53, plus $134.63 given by Cameron himself. The small budget forces them to scale back the original design and to innovate in how the robot is constructed, including the glue which gives the robot its name, "Stinky."
Needing to go from Phoenix to Santa Barbara creates problems because three of the four boys were undocumented immigrants from Mexico. The day before the competition, they have to fix a critical electrical problem, due to a leak in the case that protected the intelligence module, by using tampons to contain the water.
They face several highly funded college teams; the team from MIT is backed by a $10,000 grant from ExxonMobil. The Phoenix teenagers scraped together less than $1,000 and built their robot out of scavenged parts. Yet their robot finishes the practical segment of the competition in fourth place with 75 points after missing three tasks. They are still hopeful for a chance to make it into third place because 30% of the total score would be based on the judges' technical evaluation and interview of the teams.
The night of the awards ceremony, they are given a Special Achievement award, which the team assumes is their final result. They are later surprised when they are announced as the champions of the event.
Rocky
Per Wikipedia, “Rocky” is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags-to-riches American dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated, kind-hearted working class Italian-American boxer, working as a debt collector for a loan shark in the slums of Philadelphia. A small-time club fighter, he gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. The film also stars Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathersas the reigning champion, Apollo Creed.
The film, made on a budget of just over $1 million, was a sleeper hit; it earned $225 million in global box office receipts, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976. The film was critically acclaimed and solidified Stallone's career, as well as commenced his rise to prominence as a major movie star. Among other accolades, it went on to receive 10 Academy Award nominations, winning three, including Best Picture. In 2006, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." It is considered to be one of the greatest sports films ever made and was ranked as the second-best in the genre, after “Raging Bull,” by the American Film Institute in 2008.
The film has spawned seven sequels: “Rocky II” in 1979, “Rocky III” in 1982, “Rocky IV” in 1985, “Rocky V” in 1990, “Rocky Balboa” in 2006, “Creed” in 2015 and “Creed II” in 2018. Stallone portrays Rocky in all eight films, wrote seven of the eight films and directed four of the six titular installments.
Remember the Titans
“Remember the Titans” is a 2000 American biographical sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay, written by Gregory Allen Howard, is based on the true story of African American coach Herman Boone, portrayed by Denzel Washington and his attempt to integrate the T.C. Williams High School football team in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971. Will Patton portrays Bill Yoast, Boone's assistant coach. Real-life athletes Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell are portrayed by Ryan Hurst and Wood Harris, respectively.
The film was co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and released by Buena Vista Pictures. On September 29, 2005, the film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records. It features songs by several recording artists including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Dylan, The Hollies, Marvin Gaye, James Taylor, The Temptations and Cat Stevens.
“Remember the Titans” had a budget of $30 million and premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on September 29, 2000. It has grossed an estimated $115.6 million in the U.S. and $136.7 million worldwide. The film is often listed among the best football films.
The Karate Kid
“The Karate Kid” is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Karmen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in “The Karate Kid” franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita and Elisabeth Shue. “The Karate Kid” follows Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), a teenager taught Gōjū-ryū karate by Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to help defend himself and compete in a tournament against his bullies, one of which is the ex-boyfriend of his love interest Ali Mills (Shue).
Kamen was approached by Columbia Pictures to compose a film similar to Avildsen's previous success “Rocky” in 1976, after signing the director. Kamen drew inspiration from his own life when writing the film. As a result, he maintained strong opinions regarding cast, and petitioned heavily for Morita's inclusion.] Preparations for the film began immediately after the final edit of the script was complete, and casting took place between April and June 1983. Principal photography began on October 31, 1983, in Los Angeles, and filming was complete by December 16, 1983.
“The Karate Kid” was theatrically released in the United States on June 22, 1984. The film received universal acclaim from critics, many of whom praised the action sequences, writing, storyline, acting performances and music. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $100 million in the United States and Canada, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 1984 and Hollywood's biggest sleeper hit of the year.
The film is also notable for kickstarting the career of Macchio, as well as revitalizing the acting career of Morita, who was previously known mostly for comedic roles, and earned Morita a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. “The Karate Kid” subsequently launched a media franchise and is credited for popularizing karate in the United States.
Hoosiers
“Hoosiers” — released in some countries as “Best Shot” — is a 1986 American sports film written by Angelo Pizzo and directed by David Anspaugh in his feature directorial debut. It tells the story of a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship. It is loosely based on the Milan High School team that won the 1954 state championship.
Gene Hackman stars as Norman Dale, a new coach with a spotty past. The film co-stars Barbara Hershey and Dennis Hopper, whose role as the basketball-loving town drunk earned him an Oscar nomination. Jerry Goldsmith was also nominated for an Academy Award for his score. In 2001, “Hoosiers” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Rudy
“Rudy” is a 1993 American biographical sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel Ruettiger who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles. It was the first film that the Notre Dame administration allowed to be shot on campus since “Knute Rockne, All American” in 1940.
In 2005, Rudy was named one of the best 25 sports movies of the previous 25 years in two polls by ESPN — No. 24 by a panel of sports experts and No. 4 by ESPN.com users. It was ranked the 54th-most inspiring film of all time in the "AFI 100 Years" series.
