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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

    • T-Meter Critics
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    1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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    Entertaining and uplifting.

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

    Entirely mediocre and forgettable

    Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment 1 Comment
    01/01/00
    James Berardinelli
    James Berardinelli
    ReelViews
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Often silly but almost never funny.

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment 1 Comment
    01/01/00
    Hollis Chacona
    Hollis Chacona
    Austin Chronicle

    If you like underdog movies, you might like this one. Especially if you haven't seen very many.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The considerable warmth, humour and persistence of the cast soon have you rooting for these underdogs.

    Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Almar Haflidason
    Almar Haflidason
    BBC

    A wholesome, engaging, frequently hilarious, ultimately inspirational film.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Richard Harrington
    Richard Harrington
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The setting and characters were so unique that the film quickly overcame its shortcomings to become a very satisfying piece of movie entertainment.

    Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Chris Hicks
    Chris Hicks
    Deseret News, Salt Lake City

    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

    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

    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

    It's a film about success coming from hard work and determination, and it's a film I would be glad to take a family to see. That's a rarity, and it's worth praise on its own level.

    Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Scott Renshaw
    Scott Renshaw
    rec.arts.movies.reviews

    The ghost of Stepin Fetchit is hovering in the tropical ether.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Desson Thomson
    Desson Thomson
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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

    A spirited -- if sentimental and conventional -- movie...

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

    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

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

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

    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

    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

    Better than it looks. I know, it shocked me too.

    comment Comment
    07/26/02
    Scott Weinberg
    Scott Weinberg
    eFilmCritic.com

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/22/03
    Carol Cling
    Carol Cling
    Las Vegas Review-Journal
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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