Cornelius Lysaght
BBC horse racing correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Racing-themed films are best when concentrating on good storylines – like that of Seabiscuit – and steering clear of too many action sequences which are hard to make look convincing and easy to make look ridiculous – though Seabiscuit generally nails that one.

Others I’ve enjoyed include Derby Day (1952) and The Rainbow Jacket (1954), both terrific romps from yesteryear; Murphy’s Stroke (1980) tells the compelling story of a 1970s betting coup at Cartmel racecourse, Cumbria; John Hurt is superb as jockey Bob Champion in Grand National fairytale Champions (1984), as is John Malkovich in Secretariat (2010), about the eponymous US champion-racehorse.

Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are in this one. That's probably got your attention. Martin Scorsese directed. Now you know it's big.

Throw in a couple of Oscars and you're buying this like it's the hottest pay-per-view fight of the decade.

And yet like some great fighters, Raging Bull was not fully appreciated in its own time. Fast forward to the present day and it's seen as one of the finest sports films ever made.

This portrayal of American middleweight Jake LaMotta, a man who had a six-fight rivalry (yes, SIX) with Sugar Ray Robinson, has something for everyone - fighting, bribery, love, jealousy, the Mob, success, prison and reflection. LR

Key cast: Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci

Sporting fix: LaMotta had over 100 fights. These days a purist would say he liked to fight on the inside. In the 1940s and 50s such a style was likely just dubbed a good old brawl. If you are missing the fight game, you will not be left disappointed here as the giving and taking of punches (in and out of the ring) is relentless.

Artistic licence: DeNiro claimed an Oscar for his role in playing LaMotta and gained around four stone in weight for some of the fight scenes. He used a punching bag between takes when filming to ensure his intensity never dipped. This film might be adapted from a book but it will have you slipping and ducking as the action fills the screen.

Where to watch: Rent or buy on AppleTV or Rakuten, buy on YouTube, GooglePlay or Sky Store.

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Joe: Has to be Raging Bull and When We Were Kings.

Arguably the most iconic and renowned boxing film in a very long line of Hollywood movies about the sport. Far more grounded and aiming for the gritty than its sequels, this Oscar nominated film still has a pretty far-fetched plot.

It’s late 1975 and Rocky Balboa, the "Italian Stallion" works as a debt collector and boxes at a local level before he gets approached to fight world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed on New Year’s Day with five weeks’ prep. As you do.

Throw in a quirky love interest in the form of pet-shop worker “Adriaaaaaaaaannnn!”, the most left-field of old-school training regimes - punching meat, one-arm press-ups, running around Philadelphia and up the city's museum steps with a bunch of kids to Bill Conti’s rousing Gonna Fly Now - and a cocky, larger-than-life villain just begging to be brought down a peg and you have the recipe for film gold.

So popular was Rocky that it spawned numerous sequels, of varying quality, including two recent films about the son of his nemesis from the first film, Creed. If you're so minded, you could dedicate a whole day to a Rocky marathon. SC

Image source, Getty Images

Key cast: Sylvester Stallon, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers

Sporting fix: There's plenty of fight action in here, but it's not for the technicians of the sport. We're in pure cinematic fantasy land, where defence is for wimps and haymakers are to be shaken off with minimum fuss.

Artistic licence: This is rags to riches Hollywood at its best, where all a loveable, honest bum needs is that one shot at glory to turn his life around.

Where to watch: Rent on Apple TV, Google Play and YouTube Movies or buy on Amazon Prime.

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It’s always been widely suspected Americans can’t really ‘do’ F1 – see 2005’s calamitous USGP where only six cars started. So when a huge Hollywood studio threw more cash at it than Lewis Hamilton’s career earnings, purists feared the worst.

Turns out, as F1 already knew, while money isn’t everything, it can help to tell a great sporting rivalry story rather well – in this case, the battle between the furrowed, focused Austrian aristocrat Niki Lauda and beautiful British buffoon James Hunt for the 1976 F1 world championship.

Overly polished, and with a propensity to tell the myth instead of the truth, in terms of just how much Hunt and Lauda hated each other, it nevertheless depicts an epic season of triumph and near death – at least for Lauda. And in Chris Hemsworth, there is an actor who is actually better looking than his subject Hunt. MW

Key cast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl

Sporting fix: With the cash at his disposal, Howard ordered every garagista in the Brands Hatch area to get their ’76 vintage motors in mint condition, and spent months filming a whole grid of cars – with stunning cinematic results.

