20 Golden Winter Sports Movies

Miracle (2004)
A ragtag group of college hockey players, many hailing from Boston and Minnesota, were the ultimate underdogs on the ice against the formidable Soviet Union in a game carrying symbolic political importance. Though the Americans' classic game against the Soviets wasn't actually for the gold medal, the story of the 1980 Olympic team pulls on your nationalistic heartstrings from start to finish, and will have you chanting ''U-S-A! U-S-A!'' from your couch. —Emily Exton

Blades of Glory (2007)
One in the long line of Will Ferrell sports parodies, Blades used the classic figure-skating-movie trope of ''opposites attract'' to have Ferrell's macho, leather-clad Chazz Michael Michaels team up with Jon Heder¹s prissy wunderkind after both of them are barred from singles competition. Husband-and-wife comedy super-team Will Arnett and Amy Poehler play brother and sister skaters for maximum creepiness. —Keith Staskiewicz

Better Off Dead (1985)
Nestled somewhere between the road tripping of The Sure Thing and his One Crazy Summer antics (saving a family home from evil developers), this high school movie had John Cusack involved in a yet another great '80s comedy tradition: The ski competition. Also very '80s: Hot foreign-exchange students, vaguely offensive Asian stereotypes, and a bevy of quotable lines. ''I want my two dollars!'' —Keith Staskiewicz

Cool Runnings (1993)
Based (very) loosely on a true story, Cool Runnings begins with disaster: Jamaican sprinters with dreams of competing in the Summer Olympics trip and fall in the qualifying match. But there's more than one way to become an Olympian, and, in sunny Jamaica, there's not a lot of competition for the national bobsled team. An essential assortment of sporting clichés (John Candy is the gruff old athlete seeking redemption; the other bobsled teams make relentless fun of the newbies) leads to one of the most passionately moving sport-movie endings since Rocky. —Darren Franich

The Cutting Edge (1992)
This sweet Olympics romance between a female figure skater and her hockey-player skating partner was the first screenplay from Tony Gilroy, who'd go on to write and/or direct stuff like the Bourne series, Duplicity, and Michael Clayton. Surprisingly, no one tries to rig a bomb to the Zamboni. —Keith Staskiewicz

Slap Shot (1977)
Paul Newman heads an minor league hockey team of foul-mouthed losers, including the goonish Hanson Brothers, in this classic anti-inspirational sports movie that poses the question: Is it worth winning a few games, if it means losing a few teeth? —Keith Staskiewicz

Ice Castles (1978)
There's no crying in baseball. But in figure skating? Sob away. That certainly seems to be the motto of this '70s weepie, which chronicles the life of a skating sweetheart who loses her eyesight in a freak accident and must learn to compete again. —Kate Stroup

The Mighty Ducks (1992)
Lawyer Gordon Bombay is charged with drunk driving (no surprise considering his name is two brands of gin), and is ordered by a judge to coach a ragtag peewee hockey team. Before the sequel had them up against that age-old enemy of American values, Iceland, Pacey and Co. had to beat the snooty, over-coached Hawks to win the championship. The movie's popularity led to Disney creating the Anaheim Mighty Ducks NHL team. Now, if only the MLB would accept my proposal for the Los Angeles Sandlots. —Keith Staskiewicz

Downhill Racer (1969)
It's cold on the slopes. But, as a cocky late-addition to the U.S. Ski Team, Robert Redford is still downright hot. —Kate Stroup

Mystery, Alaska (1999)
Russell Crowe plays a ruddy-cheeked small town Alaskan sheriff who is still a whiz on the ice. Dreams long deferred rise to the surface when he finds himself elected captain of the local team that will inexplicably square off against the New York Rangers. Burt Reynolds, his lion mane dyed white, growls his way through the role of the grouchy coach. —Karen Valby

Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
This musical romantic comedy is as fluffy as freshly fallen show. Sonja Henie — the world's first skating superstar — finds love on the slopes, stages an elaborate ice show, and twirls to the tunes of the Glenn Miller Orchestra (making a rare big-screen appearance). —Kate Stroup

Miracle on Ice (1981)
It was Karl Malden who first tackled the iconic role of Herb Brooks, the curt coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that snatched gold from the Soviets. The three-hour TV movie benefits greatly from the actual audio of announcer Al Michaels breathless blasting of the game's final seconds: ''Eleven seconds! You've got 10 seconds! The countdown is going on right now! Five seconds left in the game! Do you believe in miracles?! Yes!!!'' —Karen Valby

Happy Gilmore (1996)
True, golf is not actually a winter sport. (Unless you're a masochist. And really, you have to be to play golf.) But Adam Sandler's loudmouth protagonist only becomes a golfer by accident. Hockey is his passion. He holds two records: ''Most time spent in the penalty box'' and ''Only Player to Take Off His Skate and Try to Stab Another Player.'' And it's his full-contact, body-checking style that makes him, perversely, so good at the original gentlemen's game. A generation of boys has playfully tried imitating the famous ''Happy Gilmore Swing.'' (Crazily enough, it might actually work.) —Darren Franich

Youngblood (1986)
Rob Lowe plays a New York teen with dreams of ice hockey glory who finds himself playing for the Hamilton Mustangs, a Canadian junior team, under the mentorship of Patrick Swayze. Still, the real treat is watching Keanu Reeves in one of his first roles trying to handle a French-Canadian accent. It's as if Pepé Le Pew grew up in Malibu and then had a minor stroke. Le Whoa. —Keith Staskiewicz

Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story (1985)
Okay, so it was just a cheesy made-for-TV movie. But there are still two big reasons to watch this biopic about the first American ever to win alpine skiing gold: It stars a young Anthony Edwards as Johnson and Sarah Jessica Parker as his small-town love interest. Unfortunately the relationship goes, er, downhill in a hurry. —Kate Stroup

Ski Party (1965)
Part of Frankie Avalon's Beach Party series, this film has the goodtime gang trading in bikinis for snowsuits. Not surprisingly, the result is significantly less sexy. —Kate Stroup

Men with Brooms (2002)
It's a movie about curling — not cleaning. This Canadian (of course) romantic comedy, written, directed, and starring Eastwick's Paul Gross, follows a team of misfits who attempt to win the championship in honor of their late coach. It's worth renting just to see Leslie Nielsen as a retired curling champion. —Kate Stroup

The Other Side of the Mountain (1975)
Ice Castles has nothing on this real-life sob story: Jill Kinmont was the national champion in slalom and was preparing to go for the gold in the 1956 Winter Olympics when a near-fatal downhill accident left her a quadraplegic. (Don't worry, she recovers enough to lead a long and fulfilling life — and to inspire a sequel, The Other Side of the Mountain Part II in 1978.) —Kate Stroup

Sudden Death (1995)
A criminal group wires the Civic Arena to explode during a Pittsburgh Penguins game and it's up to Jean-Claude Van Damme to save the day. The film features what is likely the greatest murderous mascot in cinema history, as Icey the Penguin, with an evil glint in his big foam eyes, manages to rack up a few kills before being taken out by JCVD. —Keith Staskiewicz

Iron Will (1994)
We'll admit it: Dog sledding isn't an Olympic sport. But it did make an appearance as a special demonstration event at the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid. And that's enough to let us include this family-friendly flick starring Mackenzie Astin, Kevin Spacey, and a pack of photogenic pups. —Kate Stroup