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Movies / On DVD / Cool Runnings
Cool Runnings

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Cool Runnings (1993)

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Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:22

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: Cool Runnings rises above its formulaic sports-movie themes with charming performances, light humor, and uplifting tone.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: When a fellow competitor trips Derice at an Olympic qualifying track meet, Derice fails to acquire the final points necessary to get to the summer games. To make matters worse, the local board... When a fellow competitor trips Derice at an Olympic qualifying track meet, Derice fails to acquire the final points necessary to get to the summer games. To make matters worse, the local board refuses to reinstate Derice. But there's still way for him to make it to the Olympics. After learning about a wacky American bobsledder living in Jamaica -- who had years earlier attempted to recruit Derice's father for a Jamaican bobsled team -- Derice's competitive spirit is renewed. Realizing that bobsledding may be his golden opportunity, he drafts his go-cart driving buddy Sanka, and talks Winter Olympian Irv Blitzer into coaching this offbeat team. Blitzer whips the dedicated athletes into bobsledding shape despite the total absence of snow. Together they're the weirdest outfit at Calgary -- but no one's more fun at the winter games. [More]

Starring: John Candy, Doug E. Doug, Leon, Malik Yoba

Starring: John Candy, Doug E. Doug, Leon, Malik Yoba, Rawle Lewis

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Screenwriter: Lynn Siefert, Tommy Swerdlow, Michael Goldberg
Producer: Dawn Steel

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 24, 1999

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Cool Runnings
  • Based on a true story, this is the comedic saga of four Jamaican athletes going to extremes to compete as bobsled racers at the Winter Olympics. With few resources and virtually no clue about winter sports, it's an uphill course for this troupe from the tropics who are sliding on thin ice as they go for the gold in Calgary, Canada. Refusing to let anything stand in their way, these four Jamaicans enlist the help of a down-and-out ex-champion American slider named Irv. Unavoidably drawn back to a sport he had come to loathe, Irv is faced with coaching a team of complete novices. But once committed, he is determined to turn them around and to somehow right the wrongs of his own failed career. It's a bumpy ride but with pride, determination, and dignity, the bobsledders make their impossible dreams come true.
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Cool Runnings

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    A spirited -- if sentimental and conventional -- movie...

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    07/31/08
    Channel 4 Film

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    09/05/07
    Felix Gonzalez Jr.
    Felix Gonzalez Jr.
    DVD Review

    Cool Runnings doesn't even rate a bronze medal as either sports film or comedy.

    Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
    03/21/07
    TV Guide's Movie Guide

    The offbeat, fact-based saga is enlivened by the perfect balance of humor, emotion and insight and should be one of the true sleepers among fall box office releases.

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    03/21/07
    Leonard Klady
    Leonard Klady
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Travelogue shots of happy Jamaicans dancing in the sun give way to patronising comedy.

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    02/09/06
    Time Out

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    10/05/05
    Chuck O'Leary
    Chuck O'Leary
    Fantastica Daily

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    07/23/05
    Emanuel Levy
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com

    One of Candy's best as coach of an Olympic bobsled team.

    comment Comment
    06/11/05
    Steve Crum
    Steve Crum
    Video-Reviewmaster.com

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    12/27/04
    Michael Dequina
    Michael Dequina
    TheMovieReport.com

    A energia do elenco e a inspiradora premissa (baseada em fatos reais) convencem o espectador a ignorar os vários clichês e a torcer desesperadamente pelos bravos jamaicanos.

    comment Comment
    04/13/04
    Pablo Villaca
    Pablo Villaca
    Cinema em Cena

    Entertaining and uplifting.

    Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
    01/21/04
    Dragan Antulov
    Dragan Antulov
    rec.arts.movies.reviews

    While the film is cute and charming, it isn't without its copious cliches. All in all, it's pretty much as expected.

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    10/07/03
    Christopher Null
    Christopher Null
    Filmcritic.com

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/22/03
    Carol Cling
    Carol Cling
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    In the tradition of Mighty Ducks, here's another great Rocky story from Disney.

    comment Comment
    07/14/03
    Fred Topel
    Fred Topel
    About.com

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    06/04/03
    Philip Martin
    Philip Martin
    Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    05/23/03
    Kevin N. Laforest
    Kevin N. Laforest
    Montreal Film Journal

    A cute, buoyant sports fantasy, jolted along by a reggae soundtrack and playfully acted by an appealing cast.

    Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
    05/21/03
    Janet Maslin
    Janet Maslin
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    02/12/03
    Shannon J. Harvey
    Shannon J. Harvey
    Sunday Times (Australia)

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    12/19/02
    Josh Gilchrist
    Josh Gilchrist
    Billings Outpost (Montana)

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    09/06/02
    Rob Vaux
    Rob Vaux
    Flipside Movie Emporium
     
     
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