Rating: Summary: A powerful inspiring movie with a lesson for all of us Review: I saw this movie when it was released on Cable TV a couple of years ago i.e.January 1998.When I watched it,I was REALLY inspired with the old-age values,the faith,the courage and the determination of the two athletes in the movie i.e.Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell each in their own ways.Both these men are running in the pursuit of Olympic glory in the 1924 Olympics. For Harold Abrahams, winning an Olympic Gold meant the proving wrong of all the anti-Semitic feelings that were prevalent in Britain at that time.For Liddell, it meant in his own words :" ....when I run, I feel his pleasure....to win is to honour him". His missionary upbringing was probably responsible for these feelings. Neither of the men had an easy path to success.Harold had to practice repeatedly to better himself,and be faster than his peers, while Liddell had to repeatedly face the barrage of questions of his sister and family, who wanted him to forget about the tracks and continue his missionary work especially his preaching in China. But they face their hardships well and go on to win the Gold for their respective races.The gold has a different weight for both. Zangelis' score was so impressive and absolutely brilliant, that one just feels like listening to it over and over again. Agreed that this movie might not have the techno-wizardry of current day hits like the James Bond series, nut it has an old-world charm of it's own, that makes people sit up,take notice and be nostalgic of the old world.A must see for the youth of today especially.
Rating: Summary: A Classic Review: I love this movie. CHARIOTS OF FIRE is my favorite movie of all time. I have laughed and cried on this movie. The movie's plot tells a good message. CHARIOTS OF FIRE is the story of two runnners: one runs because God has given him a gift, the other runs to build his own empire. The whole movie is about the contrast between the Christian's and the non-christian's lives. The movie shows that to live for God is the highest calling of man and that a life without God is not life but death.
Rating: Summary: My favorite movie of all time Review: I have seen ratings of the 100 greatest movies ever, and inexplicably, this academy award winner is not on the lists. I rate this as my favorite. Perhaps the movie is too clean and emphasizes too many positive values for jaded "movie experts" to give it it's due. The movie features two great British sprinters in post WWI England, each with very different motivations for giving thier all to win the Olympic gold. One, a Jew, was compelled to win because he believed that would make him be looked upon as an Englishman rather than solely as a Jew. The other, a devout Christian, ran for the glory of God. As important as competition was for him, his religious priciples were paramount and would not be compromised. This is absolutely a wonderful movie and though I have seen bad reviews regarding the dvd version, I have enjoyed the tape version as much as I did on the wide screen.
Rating: Summary: The BEST film of the 80's/The WORST DVD of the century! Review: It is a DISGRACE that Warners would treat a BEST PICTURE winner in this fashion. Why the poor transfer to DVD? Why not put the film onto DVD in its original aspect ratio (widescreen), as it was meant to be seen? Both The Sting (Universal) and Driving Miss Daisy (also Warners) are two other best picture winners which received the same sorry treatment. I will NEVER buy the DVD of this EXCELLENT film until a proper release is given.
Rating: Summary: A Great Film - a TERRIBLE DVD Review: This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Perhaps I'm partial because I'm a runner - I viewed it in a theater the night before I ran my first marathon - but it is a great inspirational story, portraying two characters driven by ambition that is fueled from completely different sources. Vangelis' score resonates throughout the film, in addition to one of the greatest film/music openings I've ever seen. (The reports that the film was almost never completed due to budgetary limitations make its story even more impressive.) DO NOT, however, rush out and buy (or rent) this title on DVD. Having just completed a home theatre system I made this one of my first DVD purchases and was THOROUGHLY disappointed, not so much by the full-screen presentation but by the extremely poor transfer of video and sound to DVD. It truly looks like a 2nd or 3rd generation copy of a bootleg video. Especially since it is an Academy Award winner, I hope it will eventually be re-released in a respectable presentation.
Rating: Summary: They don't make them like this anymore . . . Review: My parents first took me to see this when I was still in grade school. Years later, it is still a powerful movie for me. Some boorish person may call it boring. A few months ago, after I asked for this movie in a video store, the clerk proceeded to tell her co-workers what a sleeper this movie was after she tried to watch it after consuming mass-quantities of alcohol. Granted, it might not have the non-stop action that "The Mummy" has, but this is still a great movie. Two runners from 1920's Great Britain are highlighted in this film. A very brief sketch of their life trials as participants in the 1924 Olympics is the focal point. These are times that are not very familiar to most people, so this movie has value just in that aspect. I am not Jewish, so I could not personally appreciate that plight that Abrams had to go through. However, it was refreshing to me to see Abrams overcome the difficulties of anti-semitism in post-Victoria England. The other runner was Liddle, a missionary-turned-runner. He struggles to reconcile his beliefs with the pressures to compromise his entire value system. Watch this movie. Pay attention, and you will be rewarded with a gripping story of Abrams and Liddle, two forgotten sports heroes.
Rating: Summary: Movie about nothing Review: This movie is just plain boring. Unless you are a fan of "Touched by an Angel" don't watch it. The movie has some good ideas, but they are presented in a horrobly boring way.
Rating: Summary: to good to miss Review: an excellent movie, about 2 fine young men,Eric Liddel, an scottish missionery and Harold Abrahams,a jewish student from cambridge.Who had hope in their hearts and wings on their feet.Both ran for the UK in the 1924 olympic games.Liddel ran for god while Abrahams ran to fight against anti-semetism.An inspiring motion picture and a real pity to miss.
Rating: Summary: DVD terrible, Film Excellent Review: What a disappointment. This Oscar-winning film about the triumph of the human spirit deserves much better treatment than the lousy DVD that was put out. The picture quality is terrible, with lots of artifacts, and there's no widescreen, no goodies, and the sound is not good -- tragic, especially when the hymn "Jerusalem" should soar to the rafters. Warner Brothers should be ashamed of themselves. If I could return my copy I would. 5 stars for the excellent film, 0 stars for the lousy execution of the DVD.
Rating: Summary: Where's the widescreen? Review: This critically acclaimed movie is disrepectfully available in pan and scan only (using the misnomer full screen format). Of course this means that you get only 2/3 of the screen width that was seen in the theaters. The panoramic shots on the beach are seen in the TV sceen view only. What a shame to treat this visual feast as though it were an order of McNuggets.
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