Chariots of Fire (1981)

The come-from-behind winner of the 1981 Oscar for best picture, Chariots of Fire either strikes you as either a cold exercise in mechanical manipulation or as a tale of true determination and inspiration. The heroes are an unlikely pair of young athletes who ran for Great Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympics: devout Protestant Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a divinity student whose running makes him feel closer to God, and Jewish Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a highly competitive Cambridge student who has to surmount the institutional hurdles of class prejudice and anti-Semitism. There's delicious support from Ian Holm (as Abrahams's coach) and John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson as a couple of Cambridge fogies. Vangelis's soaring synthesized score, which seemed to be everywhere in the early 1980s, also won an Oscar. Chariots of Fire was the debut film of British television commercial director Hugh Hudson (Greystoke) and was produced by David Puttnam. --Jim Emerson Amazon.com essential video

My favorite movie

I first saw this movie at 18 and it has remained my favorite. The themes and messages are timeless - about having integrity and beliefs - and about "running" for all of the right reasons. October 9, 2008

An all time classic and inspirational film!

This is one of those films that deserves, in every way, to have earned the Academy's most coveted award. A film I can watch over and over again and continue to be inspired by, I have gone years without having last seen it - having first seen it in the theater during it's initial release - and it is a treat to have the opportunity to see it again here on this special edition DVD. October 1, 2008

A must have for your library

A classic sports movie that focuses on two UK runners as they prepare for the Paris Olympics, one is a Jew and one a Christian who holds firm in his conviction that Sunday is the Lords day and he will not run on the Lord's day, even to compete in his event in the Olympic games. I have seen this movies hundreds of times and it was time to upgrade from VHS to DVD. I loved all the interviews and the making of. I was especially impressed with the training these actors did to "become" runners. October 1, 2008

Chariots of Fire

The Chariots of Fire video was in excellent condition & we look forward to enjoying it for years to come. September 29, 2008

Classic - Inspired

this film is a wonderful evocation of an era and is brilliant in it s conception, acting and directing. the music is perfect and the opening sequence of the athletes running is superb. this hsould be shown over and over in schools. September 16, 2008

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