The bold part is completely untrue. Milan was actually one of the favorites in the tournament and not an underdog at all. They had a 19-2 record and returned all of the key players from the previous year in which they reached the state semifinals. If you want a true underdog story in a tournament then look no further then the Arthur Agee led Marshall team in Hoop Dreams. Marshall wasn't even a ranked high school team yet they won the city championship and made it all the way to the semi finals of the state championship. That was a real underdog story.
I didnt call them an underdog there, even though they were. I said they overcame "tremendous odds." The enrollment of their entire high school was 161, which was by far the smallest of any team ever to win a state championship. The previous year you mentioned was one in which they actually shocked the state by reaching the semifinals. They may not have snuck up on anyone, but they certainly weren't the powerhouse you make them out to be.
A team can still be an underdog and have a great record/run in a tournament. Look no further then the 2010 Butler Bulldogs, who almost ran the table in the NCAA tournament despite being an underdog in 4 of their games, and losing to the heavily favored Duke Blue Devils by 2 points in the NCAA final. Butler went 28-4, being underdogs despite having less losses then their last 4 opponents. Milan was very similar in all those regards, as they were undersized,
Hoop Dreams also had many underdog aspects to it and was a tremendous real story of two young black youths trying to overcome the odds and make it to the NBA. Because it was real it was easy to get behind both players and you constantly get caught up in the players emotion and struggles during the film.Nothing is more multi-dimensional then real life and while Hoosiers is a tremendous movie it just isn't as good as Hoop Dreams. You had Arthur and William trying to follow their dreams and facing multiple obstacles. William had a great start but faced adversity with the birth of his daughter and the knee injury he suffered that plagued him his entire junior year. Arthur had to deal with his families financial struggles, having to go back to the inner city high school after his parents couldn't afford the tuition at St. Josephs high in the suburbs. He also had to deal with his parents separating and his fathers drug problem. Even the supporting cast like William's brother and Arthur's parents became multi-dimensional characters.
I agree that Hoop Dreams was a phemomenal movie, and did have many underdog aspects to it. But for me, I preferred the multi-dimensional aspects of getting caught up in the struggles of Jimmy Chitwood, the plyer who quit the team before his senior year in Hoosiers only to rejoin the team to save Norman Dale's(Gene Hackman) job. As more of Hackman's past was revealed, it was easy to view him as a true underdog coach, and root for him. Shooter, played by Dennis Hopper, was truly someone you cheered for to succeed, and my heart sunk when he binged on alcohol and had to be rushed to the hospital after collapsing in the middle of the game. You had the complex relationship between Dale and Barbara Hershey as well, which another movie itself could have been made about. It doesn't get more multi-dimensional then this. Depsite all these layers, the focus of the movie stayed on basketball, which is what made it such a great sports movie.
Awards are great and Hoosiers had a ton of them but with Hoop Dreams being a documentary it was at a disadvantage when it came to awards and they still won a ton. As far as lists go about the all time best sports movies it's much easier to get everyone to agree upon a fictional movie then it is to get them to agree upon a documentary. However, Hoop Dreams is still widely recognized as one of the best and to me it's definitely THE best sports movie ever.
I guess I titled it wrong, because it wasn't necessarily about awards, it was more about critical acclaim. Ive taken nothing away from Hoop Dreams here as it truly is a phenomenal movie and I could care less that it's a documentary, it doesnt detract from it in the slightest for me. I imagine many of the "critical acclaim" it received shows that critics felt the same way. But like I do, it felt Hoosiers was a better sports movie overall. Hoop Dreams is one of the best, it's just not THE best. That goes to Hoosiers.
For starters, Denzel Washington. The man has got to be regarded as one of the premiere actors of our era. This movie was no exception. He brought such passion, such realism, to this "based upon true events" film, making you really care about his character and the circumstances of the movie in which this character lived and functioned. He was extremely effective as the hard nosed, no nonsense coach who despite his abrasive and aggressive approach, really displayed love, compassion, and sincere concern for his players, his fellow coaches, his school, and his community in general. Denzel Washington was fantastic in this movie, as he typically is.
Washington was excellent in Remember the Titans, no doubt about it. Take nothing away from him when understanding that Gene Hackman as Norman Dale in the leading role of Hoosiers easily surpassed the role Denzel played. Denzel was very straightforward in the movie, and you knew where he came from. Take nothing away from him, he was very good at what he did as the passionate, hard-nosed coach. But Hackman brought layers to his character as a coach who brought a no-nonsense attitude, but later when you "pulled back the curtain" you saw the why, how, and when, as well as different dimensions to his character. In comparing these two sports movies, Hackman was certainly better. For a great sports movie, a great lead is essential, and Hackman surpassed Denzel in this ONE role.
I liked the fact that this was a film which was reality based. Granted I am certain it was "Hollywood-ized" to a significant degree, as most movies which are based upon real life are, but still, the basic premise of the show was founded on actual occurrences. This was the racially volatile world of the southern US in 1971. There was an actual TC Williams high school which featured a team known as the Titans. The players, the coaches, they were based upon real people who lived in Alexandria, Virginia at the time, many of whom I would imagine are still living today. I tend to like movies like this, based upon real people and real events, albeit with significant creative license, as opposed to movies which are purely fictional and occasionally surreal.
