Really this is an overblown piece of self-congratulatory emotional manipulation perfectly suited for Thatcherite liberals.
Comment
02/09/06
Chariots of Fire (1981)
86
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:31
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Decidedly slower and less limber than the Olympic runners at the center of its story, the film nevertheless manages to make effectively stirring use of its spiritual and patriotic themes.
Synopsis: Director Hugh Hudson's absorbing drama, based on a true story, deals with the personal struggles faced by two very different long-distance runners competing for Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympic... [More]
Starring: Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Nigel Havers, Cheryl Campbell
Director: Hugh Hudson
Reviews for Chariots of Fire
worth watching despite providing another reason to put words "Oscar" and "overrated" in the same sentence
07/05/05
Appreciation of this picture doesn't demand a love of sports, merely an understanding of human nature.
01/01/00
Tells the true stories of two young men who become champions at the 1924 Paris Olympics and their religious commitments.
09/01/02
It's an exceptional film, about some exceptional people.
05/20/03
Top CriticThe key actors all do good work, and the unlikely conflation of athletic ambition and religious controversy makes for a potent combination.
01/10/03
This is strange. I have no interest in running and am not a partisan in the British class system. Then why should I have been so deeply moved by Chariots of Fire?
10/23/04
Top CriticNow, 20 years later, it's dated. In some ways that actually benefits the film as its true age somehow helps its 1920s setting but other aspects suffer.
01/01/00
A period piece that explores timeless themes of temporal ambitions and higher purposes, of commitment and sacrifice, of ability and spirit.
02/03/05
This is quite possibly the most lyrical, most spiritual sports movie ever made.
01/01/00
The battered Britons may have some excuse for enjoying this nostalgic re-creation of empire ideology, but what's ours?
12/17/06
This manipulative inspirational-religious sports drama, about the 1924 Olympics, benefited immensely from Vangelis stirringly brilliant score and editor Terry Rawlings slow-motion of the running sequences.
01/25/07
Emotionally lacking, Chariots of Fire is only limitedly entertaining as a piece of cinematic history and a glimpse into the history of a handful of Olympic hopefuls.
12/22/06
This movie deservedly won the Oscars for best picture, screenplay, costume design, and music.
02/27/01
There's drama here, but it's work getting to it
02/12/05
Most sport movies make winning the goal. Here, running is a metaphor for life, and the way these men run tells us volumes about their hearts.
01/15/05
No imbalance mars the pic, whose cross-the-board achievement lifts it to an impressive level of unified accomplishment.
03/26/07
Top CriticDirector Hugh Hudson turns a relatively small story into a rhapsodic epic of spiritual and heroic dimensions.
02/06/05
A roaringly good examination of competition, nationalism, conscience, and faith played out against a inspiring backdrop of sheer physical exertion and achievement.
11/07/02
Like every element in this picture, the actors look right; they seem to emerge from the past, instead of being pasted on to it, as so many characters in historical movies seem to be.
08/01/08
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