Artistic licence: “James Hunt is the champion of the wooooorrrrld!” shouted no-one ever in Formula 1. But they had to include that line in Rush because it was likely the real commentary of the time consisted of a muffled Murray Walker saying: “Um, errrr… it’s hard to see through the rain.”

Where to watch: Available on Netflix or to buy and rent on YouTube

“The dream was incredible, the odds were impossible, the story was true.”

No heart string is left untugged in Seabiscuit, the 2003 movie which tells the nags to riches story of a horse racing icon. Set in the Depression-hit 1930s, this is a Hollywood tale of a mystical trainer, half-blind jockey and grieving owner who are lifted by the diminutive horse with the heart of a lion.

Racing fans may prefer Murphy’s Stroke, with Pierce Brosnan embroiled in a betting scandal, or Being AP – the candid account of champion jump jockey AP MCoy’s career.

But Seabiscuit is still an engaging, uplifting film which was shortlisted for best picture at the Oscars. FK

Key cast: Jeff Bridges, Tobey Maguire.

Sporting fix: Realistic racecourse action adds to the thrills, enhanced by the involvement of legendary jockey Gary Stevens.

Artistic licence: Laura Hillenbrand's non-fiction book, upon which the film is based, comes complete with plenty of the dramatic elements any film would need, but inevitably the Hollywood machine amps these up even further, but when the end result is this uplifting, who cares?

Where to watch: Rent or buy on Amazon Prime, Google Play and Youtube Movies.

If you are old enough to remember a time when Ayrton Senna was around, you’ll remember a man who journeyed through Formula 1 creating rivalries, setting records, and shedding light on his home country.

If you weren't around in the 1980-90s, and you're learning about the three-time F1 world champion via your parents or the BBC Sport website, it's not long into Senna before you see the global superstar he was, and why almost 26 years after his death he's still arguably the greatest driver of all time.

Senna tells the story of how one man from Brazil made it in Europe as a racing driver, then gracefully captured the world's attention – silencing rooms as people listened intently to what he had to say.Senna includes scenes from his untimely death at the San Marino Grand Prix, and the world's reaction to the loss of a charming man whose "luck ran out". NL

Key cast: Ayrton Senna

Sporting fix: F1 fans can devour one hour and 46 minutes of archive footage, including classic racing scenes as well as interviews with his nearest, dearest and rivals.

Artistic license: No need for the tissues, it's an appreciation of the Formula 1 old days, the racing, politics, and overall a celebration of one man who was loved globally.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon Prime.

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Paul Hammond: Got to be Senna. Love him or hate him you will get involved in the story - one thing is for sure, you won’t like Jean-Marie Balestre!

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Motorsport and the movies don’t have an especially happy history - a good number of films made about car racing, but not many of them have been much cop.

John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix is renowned as a classic, but while the racing action from the 1966 Formula 1 season is superb, the plot isn’t up to much and the film feels dated.

The same can be said of Steve McQueen’s labour of love, Le Mans.

No, for me, the best racing movie is the brilliant documentary Senna, directed by Asif Kapadia, whose recent Maradona mined the same rich vein of rare archive material to similarly gripping effect. The new Ford v Ferrari with Matt Damon and Christian Bale, meanwhile, is an excellent dramatisation of the story of the Ford GT40 at Le Mans in the 1960s, with terrific performances.

Whether you love golf or not, it’s hard to watch this film without a golf-ball sized lump in your throat. Part documentary, part biopic, this is the story of Severiano Ballesteros, one of Europe’s finest golfers, who was sadly taken from us far too young, at the age of 54 in 2011.

It’s a proper rags to riches tale of one of the game’s most charismatic players. He came from a poor family and when the young Seve asked for balls to hit the answer was no. A club? No. Join a golf club? No. Instead, he famously honed his skills on a local beach with his homemade 3-iron.

Footage of the Masters triumphs and The Open victories are there in their fist-pumping glory, although his incredible contribution to resurrecting the Ryder Cup is more of a sidenote. PS

Image source, Getty Images

Key cast: Severiano Ballesteros

Sporting fix: What more do you need than two hours of Seve’s career? Through the real footage, you can learn more from studying his swing than a 100 lessons will teach you.

Artistic licence: With Seve, what you saw is what you got. The interviews with the man himself are insightful, the real footage emotional but, while interesting, the acted backstory sections are less gripping.

Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime, Google Play and others.

With Will Ferrell and Adam McKay at the wheel, you can expect to learn as much about Nascar from this hilariously daft comedy as you would discover about news reporting by watching Anchorman.

But we all need a little escapism and a good laugh now and again and this provides it in spades.

