Lockdown movie escapes - How to fill your sporting vacuum

So, to help you pass the time, and after revealing our favourite lockdown sports documentaries last week, this week the sports writers of The Yorkshire Post take you through their lockdown sports films.

Phil Harrison: Docu-film The Edge (Amazon Prime) charts England Test team’s rise and fall as world No 1 team, and while you know the story already, it still comes as something of a surprise how quickly England’s feverishly-desired status as top dogs comes crashing down.

Andy Flower, the man as head coach chiefly responsible for the rise and fall, comes across very well in his candid reflections, while the many flaws of the relentless pace of the international calendar are clear for all to see.

Death of a Gentleman ((Amazon Prime, 2016) sees two cricket writers (Jarrod Kimber and Sam Collins) travel the world covering the supposed ‘death of Test cricket’ and chasing down those people responsible for running the game at the very top level and the secretive ways in which the biggest decisions about who gets what and how much. The then ECB chief Giles Clarke does not come out of it well at all but then, giving his arrogance, that would have been something unlikely to worry him too much.

Stuart Rayner: Another excellent cricket documentary is Fire in Babylon which looks back at how being on the rough end of some intimidating Australian fast bowling in 
1975-6 jolted the West Indies into turning themselves from fun-loving Calypso cricketers into the best, fastest, fittest and meanest cricket team in the world for a couple of decades. All the big guns are wheeled out to explain how the transformation took place, but even bigger issues around race and money are not skirted either, with Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket and rebel tours to Apartheid South Africa threatening but failing to destabilise a great team.

The fascinating story is brilliantly told to the backdrop of a great soundtrack and some bouncers best watched from behind the sofa. The only downside is that watching it now will make you sad the West Indies have fallen so far from grace in modern Test cricket.

Richard Byram: Seabiscuit is a Hollywood retelling of one of America’s greatest racehorses which won over $400,000 in prize money and beat 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral with Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks and Tobey Maguire.

Fever Pitch is Nick Hornby’s homage to football and Arsenal in particular which helped change the perception of football in the early 90s along with the Premier League.

More locally, The Damned United and while it was nigh on impossible to film the brilliant book, but worth a watch to see Michael Sheen’s Brian Clough – well supported by Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor and everyone’s now go-to/favourite actor Stepen Graham as er, Billy Bremner.

In the boxing world, Million Dollar Baby is Clint Eastwood’s emotional boxing drama starring Hilary Swank. Made in 2006 when success in women’s boxing still seemed only likely as a Hollywood yarn and not the Nicola Adams Olympic gold reality.

Peter Smith: David Storey, who wrote the screenplay for the classic British flick This Sporting Life (1963), based on his own novel, had a spell as a player in Leeds Rugby League’s ‘A’ team. Rugby scenes were filmed at Wakefield Trinity’s Belle Vue and players – including legendary hardman Derek Turner – appear as extras alongside star Richard Harris.

The novel, by Bernard Malamud, may have a downbeat ending, but The Natural (1984) is a brilliant hark-back to a golden era of sport, with dazzling performances by Robert Redford, Glen Close and Wilfred Brimley and a rousing, if not particularly believable, finale that will have you cheering in your seat.

Baseball makes for cracking movie entertainment, even for viewers with little interest in the sport. Field of Dreams (1989) is a feel-good fantasy about the American Dream, with the game itself serving as background. The scenes featuring Bert Lancaster are glorious. If you watch it, you will enjoy.

My 14-year-old son Luke’s favourite film is Cool Runnings (1993)the great John Candy’s final film about the Jamaican bobsled team is terrific family entertainment, with a cool soundtrack.

Graham Smyth: Finding a good mixed martial arts film is a difficult task, but Warrior (Netflix) isn’t just a good MMA film, it’s a good film. Tom Hardy is a hulking menace with all kinds of issues but as the plot unfolds his familial relationships collide with his use of a combat sport to make some money and exorcise his demons, and there are actually some incredibly emotional scenes. The fight scenes are well choreographed and refreshingly realistic. Even if you’re not into combat sports, it might surprise you.

For something equally gritty, try Foxcatcher (YouTube, Google Play), a scarcely believable plot but nonetheless based on a true story of a rich man whose money, which he ploughed into the sport of wrestling, made people turn a blind eye to the warning signs and a tragedy that was unfolding. Steve Carell is superb.

Icarus (Netflix) is a cycling documentary on doping that is interesting enough before a twist makes it a gripping, tense and fascinating watch. It has a Russian whistleblower, which is just about all you should need to want to give this one a watch.

Ben McKenna: Both of my film suggestions are based on true stories and about American Football, of which I am not a big fan but both of these movies are great. Remember the Titans is the true story of African-American coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington, and his attempt to integrate the T. C. Williams High School football team in Virginia, in 1971. A heart-warming story produced by Disney is a great family film that, although predictable, is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Gridiron Gang, starring Dwanye Johnson, is based on the Kilpatrick Mustangs, who were a football team from juvenile detention camp. The film depicts how Johnson attempts to put together a team with teenagers from rival gangs. Inspiring.

Nick Westby: I’m a sucker for the Rocky franchise, and while Creed II (Netflix) is not the best, it brings back an old nemesis in Ivan Drago and explores that narrative a lot better than they did in 1986.

Graeme Bandeira: Diego Maradona, is a beautifully chaotic film documentary details the arrival and departure of Diego Maradona in Naples, a city rife with corruption and in desperate need to be competitive on the football pitch. One man changes everything. From hero to villain, Diego gives us the ride of our lives. Sensational.

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