Films with a sporting chance

As Invictus is released in UAE cinemas, we look at other great sporting flims.

Invictus is released in UAE cinemas tomorrow, starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in his bid to unite a fractured South Africa through the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It's landed two Oscar nominations (Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor) but it finds itself jostling with stiff competition for space in the film library of beloved sporting greats.

A lighter film concerning the Olympics, this is a story about the hilarious progression of Jamaica's first bobsled team from clumsy beginners to experienced competitors.

Everyone has their favourite of the six, but hats off to old Sylvester Stallone, who managed to climb back in the ring for the final instalment, Rocky Balboa, when he was 60 years old. As Rocky says: "You gotta be a moron to wanna be a fighter."

A British classic. You probably hear the Vangelis score running through your head right now.

A young Kevin Costner shines as the idealistic Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who builds a baseball diamond in his corn field. An adaptation of WP Kinsella's baseball novel, Shoeless Joe, this film will reduce fully grown men to a pool of tears.

This Disney flick went on to spawn several sequels along with a real ice hockey team, the Anaheim Ducks. The original brat pack member Emilio Estevez stars as a lawyer ordered to coach the team for a stint of community service.