Worst Sports Movies

Worst Sports Movies

Looking for the best sports movies ever? You're in the wrong gym, son. We've got a keener eye for the most poorly cast non-athletes, the most unbelievable action and the most unwarranted sequels -- of which there are more than a few -- in sports-movie history.

Here's our definitive list of the 25 biggest whiffs, airballs and unforced errors of all time -- in other words, the worst sports movies ever. -- By Adam Duerson

Everett Collection / MGM / Everett Collection / Getty Images

25. 'Days of Thunder' (1990)

In essence, director Tony Scott tried to replicate his past success with Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun' by replacing jet fighters with stock cars, Kelly McGillis with Nicole Kidman (as, laughably, a brain surgeon) and Val Kilmer with the anatomically inferior Cary Elwes. Yet somehow the success didn't translate. Shocker. We cite the complete lack of oiled-up beach volleyball scenes, the absence of a Kenny Loggins soundtrack and, ultimately, a lazy script.

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  Everett Collection

24. 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' (1999)

Will Smith drew much ire for his title character, the sunshiney caddy to Matt Damon's golf pro, a younger Mr. Miyagi spouting fortune cookie wisdom in a Southern drawl. (Oddly, there's little allusion to racism in the 1930s Deep South.) But most of the blame for this golf gaffe goes to the screenwriters who managed to suck all of the life out of the game. Appropriately, Vance walks away right in the middle of the climactic match. You'll want to do the same.

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  Dreamworks

23. 'The Babe Ruth Story' (1948)

William Bendix stars as the Babe in this biopic that was pushed into theaters while the slugger was still alive (he died in August '48). Unfortunately, it shows -- the movie is a puff piece that ignores the facts, namely that Ruth could often be an obnoxious lout. But don't go looking for a better picture of the homerun hitter in the '92 flick starring John Goodman; that one's just as inaccurate, except it goes to the other extreme, making the Bambino look all bad. Babe, we hardly knew ye.

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22. 'Rookie of the Year' (1993)

Your typical superhero story: 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner suffers a freak accident, but instead of invisibility or flying powers he gains a rocket of an arm, which suits him well in baseball. 'ROTY' blows its potential by playing Henry's naivete for broad humor -- like the scenes in 'Spider-Man' where Peter Parker can't quite get the gist of his web-slinging -- and veers into superhero farce, a la 'Teen Wolf.' What were you expecting from first- (and last-) time director Daniel Stern?

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21. 'Wimbledon' (2004)

It's tough to decide which is less believable, the chemistry between leads Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst or the tennis-playing ability of the latter, who nailed only half of her role as a bratty American tennis pro (guess which half?). Perhaps someone thought the score of "love, love" in a courtside romantic comedy would be adorable, not realizing that in tennis, love equals zero (insert your own "zero" joke here).

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  Universal Pictures

20. 'Radio' (2003)

Quoth a very un-PC Robert Downey Jr. in 'Tropic Thunder': "Everybody knows you never go full retard." Cuba Gooding Jr. broke that cardinal rule in this painfully and determinedly "inspirational" drama. What does it inspire? A sense of exploitation, and a whole lot of discomfort watching one-time Oscar winner Gooding Jr. fall farther from grace. We're pretty sure no one has ever used 'Radio,' "Cuba Gooding Jr." and "Oscar" in the same breath.

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  Sony

19. 'Gridiron Gang' (2006)

Somewhere back in the early 2000s someone went into a movie producer's office and pitched this: 'Dangerous Minds' meets 'The Longest Yard' meets 'Menace to Society' starring the Rock. To lift an 'Entourage' line, "Is that something you would be interested in?" If so, let us point you towards 'Coach Carter,' 'Pride' or any of the other number of superior and similarly themed movies made in the past five years.

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  Sony

18. 'Driven' (2001)

It would be giving director Renny Harlin too much credit to assume he was trying to make Sylvester Stallone look good by surrounding him with incompetent actors in this overly CG'ed open-wheel racing pic, but that's the effect it had. Even Kip Pardue and Burt Reynolds maintain some dignity when compared to the supremely untalented starlet Estella Warren, who would win a Razzie for her, ahem, performance.

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  Warner Bros.

17. 'Angels in the Outfield' (1994)

A deadbeat dad promising his son familial bliss if the local ball club wins its league pennant is sadistic enough. But throw in a handful of slapstick angels to egg the kid and the team on, and that's just downright inhumane. All this from the wholesome folks at Disney? Shame on them for, amongst other things, encouraging Tony Danza's movie career. We'll let this entry represent its two sequels as well.

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