1980 Film Based on a True Story Was Just Named the ‘Best Sports Movie of the 20th Century'

Audiences are historically drawn to sports movies and for a good reason. Movie-goers enjoy watching a determined, hardworking protagonist with a goal in mind, especially if the cards are stacked against them. The publication Collider managed to narrow down a list of the 10 top sports movies that were released before 2000.

The ranking, published on April 24, featured hit sports movies like Remember the Titans from 2000, 1979's Breaking Away, A League of Their Own, released in 1992, and 1996's Rocky.

Raging Bull, released in 1980, was named the number 1 "best sports movie" made in the 20th century. According to the publication, the Martin Scorsese-directed film deserved the title because of Robert De Niro's incredible portrayal of real-life boxer Jake LaMotta, and its expert storytelling.

De Niro ended up getting the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role because of his work in the film.

Martin Scorsese Explained Why 'Raging Bull' Is in Black-and-White

In a 2023 interview with GQ, Scorsese explained the decision behind making Raging Bull a black-and-white film. He said that several boxing movies, like The Main Event, The Prize Fighter, and Rocky II, were being released around the same time as Raging Bull, and he wanted to make his film stand out.

"They were all in color. That's when I realized that we should go black-and-white. And also the black and white would work distinctively different from the other boxing films that were being made," said the famed director to GQ.

He also said that the film's producer, Irwin Winkler, reminded the studio that two acclaimed films from the '70s, Paper Moon(1973) and Lenny (1974), were in black and white.

Scorsese also shared details about the scenes where boxing is in the forefront.

"I also thought too that the boxing scenes had to be very powerful. The rest of the film, anything else was concentrated in an almost meditative state in terms of framing, holding those people in that frame. But the boxing scenes would be like you're on another planet," said Scorsese in the 2013 interview.

He said that he "came up with the idea" while he was directing 1978's Last Waltz and "being on the stage with the band and watching how the band worked." He also said he was influenced by the 1948 film, The Red Shoes.

"The ballet sequences from Red Shoes where you don't really necessarily go head to toe where you see the dancer, instead you see what's inside the mind of the dancer. What's in the mind and what's the perception of the fighter in the ring? They don't even know where they are sometimes," explained Scorsese.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 10:38 PM.