Movies about perseverance

A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.

A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small-town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the state championship in 1950s Indiana.

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.

Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa, newly crowned heavyweight champion Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago.

Jesse Owens' quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy.

Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the 12-year-old boy embraces Kung Fu, taught to him by a master.

Frankie, an ill-tempered old coach, reluctantly agrees to train aspiring boxer Maggie. Impressed with her determination and talent, he helps her become the best and the two soon form a close bond.

Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.

Rocky faces the ultimate challenge from a powerful new contender, and must turn to a former rival to help regain his throne as the undisputed fighting champion.

A gambling addict and ticket scalper living an aimless life reluctantly agrees to coach a Little League team from the Chicago projects as part of a loan agreement.

During World War II, sisters Dottie and Kit join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.

A 17 year old farm boy is offered an ice hockey tryout. His brother drives him to Canada. He has fast legs, slow fists, but is chosen. Will he learn to use his fists and play ice hockey the Canuck way? Will he get the coach's cute daughter?

Jess Bhamra dreams of playing professional football, but her Sikh parents have plans for her: a law degree and a marriage. Jules, a white female striker, spots Jess playing football and invites her to join the local women's team.

A banker convicted of uxoricide forms a friendship over a quarter century with a hardened convict, while maintaining his innocence and trying to remain hopeful through simple compassion.

The extremely talented Santiago Muñez is spotted by a Newcastle United scout and given a chance at professional football.

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.

Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.

A self-centered Minnesota lawyer is sentenced to community service coaching a rag tag youth hockey team.

Can Gordon's team win the Junior Goodwill Games in California in spite of all the set-backs?

In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.

In 1971, Virginia high-school football was everything to the people of Alexandria, but when the school board was forced to integrate an all-Black school with an all-white one, the foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.

The true story of James J. Braddock, a supposedly washed-up boxer, who returned to the spotlight to win the heavyweight championship of the world.

Rudy has always been told that he was too small to play college football. But he is determined to overcome the odds and fulfill his dream of playing for Notre Dame.