Volleyball is a highly popular sport that has simple rules meaning anyone can play it. With so many movies about football and basketball, one would assume that there would be a hundred great movies about volleyball.
Turns out that isn’t the case. In my quest to find great movies about volleyball, I was left struggling as there aren’t a lot of movies that have volleyball scenes.
But, here are some of the volleyball scenes I enjoyed watching.
Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003)
Air Bud is going to be a very fun movie to watch for people who love dogs and playing volleyball. The comedy movie is about a dog that can play volleyball.
The plot of the movie is simple — Andrea’s girlfriend Tammy goes on a vacation with her parents to California. There, her roommate, Connor, suggests that they take part in a beach volleyball competition. Luck’s on their side as they win game after game with their dog, Buddy.
But Buddy is kidnapped one day by people who want to use the dog to help them steal from a museum.
Twilight (2008)
By now, I think everyone knows about the Twilight franchise. This movie has an awkward gym volleyball scene.
Bella, Kristen Stewart’s character is new in school and her terrible volleyball skills are put on show. They manage to catch the attention of Michael Welch and Anna Kendrick’s characters who quickly become her friends.
They talk about Bella’s pale skin, but little do they know that they are going to have the same fate as her later on.
Cast Away (2000)
I’ll leave it up for debate whether Cast Away is a volleyball movie or a movie that stars a volleyball. But, this classic 2000 movie features the Oscar winner Tom Hanks.
This character, Chuck Noland, gets stuck on an island after a plane crash. After being the only survivor from the flight, he washes up on an island. He attempts to sail away and contact for help but his efforts fail.
There, he leans to survive, with his only friend being a volleyball with a hand-drawn face on it. Never did I know that a scene with a volleyball would pull on my heartstrings as much as this movie.
Top Gun (1986)
Although the original Top Gun movie was released in 1986, it still holds up today. Top Gun isn’t a volleyball movie but it features one of best volleyball scenes I’ve ever seen.
Tom Cruise’s Maverick and Val Kilmer’s Iceman are other’s biggest rivals, and that’s true for the courts too. This scene served to show their competitiveness against each other.
The rest of the movie is a great watch as well, with great action sequences and heart-pounding aerial combat. Top Gun also got its sequel in 2022 with Top Gun: Maverick which gave a nod to the OG volleyball scene. I recommend watching the movies back to back as the sequel has a lot of such nods to the original film.
Such movies are in a way a test of your internet connection as Maverick’s visuals added with the Dolby Atmos sound is a treat to experience, and only possible with a hiccup-free internet connection. I streamed this movie using Spectrum as they offer blazing-fast internet and unbeatable deals on TV plans through which I got 150 channels and on-demand features. See if your internet connection wins at it.
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Seems like volleyball and school are a theme in a lot of movies. High school gym classes can be tough if you aren’t popular with the high school crowd.
In this volleyball scene, we see Molly Ringwald’s character Andie, and her friend Jena, played by Alexa Kenin, smoke and chat while watching the game before they get into an argument with the popular high school kids.
This leads to Andie having to go to the principal’s office. The movie is very fun to watch, especially if you’re looking to watch a romantic teen comedy movie.
Meet the Parents (2000)
This romance-comedy movie is about a series of unfortunate events that befall Ben Stiller’s character while visiting his girlfriend’s parents, played by Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner.
They play a game of pool volleyball featuring a nod to another volleyball scene from this list in Top Gun. Stiller’s character Greg gives his girlfriend’s sister, who is soon to be married, a broken nose and a black eye.
This volleyball scene is one of the funniest ones I’ve seen in a movie ever.
Court & Spark (2013)
Shaking things up a little, Court & Spark is a volleyball documentary about Courtney Thompson who was a setter for the USA’s national volleyball team.
The documentary has a lot of footage of interviews and Courtney with her team and coaches. This documentary film is worth watching if you’re a fan of volleyball.
The movie just doesn’t revolve around Courtney’s story, it’s also about learning from losses, taking risks, commitment, and teamwork to achieve your goals.
So, these were my picks for some of the best volleyball scenes in movies. Do you have more movie suggestions? I’d love to hear it from you in the comments below.
