The score without Crewe tanking, the guards’ real competition, prison sports-talk narratives, Crewe’s age, Caretaker’s resemblance to Red, Crewe’s statistics, and Knauer’s fate
The producer praises the football and final forty minutes, finds the first hour dated, admires the older stars’ natural presence, wants a stronger final speech, and argues Crewe should have thrown the game
The father-son hug and the mother’s emotional reaction form the strongest dramatic scene.
Cyril looking for someone to hug after the victory adds loneliness to the expected sports-movie celebration.
The opening quarry sequence establishes the setting and all four personalities almost immediately, including the uncertainty of being nineteen and Dave’s Italian obsession.
Mike’s feigned drowning and speech about aging while college athletes are continually replaced make him a tragic figure.
Dave drafting the Cinzano truck creates an expectation of disaster but becomes a pleasant encounter ending in a speeding ticket for the driver.
Mike racing the college antagonist in the pool is another nominated scene.
The Italian riders’ unsportsmanlike behavior destroys Dave’s idealization; the aftermath with his father and crying mother is especially moving.
The Little 500 is the emphatic final choice: the friends take turns after Dave’s injury, Mike pushes through his despair, and Dave returns for a continuous wide shot of the thrilling last two laps.
The final seventies sports-movie pyramid places Rocky first; The Longest Yard and Breaking Away second and third; Slap Shot, The Bad News Bears and Rollerball on the next tier; and The Jericho Mile, Rocky II, North Dallas Forty and The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training on the last tier.
Downhill Racer was initially tenth but is removed when its 1969 release is pointed out; Breaking Training replaces it.
Fast Break, One on One, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh and The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings receive honorable mentions; Fat City is additionally recommended, while Inside Moves is excluded as 1980.
Slap Shot receives a personal favorite vote, and another preference would move The Jericho Mile higher; the top seven are considered more established than the lower spots.
A list introduced as the 1979 domestic top ten names twelve: Superman, The Amityville Horror, Rocky II, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Alien, Apocalypse Now, 10, The Jerk, Moonraker, Meatballs, Escape from Alcatraz and Manhattan. The speaker explicitly corrects the count to twelve.
