8 Inspirational Sports Documentaries That Could Change Your Life

7. The Crash Reel

Year: 2013

Director: Lucy Walker

The Crash Reel - the typically exceptional HBO Documentaries film following the career ending crash that changed champion snow-boarder Kevin Pearce's life - is not your typical inspirational movie. It deals with adversity and personal catastrophe in a way that is utterly jaw-dropping, as we watch with unflinching honesty as Pearce's career tumbles around him.

In 2009, he suffered a terrible crash during practice that caused a huge brain injury and stopped him pursuing a sport that was singularly defining to him. The real story is one of a come-back that doesn't include sporting achievement as much as it does simple human resilience and the triumph of spirit even as it is taken on by Pearce's own desire to continue competing. It's heart-breaking, life-affirming stuff.