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Chariots of Fire
[1981] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Daniel Gerroll
Director: Hugh Hudson
Format: Closed-captioned Colour DVD-Video Widescreen NTSC
Released: 01 Feb 2005
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Inspiring Story of Commitment, Faith and Glory - By: A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com, 01 Sep 2007
Many great sports movies are about self-sacrifice for the sake of selfish goals. Rocky Balboa fought to prove something. Lou Gehrig wanted to persevere. Rudy Ruettiger just wanted to play for Notre Dame. They have obstacles, & by sheer will, overcome them.

Not Eric Liddell. Liddell wanted to glorify God. When he ran, he felt closer to God. When it came to winning, he wanted it to point toward God, not himself.

When questioned about his commitment as a Christian, & to his intention to return as a missionary to China, he replied, "I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, & when I run, I feel His pleasure." "Chariots of Fire" shows him as a man who never compromised, & followed through as an athlete who happened to be a Christian.

The movie contrasts Liddell against the various concerns of others. Some ran for country, others ran for their king. Some ran for the good name of their school. Others ran so that they themselves would receive honor.

Paralllel to Liddell's Olympic chase is the story of Harold Abrahams, another English runner who faces quiet prejudice as a Jew from a blue color background. Abrahams worked as hard as Liddell, but his commitment was for himself. This distinction flowed in & out of various scenes.

In a time when devotion to God is not considered fashionable, Liddell refused to change his position. His faith is not made an issue -- it is nice to see a movie that does not rest in snarkish cynicism, but tolerates Liddell's faith without whitewashing it.

Aspects of the movie are fictionalized, but the essence is accurate. The filming is beautiful, & the acting solid. The music is well known, & strong throughout.

The title refers to a line in William Blake's poem, "And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time," which, itself refers to Elijah's chariot as mentioned in 2 Kings 2:11.

I fully recommend "Chariots of Fire."

Anthony Trendl
http://runnersdilemma.blogspot.com
Atrocious - what a letdown. - By: TheMelster, 03 Nov 2004
This DVD is awful. I watch on a portable player with headphones & the sound was so bad it made the movie unwatchable. A pity as the film itself is one of the greatest made in britain post sixties (the academy award winning soundtrack it's centrepiece) & certainly a favourite of mine. The picture was a little better but the dark tones are extremely grainy (would definitely benefit from an anamorphic release) & the picture at the start of the film is full of scratches & marks. Is this supposed to replicate a cinema going experience? I have serious doubts about some of the colour values too. This is just laziness by 20th century fox. Other films of this era have been successfully transferred to 5.1 sound & if this was an example of the best film negative they could find to transfer onto DVD then a full digital restoration is urgently callled for. Until then, you'll enjoy this movie more on VHS.
great film, terrible DVD - By: skeleton bob, 31 Aug 2004
Film: 5
DVD: 0

The film is, of course wonderful. I will not go over ground covered in the other reviews here, except to say that this is a beautiful, moving & inspiring film. I remember seeing it in my school halll when I was 9 years old & hadn't seen it again until I viewed this DVD. The years have only sderved to improve the film; comparing it to modern movies is a bit like comparing the 1924 Olympiad to Athens 2004- we seem to have lost something wonderful in the interim.

The DVD, however, is terrible. Others have mentioned the sound: this is not an isolated problem. Throughout the film the speech is muddy, the music harsh & distorted. Often there is mismatch between speech & film- an unforgivable offence. For such a beautiful film the picture itself is grainy; although this may be a deliberate cinematic effect (I can't quite believe that!), given that the sound is so bad it is more likely just poor transfer. As for extras, erm... what extras? I'm not usuallly too bothered but in a film like this, a Best Picture Oscar winner & a historical tale to boot, I would expect a little more, even a short documentary of the true facts, pictures of the athletes or brief biographies of the protagonists would be nice. Particularly gallling as that this is billed as a "Special Commemorative Edition" yet is identical to the previous edition bar a cardboard slipcase bearing the words "Commemorative Edition"!; commemorative of what, exactly? 80 years since the events shown? Then why no documentary abut the 1924 Olympics or the development of the Olympic movement? Or perhaps commemorative of this year's (Athens) olympics? I suspect the words "cash" & "in" are involved here.

I can't help but feel that the producers of this DVD have betrayed the ideals which they promote so highly in this film.

A Great Film Of Passion! - By: no1filmaddict, 31 May 2004
Ultimately this film is about both passion & faith. The passion being both competitors extream will to win at alll costs, & the faith for Liddell in God, & for Abrahams in himself.

'Chariots Of Fire' features Ian Charleson as the devoted protestant Eric Liddell who runs because he belives that God made him able to run fast for a purpose, & also because he feels that running brings him closer to God.

Ben Cross plays the Jewish Harold Abrahams whose sole purpose for running is basicallly to win at alll costs, even if it means employing the help of a proffessional coach (which at this time was strictly not alllowed) to enable him to do so.

Both competitors travel to Paris for the 1924 Olympic Games however when Liddell realises that his first head is on a Sunday (the sabbath), he simply refuses to play, until a fellow runner who has already won a gold medal, offers for him to swap an do the 400 metre dash. Liddell agrees & goes on to win that race, despite the fact that he has not reallly trained for that race.

Meanwhile Abrahams who has trained like hell alll year in order to beat Liddell, is dissappointed that he cannot come up against him, but when he finds that there is even bigger competition from an American athelte, he soon forgets about Liddell & concentrates on winning.

With a great cast, some excellent direction & a theme tune that comes very close to the Rocky tune, this reallly is a good film, which any sports fan is sure to enjoy, & even relate to. Highly recommended.

where is the sound? - By: Anne Marie, 20 Feb 2004
I borrowed a copy of this DVD from my local library. I played it on a playstation 2 & just couldn't hear the sound. I thought that there was something wrong with the DVD from the library & was going to purchase a copy from Amazon when I read Mr. Randalll's review.Many thanks.