Summary

• Gymnastics movies delve into athlete stories and Olympic history, from fun comedies to intense documentaries.
• Olympians like Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas inspire films that showcase their talent and triumphs.
• Some films use gymnastics as a plot device for genres like comedy and horror, adding unique twists to the sport.

Over the years, there have been some great gymnastics movies, both those that look at the sport of gymnastics and others that just use it as one of the film's plot devices. Some movies feature a prominent gymnast character, others focus on the sport of gymnastics itself, and several documentaries take fans behind the scenes of the Olympic sport. With gymnastics as an organized sport in the United States since 1881 and an Olympic Games sport since 1896, there is a lot of history behind the sport.

Over its history, some of the biggest Olympic heroes have come from the world of organized gymnastics. Names like Simone Biles, Shannon Miller, Shawn Johnson, Gabby Douglas, and Mary Lou Retton have captured the hearts of the country thanks to their amazing feats in the Olympic Games. This has led several movies to try to use gymnastics as a plot device, often resulting in fun romantic comedies. With the recent sexual abuse scandal with the U.S. Olympic team, there have also been some powerful documentaries on the subject.

15 A 2nd Chance (2011)

A Young Gymnast Wants To Hit The Big Time

A 2nd Chance follows Maddy Cornell, a young gymnast hoping to make it to the big time. With the help of her coach, Kate, she may even secure herself a spot on a professional team. However, both the young aspiring athlete and the older coach have to deal with their own feelings of insecurity and pressure from others to get out of the sport if they are to achieve their goals.

Critics' reviews for A 2nd Chance were not very favorable, mostly calling the film derivative. However, critics and audience reviews also cite the film's inspirational message and family-friendly tone. Despite its lackluster reception, however, the film does offer something for fans of the sport to enjoy, especially if they have personal experience with competition or professional involvement. The movie was also popular enough to earn a sequel as well as a spinoff series.

14 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)

Lucy Liu's Angel Shows Her Gymnastics Prowess

Though seen as a far inferior sequel to 2000's Charlie's Angels reboot, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle takes the kick-flying fights even further. Audiences felt that this came at the cost of a strong story, but the movie does, however, introduce Lucy Liu's character by showing her in a gymnastics competition.

In that regard, gymnastics plays a very small role in the movie overall, but it is used as a fun bit of backstory to show how these women excelled at various fields which led to their lives as spies.

In that regard, gymnastics plays a very small role in the movie overall, but it is used as a fun bit of backstory to show how these women excelled at various fields which led to their lives as spies. The movie reunites viewers with the central trio (Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu & Cameron Diaz) as they take on a former Angel gone rogue (Demi Moore).

This sequel does offer a few fun sequences and a strong cast that includes cameos from Bruce Willis and Carrie Fisher, as well as Bernie Mac taking over the role of Bosley from Bill Murray. It was a box office success and fans of the franchise appreciated it, even with a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 41%.

13 Raising The Bar (2016)

Starring Real-Life Gymnast Jordyn Wieber

Raising the Bar is a gymnastics movie from 2016 featuring an actual gymnast: Olympic gold medalist, Jordyn Wieber. The plot follows a teen who rejected her placement on a U.S. gymnastics team when she and her family had to move. Now living in Australia, she has left her career in gymnastics in the past only to be confronted with a new opportunity to prove herself in the sport while also finding new friends by embracing her talent once again.

Like A 2nd Chance, the movie is helped by the fact that it focuses on young people trying to make it in the sport and serves as a mix of a coming-of-age story and a sports drama. The movie has a great amount of appeal for those who want a moderately light drama with a focus on real-world issues, such as cyberbullying.

12 The Bronze (2015)

A Duplass Brothers Gymnast Comedy

Best known for her work as part of the cast of The Big Bang Theory, Melissa Rauch stars in The Bronze, a comedy from the Duplass Brothers that offers a raunchy and R-rated look at the world of gymnastics with a memorable protagonist. The plot follows former gymnastics Bronze Medalist Hope Ann Greggory (Rauch) as she coasts through life in her hometown.

When her former coach dies, Greggory begrudgingly trains her newest pupil, Maggie Townsend (Haley Lu Richardson). Critics and audiences found The Bronze outright uncomfortable, confusing cringeworthiness with comedy.

In the end, it was just another film that didn't know what it wanted to be. Even still, Rauch gives a funny performance as this aggressive and foul-mouthed protagonist who is living in the past, even wearing her Olympic team outfit in everyday life. It offers an amusing look at the aftermath of people achieving greatness in the sport.

11 Final Destination 5 (2011)

A Gymnast In A Horror Franchise

Final Destination 5 follows a group of teens as they try to escape the systematic game played by Death itself. This time, the narrowly avoided disaster is a crumbling suspension bridge. As with the other movies in the Final Destination franchise, this brush with death makes the lucky survivors targets, with Death seeking to finish them off in creative ways.

