The 10 best high school football movies of all time

Everyone loves a good movie, and most have probably watched one with high school sports as the main setting. As football is the most popular sport in the country, it is only natural that genre figures prominently in many movies.

With that in mind, which movies based around high school football are the best? It's a subjective question, but there have been several that have gone mainstream or become cult classics over the years.

Others, though, weren't as lucky to stand the test of time.

In alphabetical order, here are the 10 movies based on high school football that we feel are the all-time best…

'All the Right Moves'

Release Date: 1983

In one of his first major leading roles, Tom Cruise stars as Stefan 'Stef' Djordjevic, a standout defensive back in Ampipe, a small town in Western Pennsylvania. Djordjevic views football as his way out of the town and a better future for himself, but is forced to reckon with problems both on and off the field.

Cruise is far from the only big name in this movie. Craig T. Nelson plays Coach Vern Nickerson and Lea Thompson plays Lisa Lietzke, Cruise's love interest in the movie.

'Friday Night Lights'

Release Date: 2004

Based on H.G. Bissinger's book about the 1988 Permian Panthers football team and the West Texas town of Odessa, many consider this movie the definitive high school football film. Billy Bob Thornton stars as legendary coach Gary Gaines in a loaded cast that includes the likes of Connie Britton, Lucas Black and Tim McGraw.

As there are always differences between book and movie adaptations, several changes were made to the movie, including making the game against Dallas Carter the state championship when the two teams actually played in the semifinals. Even with the changes, it's hard to argue that there's a better sports movie.

'Gridiron Gang'

Release Date: 2006

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson stars as coach Sean Porter in one of the more unique movies featured on this list. Gridiron Gang is loosely based on the 1990 Kilpatrick Mustangs, a high school football team formed at the Kilpatrick Detention Center in Los Angeles by Porter to give teens there something to do and teach them responsibility.

The movie shows the team's growth both on and off the field, as many of the teens involved were serving time for severe crimes. It also shows the struggle Porter and his assistant coach, played by Xzibit, have in scheduling opponents and fielding a full season for the inaugural team.

'Radio'

Release Date: 2003

Cuba Gooding Jr. gives an unforgettable performance as James Robert "Radio" Kennedy in this movie inspired by the 1996 Sports Illustrated article "Someone to Lean On" by Gary Smith.

Set at T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson, South Carolina, Radio goes from a man only known around the town for pushing his shopping cart to a key figure on the football team. The movie explores the racial tensions in the area as coach Harold Jones, played by Ed Harris, embraces Radio despite opposition from parents.

'Remember the Titans'

Release Date: 2000

Argued by many to be the greatest high school football movie of all time, this movie is loosely based on the 1971 newly consolidated T.C. Williams High School in Virginia and its new head coach, Herman Boone.

The central theme of the movie focuses on the black and white players as they learn not only to become good teammates but also friends off the field, despite the racial tensions that are still at a boiling point around them. A loaded cast alongside Denzel Washington includes Will Patton, Donald Faison, Ryan Hurst, Wood Harris, Ryan Gosling, Hayden Panettiere, and several others.

'The Best of Times'

Release Date: 1986

Reliving your high school days is something many people do, especially if they were once standout athletes. That's the premise of this movie, as Robin Williams stars as Jack Dundee, a banker who can't help but obsess over a dropped touchdown pass he had back in 1972, which haunts him to this day since the game ended in a scoreless tie.

Dundee convinces his former high school quarterback, Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell), and others to re-stage the game. While not the typical high school game, we'll still count it as their high schools are the focus of this movie.

'23 Blast'

Release Date: 2014

What happens when a star football player goes blind but his love for the game keeps him on the field? That's the premise of this movie set in Corbin, Kentucky.

Mike Hapka plays Travis Freeman, a junior who goes blind following a surgery to remove a bacterial meningitis infection. Freeman loses his girlfriend and is nearly forced to quit the game he loves but a change of position keeps his dream of playing alive.

'Varsity Blues'

Release Date: 1999

Drama, partying, intense high school football, you get all of that watching this coming-of-age football comedy-drama set in West Canaan, Texas. Jonathan Moxon, played by the late James Van Der Beek, is a senior backup quarterback thrust into the starting role and forced to play for a coach he hates while he awaits his high school career to end so he can go to Brown University.

This movie features a loaded cast including Ali Larter, Amy Smart, Jon Voight as Coach Bud Kilmer, and the late Paul Walker as Lance Harbor.

'When the Game Stands Tall'

Release Date: 2014

From 1992 to 2003, the De La Salle Spartans dominated California's high school football scene, winning 151 consecutive games. Jim Caviezel stars as De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur in this movie that focuses on the Spartans' start to the 2004 season.

While football is the primary focus of the movie, it also gives insight into the lives of the players who return for the 2004 season, the personal lives of the coaches and the struggles that De La Salle had entering that new year as many of their normal opponents start to announce that they will not play them again.

'Wildcats'

Release Date: 1986

This movie features Goldie Hawn as Molly McGrath, a high school girls' track coach in the suburbs who is the daughter of a Hall of Fame football coach and dreams of one day coaching football herself.

McGrath ultimately gets her shot when she is named head coach of an inner-city Chicago team. From the jump, McGrath is forced to overcome her players' refusal to take her seriously as a woman while also trying to win custody of her two daughters in her personal life.