Feature

Top 20 Movie Underdogs

Chris

3rd April 2008

15. THE SPARTANS in 300 (2006)
Normally, a force of highly trained Spartan warriors wouldn't be considered the underdogs in any sort of conflict, but when faced with an invading army of over one million Persians, the odds fall squarely on the side of Team Arab. This didn't stop brave King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his army of 300 finely-toned, half-naked men from making a stand, and they actually managed to hold off the forces of the God-King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) for two whole days before they were finally dumped on by superior numbers. Despite losing the battle, Leonidas and his trusty men won the war, as their deaths rallied the whole of Greece to take up arms against the invaders and send the humbled Xerxes scurrying all the way back to Persia. Leonidas and his men may be dining in Hell tonight, but their spirits will live on. In slow motion. Cool.




14. SEABISCUIT in SEABISCUIT (2003)
When '30s America was feeling really bummed about their Great Depression, they looked to Seabiscuit the horse to drag them from their stupor. An undersized, weedy lookin' steed though he was, Seabiscuit nonetheless tore up the racecourses and racked up several victories in his time, giving cash-strapped Yanks something to cheer about at last. It's your archetypal loser-wins-big story and is packed to the nosebag with underachievers just waiting to come good, including Tobey Maguire as a semi-blind jockey and Chris Cooper as an over-the-hill trainer who you just know is going to train the shit out of him. In fact, Jeff Bridges' millionaire backer even jokes: "The horse is too small, the jockey's too big, the trainer's too old and I'm too dumb to know the difference." Seabiscuit? They might as well have called the movie Underhorse.




13. SAM LOWRY in BRAZIL (1985)
Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is an underachieving, low-level bureaucrat living in a needlessly convoluted and inefficient Orwellian society that thrives on red tape and paperwork. Sam dreams of doing heroic deeds, flying through the clouds and rescuing a beautiful, angelic maiden from the clutches of a giant neon-clad samurai warrior (too much cheese, no doubt). Sam's dreams become reality when he attempts to rectify the wrongful arrest of a citizen and gets caught up in a social revolution, and he attempts to topple the totalitarian society from within. In the process, he runs straight into the woman of his dreams, who turns out to be a political terrorist. Unfortunately, despite Sam's newfound determination, he quickly discovers that more often than not, the little guy is simply no match for the crushing machine of bureaucracy. Sam is captured and tortured, but he manages to escape into his own dreams, thus achieving a victory of sorts.




12. HAPPY GILMORE in HAPPY GILMORE (1996)
Pluck one angry sportsman from his chosen field, dump him in another and watch the sparks fly: Happy Gilmore may think hockey is in his blood, but it turns out the loud-mouthed hothead is really more of a golfer. Blessed with a powerful drive but cursed with shitty putting, Happy needs the tutelage of golf legend Chubbs Peterson to complete his game ("It's all in the hips! Just easin' the tension, baby!"). With Chubbs' advice, Happy rises through the ranks of the PGA - minus the required goofy pants and fat arse - and eventually comes face to face with asshat tour leader Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald). Against all odds, Happy pips his opponent to the gold jacket and even has the stones to beat up septuagenarian teammate Bob Barker on the road to victory. Truly a hero for our time, I'm sure you'll agree.




11. LUKE SKYWALKER in the STAR WARS movies (1977-1983)
If someone had dared to tell Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) that his entire galactic Empire would be brought down by a cracker farm boy from a backwater planet at the arse end of the universe, he probably would have laughed right in their face (or force choked them). Well the joke was on pizza face, because that's exactly what happened over the course of George Lucas's classic space opera trilogy. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) went from being a lowly moisture farmer to the saviour of galaxy, and even managed to bring peace to Darth Daddy's tormented soul along the way (not to mention freeing a race of singing teddy bears from tyrannical rule). At the end of the day, Luke may have been destined to save the galaxy, but that doesn't make his accomplishment any less impressive - now the kid can afford to get cocky.


More:  Top10  Underdogs
Follow us on Twitter @The_Shiznit for more fun features, film reviews and occasional commentary on what the best type of crisps are.
We are using Patreon to cover our hosting fees. So please consider chucking a few digital pennies our way by clicking on this link. Thanks!

Share This