Ricky Bobby was born on the backseat of a racing car and grew up to be the world's best Nascar driver. He has it all - fame, fortune, a beautiful wife, two sons and a loyal best friend. But the arrival of suave French driver Jean Girard sends his life off the tracks and toward potential ruin.

To be honest, though, the story is unimportant, other than as a means to throw gag after gag at you, including Bobby running around the track in his pants incorrectly shouting that he's on fire, a live cougar as a motivational driving tool and some truly creative insults from Ricky's two kids. PD

Key cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen

Sporting fix: Well, there are actual cars in it. And they go around a track.

Artistic licence: I repeat, a cougar is used as a driving motivational tool.

Where to watch: Stream on Netflix, Now TV and Sky Go, rent on Apple TV.

Brian Clough is a name etched into the fabric of English football. Charismatic, arrogant, brilliant and proud, he was a nuanced figure, who imposed himself on the game as player and manager for 40 years. The Damned United seeks to portray the toughest 44 days of his managerial career, when he took the decision to leave Derby to take over at their then bitterest rivals, Leeds, a side who he had publicly branded "dirty" and "cheats".

Much like the David Peace book on which this is based, the film places Clough firmly at its centre, but offers a more sympathetic portrayal than the novel, with its dark, repetitive interior monologues.

Through the smoke-filled boardrooms and muddy fields, along with some superb performances, none better than Michael Sheen as Clough, we get an insight into 1970s football and a truly unique man at his most vulnerable. PD

Key cast: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney.

Sporting fix: There are very few actual football scenes, but you do get a sense of the 70s, with its quagmire pitches and players who would nip off for a fag as soon as training finished. If you want a history lesson, though, you're better looking elsewhere.

Artistic licence: The film, and the book before it, came in for heavy criticism from Clough's family and the Leeds and Derby players of the time, who refuted the depiction of people and events outside the indisputable narrative. Tellingly, producer Andy Harries stated that "the filmmakers' goal was to tell a wonderful and extraordinary story with universal themes of success, jealousy and betrayal", while writer Peter Morgan claimed that "the essence of truth is important, not accuracy."

Where to watch: Buy on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play and others.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Busby, the story of Sir Matt Busby’s career and the rise of Manchester United from the ashes of the Munich Air Disaster in 1958 is compelling, as is the infamous An Impossible Job, the behind the scenes story of Graham Taylor's demise as England manager.

But for a little-known under the radar classic go to YouTube and watch City!.

It is a remarkable, ground-breaking piece of work by Granada Television, narrated by the famous local journalist Bob Greaves and is the fly-on-the-wall story of Malcolm Allison’s sacking and the appointment of John Bond as his successor – you even get behind the door on Bond’s job interview.

It is there in six parts on Youtube but give it a look. It is a superb piece of work. Hugely recommended.

The story of England’s greatest Test team, who went from being bowled out for 51, to the top of the Test rankings, to being battered in the Ashes in the space of five years.

It is properly astonishing what the team, led by Andrew Strauss, went through to reach the pinnacle of the sport. A trip to Bavaria, running around with backpacks laden with bricks, seems to have a tenuous relationship with hitting a ball around a field for long periods of time, but it ended up being crucial to England’s rise.

The film also deals, sensitively and incredibly movingly, with what happens when a successful team crumbles, with Jonathan Trott showing the human side of what is a draining sport.

You’ll walk away from it with a sense of nostalgia and a longing for the good ol’ days of a stable England Test team. Oh, and wishing that Tim Bresnan would narrate your entire life. AL

Key cast: Andrew Strauss, Andy Flower, James Anderson

Sporting fix: Plenty of highlights - and a few lowlights - of England's Test series during that time. Bowling Australia out for 98 on Boxing Day at the MCG is a particular favourite...

Artistic licence: A superb soundtrack by Felix White of The Maccabees and Tailenders fame, and an amazing sequence of Trott batting in a field.

Where to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime, rent or buy on Apple TV, Sky Store and others.

Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter had boxed professionally close to 40 times when a fight like no other entered his life.

Naturally, when you want to depict a true story, one of injustice and immeasurable frustration, you bring in Denzel Washington to make things more real than real can get.

"I'm innocent, I committed no crime, a crime has been committed against me," Washington - who depicts the imprisoned Carter - says with the kind of will that he believes will one day set him free.

You'll find yourself shouting at the screen, shaking your head and admiring those who fight for Carter, who died in 2014. LR

Key cast: Denzel Washington, John Hannah, Deborah Kara Unger

Sporting fix: You will get a fill of punches early doors before the fight switches to prison cells and court rooms.