The film was released on October 15, 1993, by TriStar Pictures. It stars Sean Astin as the title character, along with Ned Beatty, Jason Miller and Charles S. Dutton. The film had supporting roles from Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn. The script was written by Angelo Pizzo, who created Hoosiers in 1986, which was also directed by Anspaugh. The film was shot in Illinois and Indiana.
Cinderella Man
“Cinderella Man” is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny Marshall, and Brian Grazer. Damon Runyon is credited for giving Braddock this nickname. Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti star.
The film received generally positive reviews and grossed $108 million against a budget of $88 million. It received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Giamatti.
Cool Runnings
“Cool Runnings” is a 1993 American comedy sports film directed by Jon Turteltaub and starring Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D Lewis, Malik Yoba and John Candy. The film was released in the United States on October 1, 1993. It was Candy's last film to be released during his lifetime. It is loosely based on the true story of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team's debut in competition during the 1988 Witer Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The film received positive reviews, and the film's soundtrack also became popular with Jimmy Cliff’s's cover of "I Can See Clearly Now" reaching the top 40 as a single in nations such as the United States, Canada, France and the UK.
8 Mile
“8 Mile” is a 2002 American drama film written by Scott Silver and directed by Curtis Hanson. It stars Eminem in his film debut, alongside Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Michael Shannon, Anthony Mackie and Kim Basinger. The film, which contains autobiographical elements from Eminem's life, follows white rapper B-Rabbit (Eminem) and his attempt to launch a career in hip hop, a genre dominated by African Americans. The title is derived from 8 Mile Road, the highway between the predominantly black city of Detroit and the largely white suburban communities to the north.
“8 Mile” was a critical and box office success. It opened at No. 1 in the US with $51.3 million grossed in its opening weekend and would eventually go on to achieve a total gross of $242.9 million worldwide. The album's accompanying soundtrack was also a commercial success, being certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The film garnered numerous nominations and wins, including an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Lose Yourself” win for Eminem, Luis Resto and Jeff Bass at the 75th Academy Awards. “8 Mile” was named one of the best films of 2002 by several publications.
Miracle
“Miracle” is a 2004 American sports film about the United States men’s ice hockey team, led by head coach Herb Brooks, portrayed by Kurt Russell, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The American team's victory over the heavily favored Soviet professionals in the medal round was dubbed the “Miracle on Ice.” “Miracle” was directed by Gavin O’Connor and written by Eric Guggenheim and Mike Rich. It was released on February 6, 2004, where it grossed $64.5 million on a $28 million budget and received positive reviews, with Russell's performance garnering the most praise from critics.
Million Dollar Baby
“Million Dollar Baby” is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on short stories by F.X. Toole, the pen name of fight manager and cutman Jerry Boyd. It stars Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman. The film follows Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald (Swank), an underdog amateur boxer who is helped by an underappreciated boxing trainer (Eastwood) to achieve her dream of becoming a professional.
“Million Dollar Baby” was theatrically released on December 15, 2004 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received critical acclaim and grossed $216.8 million. The film garnered seven nominations at the 77th Academy Awards and won four — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Swank and Best Supporting Actor for Freeman.
Slumdog Millionaire
“Slumdog Millionaire” is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel “Q & A” in 2005 by Indian author Vikas Swarup, telling the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel as Jamal and filmed in India, the film was directed by Dany Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy and produced by Christian Colson, with Loveleen Tandan credited as co-director. As a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Jamal surprises everyone by being able to answer every question correctly. Accused of cheating, Jamal recounts his life story to the police, illustrating how he is able to answer each question correctly.
After its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and later screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival and the London Film Festival, “Slumdog Millionaire” had a nationwide release in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2009, in India on January 23, 2009 and in the United States on December 25, 2008. Regarded as a sleeper hit, “Slumdog Millionaire” was widely acclaimed — being praised for its plot, soundtrack, direction and performances, especially Patel's. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight — the most for any 2008 film — including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It won seven BAFTA Awards including Best Film, five Critics’ Choice Awards and four Golden Globes.
Seabiscuit
“Seabiscuit” is a 2003 American sports film co-produced, written and directed by Gary Ross and based on the best-selling 1999 non-fiction book “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” by Laura Hillenbrand. The film is loosely based on the life and racing career of Seabiscuit, an undersized and overlooked thoroughbred racehorse, whose unexpected successes made him a hugely popular media sensation in the United States during the Great Depression. “Seabiscuit” was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
A League of Their Own
“A League of Their Own” is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and Lori Petty. The screenplay was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel from a story by Kelly Candaele and Kim Wilson.
In 2012, “A League of Their Own” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
McFarland, USA
“McFarland, USA” — also known as “McFarland” — is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Niki Caro, produced by Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, written by Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson with music composed by Antônio Pinto. The film was co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mayhem Pictures. Based on the true story of a 1987 cross country team from a mainly Latino high school in McFarland, California, the film stars Kevin Costner as Jim White, the school's coach, who leads the team to win a state championship. The film also stars Maria Bello and Morgan Saylor.
“McFarland, USA” was released on February 20, 2015, received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $45 million. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 2, 2015 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Comments