Yes, it did nice job tackling the issue of racism, but if anything, that to me detracts from the movie being a great sports movie. So much of it was spent OFF the field dealing with these other issues that the actual sports aspect took a backseat at times to the issue of racism. It tckled it in a great way, and it's a great movie. But it's only a very good sports movie. And this movie was only "loosely based" upon reality, it didn't touch the realism of Hoosiers or even a Hoops Dreams. There was more creative license in half of this movie then there was in the entire Hoosiers movie. There's nothing wrong with Hollywoodizing a movie, but it detracted from the gritty realism that a movie like Hoosiers brought.
As I said above, I really enjoyed the training camp part of the movie. Whether it was integrating the players on the bus on the way to the camp, grouping them under offense and defense rather than by black and white, was good. Seeing the resistance that the coach's efforts met early on, and seeing it evaporate as time progressed, was really well done. Seeing them gel as a cohesive unit, both on and off the field, was truly a feel-good aspect of the movie, seeing the players go from myopic young boys to truly mature and responsible men.
This was present in Hoosiers, to an even greater degree. Coach Dale dismisses a key plyer from the team, and later alienates the entire community with his implementing of slow, methodical play. He channels his best Bob Knight but failing to practice what he preaches, when he was ejected several times from games due to losing his temper. The fact that the changes he brings doesn't immediately bring results again adds a greaat touch of realism to the movie, as things had to get far worse before they got better. The same aspects, as you noted, appeared in Remember the Titans. It's just that Hoosiers did it first, and better in 1986 as compared to 2001 for Remember the Titans.
That's not to say there wasn't friction along the way. The friction between Herman Boone (Washington) and Bill Yoast (Will Patton) continued throughout the entire film, as they struggled to co-exist without stepping on each other's toes. In the end they become a cohesive coaching unit, each contributing greatly to the success of the team, becoming lifelong friends in the process. It couldn't have been easy for any of them, and it is a credit to both of them in terms of how they conducted themselves off and on the field of play.
Once again, these are things Hoosiers did first, better, and without detracting whatsoever from the premise of the movie. The main focus of Hooisers, beyond question, was basketball. Every sub-plot in the movie, effective in its own right, was about basketball. The emergency town meeting to try and force Coach Dale's(Hackman) resignation. Jimmy Chitwood, the team's best player, refused to play his senior year. He later agreed to play, on the condition that Coach Dale stayed on as coach. From that moment forward, the team went from underdog to a force to be reckoned with. And who can forget Shooter, played by Dennis Hopper? The alcoholic father of one of the boys on the team, Shooter was hired by Coach Dale as his AC with the hopes that his love for basketball would help him overcome his alcoholism. Again, it's that inate focus on basketball while brilliantly interweving subplots that truly made Hoosiers a great sports movie. Coach Dale's mysterious past also adds to this as well.
Seeing the development of the character "Gary" throughout the film was really well done. From a brash, young hothead into the well rounded person he became was portrayed very well. Seeing the maturity he displayed and the strength of character he showed in overcoming his injury and still enjoying success in life was heart warming. Emotional but not overdone. Hearing of his tragic and ironic death was sad, and that emotion was well conveyed, without detracting from the overall feel good aspect of the movie.
Other then death, Gary was the equivelant of Hoosiers Jimmy Chitwood in so mny ways. He was an emotional roller-coaster you couldn't help but empathize with. He refused to play for the team for half the year following the death of the previous coach. He grew exponentially throughout the film in terms of maturity, as he went from soft-spoken to the voice that kept Coach Dale around, as he agreed to play if they did so. His heart-warming story ends when he hits the game winning shot in the state finals.
For me, this movie had it all. A reality based storyline with an effective cast of actors and actresses. A heartwarming feel good story based upon football, which could be enjoyed from the perspective of athletics alone, but which also portrayed racial tensions, academics, overcoming adversity, strength of character, and other such heartwarming aspects of the show. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this movie, and could easily watch it over and over again. The best sports movie, in my personal opinion, is the modern day classic, Remember The Titans.
For my money, the cast of Hoosiers was better overall then that of Remember the Titans. Washington is a phenomenal actor, but Hoffman was the only man who could have effectively plyed the strict, hard-nosed, mysterious Coach Dale, while it's easier to picture others as Herman Boone.(Washington) Elizabeth Hershey and Dennis Hopper, among others, made for a phenomenal supporting cast, the latter(Hopper) garnering an Oscar nomination. Hoosiers was the epitome of what a sports movie should be, as its focus was on basketball, and every sub-plot related to it. Remember the Titans was a great movie, but was as much about racism and overcoming adversity as it was football. Hoosiers certainly had its share of heart-felt moments, such as Chitwood rejoining the team, and ultimately sinking the game winning basket. It also was deeply rooted in reality, as its similarities to the 1954 Milan High School in Indiana can't be denied.
In the end, I'll take the acting in Hoosiers, it's deep roots in reality, its focus clearly and soley on bsketball, it's ashes to triumph heartwarming story, and it's tremendous sub-plots over any other sports movie to this day.
