- Format: Full Screen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Release Date: Aug 22 1997
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (131 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 0790731010
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#30,373 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
- #11 in DVD > Special Interests > Sports > Olympics > Feature Films
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Product Description
From Amazon.co.uk
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 synthesised 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
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
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Competition and Character,
By Trial Critic "Reader" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chariots of Fire (Full Screen) (DVD)
Chariots of Fire is an outstanding epic based on the lives of two men (among others), Eric Liddel and Harold Abrahams. Eric Liddel, a Scotsman and a missionary believes he can succeed as a testament to his undying faith. Harold Abrahams, a Jew wishes to succeed to prove that Jews are no inferior to others in post WWI England. This movie is one of refinement, ambition, commitment and integrity. In that era, there are tempers when the Masters of Cambridge do not take lightly to Harold being trained by a professional as they pride in the amateur aspect of the sport and the esprit de corps. His interaction with his girl friend when he loses a race is a special point. She says, "He won fair and square. There is nothing you can do about it." Then he retorts, "I do not run to compete, I run to win, if I cannot win, I should not run." She replies, "If you do not run, you cannot win." It ends with her frustration and saying, "Grow up". As compelling as the racing scenes are, it's really the depth of the two main characters that touches the viewer, as they forcefully drive home the theme that victory attained through devotion and sacrifice is the most admirable feat that one can achieve.I am glad that I have a wide screen edition of this DVD, however this is a region 3 and cannot play in a regular DVD player, as they play only the region 1 version. It is similar to the version released in UK. Even this version does not have a good audio and video transfer. There are dots in the video and the audio should be better considering the outstanding score by Vangelis. The widescreen edition is farbetter than the one released in US though. I am sad that they are not releasing this one here. I got this one in US through another website, thanks to my enhanced DVD player. So, I would give 5 stars for the movie and 4 stars for the transfer (I am being very generous here).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good drama and sports movie - possible? YES!,
By Maggie (Winnipeg, Manitoba - Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chariots of Fire (VHS Tape)
It being my father's favourite film, I decided to give it a go. Although at first I thought it to be a quaint little story about British Olympic glory in 1924, after watching it the first time (and many times since) and listening to the superb musical score, I realised it is much more. One of those rare films, with superb acting and a believable and intelligent storyline and screenplay, that has an intangable extra. That extra drives you to view the movie again - and again and again, tirelessly -- only to discover new dimensions to characters, new meanings to the seemingly simple storyline, and of course a little bit about fascinating British history. (Not to mention movie making and acting -- real acting, an alternative to Hollywood -- and a very refreshing one! The characters are well developed -- the movie is only slow moving if you value slap-dash, one dimensional, superficial development. I thought the movie was well-paced and believable. There's a quality to it rarely seen in the mainstream Hollywood movie, and that's precisely what made it special. The cinematography is still breathtaking, the beach scene with complimentary soundtrack being one of those unforgettable moments in movie history. And quite frankly I *liked* the characters' plight, their passions, their individual means and ends, and how each tackles difficulties in his own way while at the same time acting in the name of British sportspersonship, national pride, etc.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Refined, inspiring, intelligent,
By
This review is from: Chariots of Fire (VHS Tape)
Even though this has an air of Merchant-Ivory crossed with Masterpiece Theater, and no genuine movie stars (at least at the time, except Sir John Gielgud), the movie shines from beginning to end. I saw this in the theater when it first came out and was very pleasantly surprised. It's a true story with a great message that still plays like Rocky with a brain -- exciting, funny, dramatic, well-acted, beautifully photographed. Unfortunately, not everyone will like it, though, because it brings back the days when drama meant dialogue, subtlety and intelligence, not explosions, predictable plots and computer-generated imagery. You have to watch and listen and have an appreciation of history. You can't watch this one and be distracted. Best to watch when you have time and can savor the moments, not when you have a room full of children, for instance.
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