Hoosiers is your typical movie about sports where a team that is pretty much full of useless players suffers a great change under the supervision of a new coach. The story however does not start easy for the new boss as the locals put unusual amounts of pressure on him to perform and take the team to an honorable position. Fighting against everyone to defend is unique style of teaching basketball, he slowly starts seeing the results of his efforts and get people on his side. While Hoosiers is fun, I can think of many other sports movies that are way more entertaining and inspirational. Here are a few: Moneyball, Invincible, and Rudy.

David Anspaugh's Hooisers is a classic, despite the predictability of the film. It illustrates the concept of the underdog dream by showing not only what is seen in successful teams from the outside, but what also happens behind the scenes. Using a high school basketball team to focus this discussion of the underdog story, the film expresses how difficult the obstacles are to achieve such a feat, as some people could possibly see it just as a lucky miracle. At the end of the day, the film hopes to show what must happen to accomplish such a hard goal, and also to show what the key to success is in order to achieve that certain goal.The movie successfully demonstrates teamwork as the moral. Teamwork was simply the result from the support that they gave to each other which resulted in their championship season. This team could not win for the life of them before that crucial emergency meeting, in which the support from the community finally came out for the head coach. Look where that got them! They became champions. This film is a perfect guide on how to accomplish that mindset of teamwork by connecting all the tiny details into our daily lives. Just as in this great movie, you can't win alone. Even the little things require the idea of teamwork if we want to be truly effective, which is why this movie is a must- see.

A truly wonderful basketball film with Gene Hackman arriving at a small Indiana town in 1951 to coach a high school basketball team. Hackman's arrival meets with contempt by the town's people as he attempts to instill his brand of discipline to a young team. Of course, when it's discovered why he left New York, it doesn't help his cause as well.The set decorations best depict Indiana during this period. Conservative as always, the people respect human values, but will they be tolerant of this newcomer?Barbara Hershey, as the acting principal of the school, is a difficult character to fathom. With pride for her school, yet an unhappiness but willingness to remain at the home town, her character needed more development, but is more than sufficient as depicted.This is definitely a story of redemption, commitment, and small town values in the 1950s. Dennis Hopper has some scene stealing moments as a town drunkard, who with a son on the team, eventually finds his way. Hopper was nominated for a well deserved best supporting actor Oscar for this 1986 film.

I am not a big sports fan, but I do like a good film with some. Hoosiers is exactly that, one of the better ones along with Breaking Away and Remember the Titans. Is it clichéd? Perhaps, but even so everything else is so good you are past caring. The movie looks beautiful with crisp cinematography and scenery and the basketball sequences are stunning. Jerry Goldsmith's score is very evocative, the film is sharply directed, the script has a perfect balance and the story is heart-warming and snappily paced. The acting I have no qualms with either, Gene Hackman is simply brilliant as is Dennis Hopper. Overall, Hoosiers(or Best Shot) is wonderful and one of the better sports movies out there. 10/10 Bethany Cox