The Best Movies for Bengals and Rams Fans to Watch to Get Hyped for the Super Bowl
This Sunday’s Super Bowl should be something thrilling to watch. With two high-octane offenses, we expect Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford to light up the scoreboard. But these are two very different franchises.
The Bengals have been mired in mediocrity for decades. Although the team has played in two prior Super Bowls, it lost both to a team from California. Will it happen again? Fans of this team have been thrilled by the meteoric rise, but they must have a sense of internal dread, given the franchise’s history on the sport’s biggest stage.
The Rams have a very different story. The franchise left for St. Louis before the 1995 season and they played there until returning to LA for the 2016 season. If fans followed the franchise when it left town, they got the thrill of the “Greatest Show on Turf” years and one Super Bowl victory in St. Louis. For fans who first started watching upon the return in 2016, it’s been a fairly happy ride as well - the Rams made it to the Super Bowl most recently in 2019.
So we have two different teams. The Bengals are a group of upstarts with some fantastic young talent, but a history of doing things the hard way, like giving up nine sacks on Joe Burrow in the playoff game against the Titans.
The Rams have assembled a super-team of parts from other franchises (Stafford from the Lions, Von Miller from the Broncos, Jalen Ramsey from the Jaguars, Eric Weddle from out of retirement). But do they have what it takes to get over the top?
For each team, we’ve assembled a playlist of movies to get fans inspired. For the Bengals, we chose stories of plucky underdogs. Yes, Cincinnati, you can do this. For the Rams, we picked stories of pulling a team together to defeat great odds.
Whichever team you’re rooting for, these movies should get you in the mood for the big game.
Best Movies for Bengals Fans
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Miracle
February 6, 2004When college coach Herb Brooks is hired to helm the 1980 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, he brings a unique and brash style to the ice. After assembling a team of hot-headed college all-stars, who are humiliated in an early match, Brooks unites his squad against a common foe: the heavily-favored Soviet team.
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Rocky
November 21, 1976An uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight against the world heavyweight boxing champion.
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Rudy
September 17, 1993Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.
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The Karate Kid
June 22, 1984Daniel moves to Los Angeles with his mother, Lucille, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of high school students, led by Ali’s ex-boyfriend Johnny, who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo under ruthless sensei, John Kreese. Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate for self-defense and later, preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.
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Major League
February 16, 1989When Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband, she’s determined to move the team to a warmer climate—but only a losing season will make that possible, which should be easy given the misfits she’s hired. Rachel is sure her dream will come true, but she underestimates their will to succeed.
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The Mighty Ducks
October 2, 1992After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn’t eager to return to hockey, a point hit home by his tense dealings with his own former coach, Jack Reilly. The reluctant Gordon eventually grows to appreciate his team, which includes promising young Charlie Conway, and leads them to take on Reilly’s tough players.
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The Bad News Bears
April 6, 1976An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.
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Cool Runnings
October 1, 1993When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games, he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican bobsled team.
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Hoosiers
November 14, 1986Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.
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DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
June 18, 2004When megalomaniacal White Goodman, the owner of a trendy, high-end fitness center, makes a move to take over the struggling local gym run by happy-go-lucky Pete La Fleur, there’s only one way for La Fleur to fight back: dodgeball. Aided by a dodgeball guru and Goodman’s attorney, La Fleur and his rag-tag team of underdogs launch a knock-down, drag-out battle in which the winner takes all.
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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
August 12, 2010As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an army of ex-boyfriends who will stop at nothing to eliminate him from her list of suitors.
Those movies best exemplify the scrappy, unconventional way the Bengals have been playing. Can they finally get over the hump? Now, for the Rams, here are your stories of pulling together a super-team for one big challenge.
Best Movies for Rams Fans
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Tombstone
December 25, 1993Legendary marshal Wyatt Earp, now a weary gunfighter, joins his brothers Morgan and Virgil to pursue their collective fortune in the thriving mining town of Tombstone. But Earp is forced to don a badge again and get help from his notorious pal Doc Holliday when a gang of renegade brigands and rustlers begins terrorizing the town.
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The Untouchables
June 3, 1987Young Treasury Agent Eliot Ness arrives in Chicago and is determined to take down Al Capone, but it’s not going to be easy because Capone has the police in his pocket. Ness meets Jim Malone, a veteran patrolman and probably the most honorable one on the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone, but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war.
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Guardians of the Galaxy
July 30, 2014Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.
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The Blues Brothers
June 16, 1980Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.
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Ocean's Eleven
December 7, 2001Less than 24 hours into his parole, charismatic thief Danny Ocean is already rolling out his next plan: In one night, Danny’s hand-picked crew of specialists will attempt to steal more than $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos. But to score the cash, Danny risks his chances of reconciling with ex-wife, Tess.
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Seven Samurai
April 26, 1954A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
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The Avengers
April 25, 2012When an unexpected enemy emerges and threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins!
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Spider-Man 2
June 25, 2004Peter Parker is going through a major identity crisis. Burned out from being Spider-Man, he decides to shelve his superhero alter ego, which leaves the city suffering in the wake of carnage left by the evil Doc Ock. In the meantime, Parker still can’t act on his feelings for Mary Jane Watson, a girl he’s loved since childhood. A certain anger begins to brew in his best friend Harry Osborn as well…
Although this movie isn’t about “getting the team together,” it features a plotline where Spider-Man loses his powers and doubts himself, which is appropriate for Stafford’s relatively recent string of interceptions and pick-sixes.
