Without Limits

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant sports movie
Review: "Without Limits" is the best sports movie of the 1990s, hands down. However, because it does not have the traditional happy ending that seems to be required of sports movies, it received very little notice. That's unfortunate because in addition to containing an Oscar-calliber performance from Donald Sutherland, the rest of the acting and direction are absolutely first rate. Robert Towne captures the essence of the great Prefontaine through the being of Billy Crudup. The race scenes are simply breathtaking. Prefontaine comes off as a real person, with all of his virtues and faults, rather than some mythical presence. Even the love story rings absolutely true instead of being an unreal fable. Overall, you could call this one a "Bang the Drum Slowly" for the 1990s. Its that heartbreaking.

Rating:
Summary: GO-PRE
Review: Without Limits is a movie worth watching. The races are intense and Steve's life is wonderfully dipicted in this drama. I've seen this movie countless times and still look forward to watching it again. This video is wonderfully inspiring, I watch it before big races to get me pumped up. WITHOUT LIMITS will not let you down.

Rating:
Summary: Drive and Passion
Review: Lee of Cincy does hit the nail on the head with his review, but maybe Towne and Moore wrote their version of the cause of the foot injury for Pre to make up for his lack of "God's Will"! It's great to see real runners, running at world-class speed, in a real icon runner's story. It really stirs the passion I have for running, and the feelings of passion and drive that Pre exuded to me when I was only 14 and reading about his life and running.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Performance by Billy
Review: I have to say that when i went to get out a video there wasn't much to choose from on the shelves, then i came across without limits. I watched this movie twice in a row and could watch it many more times and still totally enjoy the movie. I may not be a runner or into sport at all but this movie has inspired me in life itself. Just in the fact of what one can achieve. Before i watched this movie i had no ider who Steve Prefontaine was, but his running and his life has inpired my own career and what i want out of life. I thought that Billy deserves an academy for his performace, it has been a long time since i have watched a movie with inpiring actors, with Donald Sutherland as the coach they make a great team. The fact that Billy is not bad on the eyes,makes the movie even more watchable.More movies should aim to be of this high level of achievment and maby so much garbage won't be made. Also i am suprised why i hadn't heard of this movie before i saw it at the video shop. It should of been given much more publicity. If any one knows of Billy Crudop fan club mail address or any thing about him please email me at [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: For starters, I am a REAL runner. Not one of these phonys who are 45 and overweight and may have run once in their life, but feel that they can write an expert review on Without Limits. I am a high school distance runner, and I know what it is like to be in a big race. I know what it is like to have to love and feel for running. I watched this movie, and it gave me chills. They did such a good job with the races that I started to feel like I was running there with Steve Prefontain. The acting in this movie was wonderful. Crudup looked just like a real runner and he had the attitude down. The plot and theme of this movie was great. It was an excellent movie. This movie is my inspiration for the rest of the this year's track season and perhaps the rest of my running career. I felt a special bond with Prefontain because I have the same front running style and cocky attitude about my running as you can probably tell from this review. This is a great movie. If you are not a runner you won't understand it. If you think you a runner, then you will probably think you understand it, but if you are actually a runner, this movie will effect you like no other movie. Without Limits is excellent.

Rating:
Summary: A Pre not at his best
Review: This movie was good....if you don't like to receive factual information. This movie was way too Hollywood-ized to be enjoyable to someone who thinks the real Prefontaine is anyone noteworthy. The plot was shaky, and didn't come close to the actual person Pre was. If you want to see a good Pre movie, try the one called "Prefontaine." It's much better and is factual!

Rating:
Summary: Without Limits
Review: I though the movie was a + rated movie. It was true to life. It showed the life of one of the greatest runners of our time.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Sports Films
Review: Hollywood has never done sports well. Their movies are usually either cloying, cliched kid flicks or sappy melodramas. "Without Limits" is neither of these. It's a fascinating, exhilarating look at a running legend.

Billy Crudup was superb as "Pre". Cool, cocky, with a running style that sent shivers through me. Donald Sutherland gives another first-rate performance as coach Bowerman. Compared to R. Lee Ermey's portrayal in the lesser movie "Prefontaine", watching Sutherland work was like eating filet mignon after beef jerky.

The highlight of the film for me was the '72 Munich race. Pure sustained tension. I've seen the film 4 times, I know the outcome, but I nevertheless hop out of my chair every time I see Pre/Crudup break from the pack. Excellent, too, how they deftly spliced in the actual footage.

Only two criticisms: the romance was hokey, and there was too much unnecessary fiction woven in (Pre gashed his foot running around a swimming pool, not while having sex upside down, for crying out loud).

But because of this movie, I learned that Pre wasn't just a flashy jock who died young. He was a true working class hero in a sport where there weren't many. He had his own running code, which he also applied in life: run all-out, ahead of the pack, all the time.

As a runner, "Without Limits" actually inspired me to actually chop seconds off my running times, which is not a bad testament. But I don't think one has to be a runner to like this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Take two, a little smoother
Review: I give this movie four stars for general moviegoers, most of whom did not bother to see either this version or the earlier "Prefontaine" the first time in theaters -- probably for reasons sufficient to them.

People who run long distance, who love Steve Prefontaine and/or what he stood for, are throwing stars at both of these movies for those reasons, I suspect, not for the movies as artifacts in themselves. Since I attended Prefontaine's high school a number of years later, I met him my first week of school, I ran long distance and even posted faster two-mile times then Pre as a freshman and sophomore, and I was in the Marshfield stadium when his running colleagues carried the coffin onto the field for a memorial service before the body was taken to its final resting place south of town, I fight to retain some objectivity myself.

"Without Limits" is coach Bill Bowerman's, fellow runner Kenny Moore's, and a particular Pre girlfriend's version of the story, gussied up by screenwriter Robert Towne. Towne has done incredible work in the past ("Chinatown," for instance), but I thought his other Eugene, Oregon/distance running story, "Personal Best," stunk. This one is better.

Crudup does a good job of playing Pre; I think "Prefontaine"'s Leto barely edges him for looks. "Without Limits" does a slicker, big screen presentation compared to the earlier film's home movie/documentary style, which is why I think it might appeal more to the average moviegoer who doesn't know anything about Pre or doesn't care about distance running. They're just different approaches to the same basic story ... and probably equally wrong in many of the details. (Prefontaine's parents were in on the earlier film, and supplied the makers with actual home movie footage of Pre as a child.)

I'm delighted that any film got made about this man, let alone two; I'm gratified if either movie has served to inspire younger runners; but I think it's ridiculous to argue that one or the other "really" captures the man. Just enjoy them for what they are, and cherish the memory of an incredible athlete.

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite The Same
Review: I thought this movie was pretty good. The music, diolauge, and actors are alright but not like "Prefontaine." This movie's Mac Wilkins looks like some hippie not like Mac Wilkins. Steve's roomate wasn't obsessed with scriptures and Billy Cudrup looks more like a Prefontaine wannabe instead of Prefontaine. James Leto was much more convincing. However, the racing was good and the plot was alright but it showed him more as a good guy than the real prefontaine. He was a little drunk when he crashed but this movie doesn't show it. Also, the racing wasn't quite as exciting as in "Prefontaine." However this movie does move a little faster than the other and works well as a pump-up movie.