The 35 best sports films of all time – ranked

• Cinema and sport go together like bat and ball, like Rocky and Adrian, like England and penalties. It’s little wonder that sports make great movies. Cinema is, at its most basic level, visual storytelling. As screenwriters will tell you, the first rule of movies is to “show, don’t tell”. Personal victories, character journeys, and all-round triumph are shown through external action. So, what could be a more effective way of denoting victory than crossing the finish line, hitting a home run, or k