Artistic licence: Expect brilliant acting and storytelling which came in for some criticism over how accurate the portrayal of Carter's fight with the law was. You can of course go through the real-life saga in detail by listening to the incredible Hurricane Tapes series put together by BBC World Service.

Where to watch: Rent on Sky Store, on YouTube Movies and Amazon Prime.

You know the story: a junior sports team comprised of a rag-tag bunch of down-on-their luck, misfit kids, who are more concerned with cracking wise and playing pranks than winning, are inspired by an initially reluctant coach, who ultimately learns as much from them as they do from him.

This is Bad News Bears on ice, with a heavy dose of Disney charm. Emilio Estevez is Gordon Bombay, an ice hockey prodigy in his youth, but now successful, arrogant lawyer who gets done for drink driving and sentenced to 500 hours community service, to be served coaching a wayward Pee-Wee hockey team.

Can Bombay get over his own issues? Can he stop overweight goalie Goldberg eating during games? Can he get it on with team captain Charlie's mum? And most importantly, can he inspire the team to become more than the sum of their parts and challenge for the state championship? You already know the answers, but as always it is the journey not the destination. PD

Key cast: Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, Joshua Jackson

Sporting fix: Inevitably, the ice hockey action is a bit cartoony and stylised, but occasionally the training the kids have done shines through. The movies bled into real life too. Such was their popularity that when Disney founded their own professional team in Anaheim in 1993 they called them, inevitably, the Mighty Ducks.

Artistic licence: The classic sport film tropes are out in force - a bitter, ripe-to-be-reformed coach, misfit underdog players, training montages and a big final showdown. But it is no less cheer-worthy for it.

Where to watch: Stream on Disney+ and Now TV, rent or buy on Apple TV, Google Play and more.

Ok, so it’s not really a sport, but hear us out. The Wrestler, riddled with blood, bile and spandex, manages to take on the fakest of sports and somehow makes it feel as real as it ever has. It’s staple guns. It’s steroids and alcohol. It’s completely over-the-top. And it’s completely on the money.

Mickey Rourke’s washed-up Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, years after his Hulk Hogan-esque rise to fame, is beat-up, broke, lonely and trying to eke out an existence in the humble surroundings or school gyms and rec centres, cashing in on what little remains of his wrestling legacy.

For anyone who says wrestling isn’t real, try watching the scene where Randy has a collection of staples prised out of his back.

“Staple gun... Not so bad on the way in, except it's a little scary... Gonna leave some marks, have to deal with a little blood loss.”

Director Darren Aronofsky - and a Rourke performance that signalled his own personal return to relevance in symmetry with his character's - manages to squeeze heavyweight tension out of the ridiculously mundane. Has watching a man work behind a deli counter ever been so gripping? CO

Key cast: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Sporting fix: Plenty of headlocks, drop-kicks and flying headbutts for those looking for grappling action. Although, ironically, major league wrestling is one of the few 'sports' still in action, with Wrestlemania having just gone ahead behind closed doors. Eagle-eyed fans will spot a host of cameos from independent and WWE wrestlers, including R-Truth and Cesaro.

Artistic licence: When you’re peeling back the layers on one of the most outlandish professions on the globe, the sky’s the limit when it comes to imagination. So while much of this film will seem preposterous, many in the wrestling industry have praised Aronofsky’s accurate portrayal of the business. Randy's battles with his demons are mirrored in the real world struggles endured by Jake 'The Snake' Roberts, Scott 'Razor Ramon' Hall and Kurt Angle, among others.

Where to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime, rent or buy on Google Play and YouTube Movies.

Rugby League has not been a bountiful well for cinema, with this comfortably the best known and most revered portrayal of it on film (sorry Up 'n' Under). Adapted from the novel by David Storey, who used his own experiences as a miner and squad member of Leeds RLFC to craft this tale of a Yorkshire coal worker and rugby league star, whose brutish tendencies prove far more of an asset on the pitch than off it.

Richard Harris is magnificent as Frank Machin, the film's gifted but flawed protagonist. Where it separates itself as regards its sporting credentials is in its tackling of the theme of celebrity. Frank is a working class man who rises through society via his fame but is resented for it - a trajectory modern sport knows only too well.

Hailed by some as the greatest sports film ever made and by others as the best British film of all time, This Sporting Life is a must watch. PD

Key cast: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts

Sporting fix: There are a number of scenes of match action, in which it is clear that Harris knows his rugby. An accomplished player back in his native Ireland he brings some skill to the show. The use of Wakefield Trinity's Belle Vue Stadium also adds an air of authenticity.

