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

Inspirational Chariots

I ordered "Chariots of Fire", the DVD. Found it to be just what I was looking for, and the entire process of ordering, receiving, and enjoying was superb --- could not ask for more! Thank you, Amazon, for such great service. August 19, 2008

science student

This is one of my favorite films. However, several reviewers make an understandible mistake. Eric Liddell was a science student, not a divinity student in university. He subsequently taught science in the Anglo-Chinese school in Tianjin in a building which now houses an amazing open(TSPM)church. Devotion to God is not in opposition to science. August 2, 2008

One of the all-time greats

This is simply an amazing movie, inspiring in a way that few are. I am fascinated by Mr. Liddel, and my only disappointment was that the movie portrayed his lovely sister in an entirely unrealistic light. She did in fact support her brother's running wholeheartedly and was one of his biggest fans. I suppose the screenwriter felt the need to add a little additional tension to a remarkable life.

To me, Chariots of Fire captures all that is right with athletics. The spirit of the amateur gentleman athlete has slipped away to a large degree, but it can still be found in the endless hours logged by athletes in non-professional sports. It's easy to slip into the trite "good-old-days" mentality, but when it comes to athletics, something truly has been lost. Chariots of Fire captures the amazing spirit of camaraderie and selflessness that pervaded the British Olympic team in the early 20th Century. Truly a fantastic movie. July 17, 2008

Believe us...

Please believe us that this DVD advertised as "widescreen" is indeed just the full screen with the top and bottom cut off to make it look widescreen. Very false advertising. The movie is, of course, one of the best ever made - especially about sport. This version, however, is not satisfactory! July 2, 2008

Be Warned: This DVD is NOT a true wide-screen!

My God. They created this wide-screen version of "Chariots of Fire, Two Disk Special Edition" by chopping off the top and bottom (or just the bottom) of the old full-screen version of the same title. In other words, the old full-screen version has more screen to watch.

I don't think they even bothered to remaster this from the original tape, because the old full screen version is actually sharper on my monitor screen than this wide screen version if I watch them side by side. So, I'm giving one star for this their shady business, even though I believe that the film itself is one of the best films ever made. Let's hope that they will do it right for Blu-ray version, assuming that someone will publish a Blue-ray version. May 8, 2008

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