When one of the survivors, Candice (Ellen Wroe), is revealed to be a gymnast, it sets up her death in one of the most memorable sequences in the movie. The sequence plays out wonderfully, with the audience knowing what is coming but unsure where the gruesome end will come from.

There are countless dangers in the sequence as Candice performs her routine, leading to her demise. It is one of the scenes, along with the movie's memorable twist ending, that makes Final Destination 5 one of the best in the franchise.

10 The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

An Infamous Gymnastic Fight Scene Makes Its Way Into The Sequel

It might be surprising for gymnastics to be featured in Steven Spielberg's dinosaur sequel, which might explain why The Lost World: Jurassic Park features one of the most controversial gymnastics scenes in movie history.

The sequel finds Jeff Goldblum returning as Ian Malcolm, who leads a rescue operation to a dinosaur-infested island which leaves him and various other characters running for their lives and in need of rescue themselves. One of the people on the island is Malcolm's daughter, Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester), who shows off her gymnastic skills in one infamous scene where she uses her abilities to fight off a pack of raptors.

The scene is ittedly quite goofy and does take the audience out of the most temporarily. However, despite not living up to the masterpiece that the original is, the sequel provides a fun and carnage-filled return to the Jurassic Park franchise with Spielberg delivering some excellent sequences.

9 The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)

A Buddy Action Comedy

2018's The Spy Who Dumped Me featured a villain trained in gymnastics in its comedy take on the spy movie genre. The plot follows Audrey and Morgan, two best friends who inadvertently get swept up in a globe-crossing caper. Before saving the world, Audrey has to get over the boyfriend who dumped her out of the blue.

James Bond featured a gymnast love interest in For Your Eyes Only. The Spy Who Dumped Me took this and made it even better and gymnastics fans finally got a memorable villain to identify with. More of a henchwoman than anything else, the Russian gymnast Nadedja (Ivanna Sakhno) also serves as one of the film's more memorable characters.

The villain is boosted by the reactions of Morgan (Kate McKinnon) to everything she does. This leads to a funny and genuinely thrilling showdown at the climax of the movie, in which Morgan takes on Nadedja during a trapeze performance.

8 Stick It (2006)

A Gymnastics Coming-Of-Age Story

If ever there were a film that could be called "a gymnastics movie," it's Stick It. The vast majority of the plot focuses on the actual skill behind gymnastics, and whereas most movies featuring gymnastics cast a glance at the sport, Stick It shows iration for both the sport and its athletes.

The movie also strays into feel-good territory, and while that's not a bad thing, Stick It also manages to inject some realism into the proceedings.

The movie also strays into feel-good territory, and while that's not a bad thing, Stick It also manages to inject some realism into the proceedings. The plot follows a troubled teen, Haley, with an unexplored gift. After getting into some trouble with the law, Haley is sent to a gymnastics academy.

There, a tough coach (Jeff Bridges) is going to do what he can to get her back on the right track. It is an honest and funny look at those dedicated to the sport and is elevated by the performance of Bridges, which mixes his gravitas as a performer and his natural comedic abilities.

7 Old School (2003)

A Raunchy R-Rated Comedy

Old School is the endlessly quotable movie that stands out as one of the quintessential R-rated comedies that ruled in the early 2000s. The plot of this beloved, raunchy comedy follows Mitch (Luke Wilson), an early 30s attorney who walks in on his wife cheating on him.

He moves into a house close to a college campus, enlisting the help of Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn) to start an und fraternity. The climax of the movie finds the fraternity at risk of being shut down over a lack of actual connection to the university, forcing them to participate in a variety of academic and athletic events to cement themselves in the school.

Among these events are a series of gymnastic activities which find Vaughn performing the rings while smoking a cigarette and Ferrell performing a floor routine and jumping through a ring of fire which ends with him ablaze. It is a brief sequence but provides some of the biggest laughs in the movie.

6 Full Out (2015)

Based On The True Story Of Ariana Berlin

Full Out tells the true story of Ariana Berlin, a 14-year-old gymnast who has Olympic dreams. However, her dreams end up shattered when she ends up in an auto accident that results in multiple long bone fractures and the collapse of both lungs.

When she struggles to get her form back and get back to gymnastics, she finds something new to help her recover - a San Diego breakdance troupe called Culture Shock. It's here that she meets the head coach from UCLA and gets a chance to reach her dreams again.

Full Out is a made-for-TV movie, and it shows her struggles after the accident up to her walking on at UCLA and winning the NCAA championship in college. The movie was a success and even resulted in a sequel in 2020 that focused on a different story, this one of the 2016 Oklahoma Sooners gymnastics team.