Artistic licence: Said match scenes do lose sporting points for their stylised nature, designed to showcase Machin's initial brutality and then his fading powers. However, it has that gritty rawness of kitchen sink drama, making it a true and compelling depiction of working class life.

Where to watch: Stream on BFI Player.

The plot lines may be largely predictable in this classically formulaic rom-com tale, but there is a late twist that will resonate with all golfers. It’s a tale of a once decent golfer who has hit hard times but then has his spirits lifted by an attractive woman appearing at his driving range, only to find out she’s dating his former rival from college who made it to the big time.

So Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McEvoy (Kevin Costner) takes on the challenge of trying to qualify for the US Open to win over Dr Molly Griswold (Rene Russo) and scupper PGA Tour pro David Simms (Don Johnson).

Will he win the heart of Molly and the US Open? It all comes down to the 18th on the final round and a shot over water to the green. Do you lay up and play safe? Or risk it for the biggest reward? PS

Key cast: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson

Sporting fix: Lots of PGA Tour players, including Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and Peter Jacobsen, who is in contention to win the tournament, make cameo appearances. And Kevin Costner hits a lot of his golf shots.

Artistic licence: Filming took place at the Tubac Golf Resort in the Arizona desert. The course didn’t have a water hazard, so the filmmakers dug one and called it ‘Tin Cup Lake’.

Where to watch: Rent or buy on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play and others.

Iain Carter
BBC Sport golf correspondent

Golf movies tend to prick the pomposity of the sport and often beautifully. Amid its hilarity, CaddyShack provides a delightful story of social justice and the same can be said of the heart warming Happy Gilmore. Tin Cup, meanwhile, goes to the heart of the absurdity of the sporting psyche.

Real life accounts are worth a watch, especially Seve which does a good job of telling such an extraordinary story but historians quibble with perceived character exaggerations in Tommy's Honour, the compelling story of Young Tom Morris.

You watching this film: Nope. Don't think so. Not a chance. Well that would be me dead.

From there? Ouucccchhhh! Oh my word that's got to hurt. Well that really must be him dead now. What? How? No way. Nope, nope, absolutely not....

There must be two types of people on this earth. The 99.99999976% of people who watch Joe Simpson and Simon Yates take on a never-before attempted ascent of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes and think why on earth would you want to do that?

And then maniacs like Simpson and Yates - or the guys from TT: Closer to the Edge.

Image source, Getty Images

It takes a special kind of human to encounter a disaster like that faced by these two and live to tell the tale. It's not much of a spoiler alert to tell you that all does not go to plan during their 1985 climb, but quite how they get out of it is just ridiculous.

Watch and ask yourself what you would do in Yates' position? Reach for the penknife?

A sensational tale of bravery, endurance and survival, all narrated with a deliciously British understatement, full of "I was actually quite scared," and "I was pretty surprised to still be alive." TR

Key cast: Joe Simpson, Simon Yates

Sporting fix: All of the climbing footage is a re-enactment, like a long episode of 999, minus Michael Buerk. The two climbers went back to Peru for the first time since the events of 1985 during the making of the film, with Simpson getting PTSD as a result. Real enough then.

Artistic licence: The action is acted out but the two men themselves narrate the drama. It really does fall into the category of 'too far-fetched to be real' - but it is.

Where can I watch?: Available to buy or rent on Apple and Amazon

If you want to drag yourself away from your core sports into a world you may not know much about, can I suggest the Isle of Man TT?

Basically you close the public roads and create a 37.7-mile racectrack across the island. Oh and they average - average, not top out at - over 130mph.

It's absolutely insane. And utterly brilliant.

You need a human angle of course, which is where Guy Martin comes in. This film about the 2010 event turned the lorry mechanic into a part-time TV presenter and he's magnetic throughout.

The riders do their best to describe the thrill and the danger, but it won't really hit home until you see that crash footage...TR

Image source, Rex Features

Key cast: Guy Martin, John McGuinness, Ian Hutchinson

Sporting fix: John McGuinness once told me that 'everyone is a TT fan, they just don't know it yet.' Well, why don't you find out? This film does a great job of capturing the bravery, skill and drama of road racing. You'll either be appalled or enraptured by it, but you definitely won't be bored.

Artistic licence: It's all very real. Not quite as exciting as sticking your head through a hedge on the Sulby Straight but not far off.

Where can I watch?: Doesn't seem to be available to stream anywhere just now so you may have to buy a DVD...

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Duke Video: 'Closer to the Edge', which is a superb motorcycle road racing documentary about the Isle of Man TT races!