Chariots of Fire (1981)
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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:31
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Decidedly slower and less limber than the Olympic runners at the center of its story, the film nevertheless manages to make effectively stirring use of its spiritual and patriotic themes.
Runtime: 2 hrs 4 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Hugh Hudson's absorbing drama, based on a true story, deals with the personal struggles faced by two very different long-distance runners competing for Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympic... [More]
Starring: Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Nigel Havers, Cheryl Campbell
Director: Hugh Hudson
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Reviews for Chariots of Fire
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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Like every element in this picture, the actors look right; they seem to emerge from the past, instead of being pasted on to it, as so many characters in historical movies seem to be. Full Review |
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B- |
A pleasant inspirational movie that failed to inspire me. Full Review |
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Lavish and uplifting sports movie driven by finely honed performances, and home to one of the most iconic sequences in 1980s British film. Full Review |
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No imbalance mars the pic, whose cross-the-board achievement lifts it to an impressive level of unified accomplishment. Full Review |
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B |
This manipulative inspirational-religious sports drama, about the 1924 Olympics, benefited immensely from Vangelis stirringly brilliant score and editor Terry Rawlings slow-motion of the running sequences. Full Review |
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 2.5/4 |
Emotionally lacking, Chariots of Fire is only limitedly entertaining as a piece of cinematic history and a glimpse into the history of a handful of Olympic hopefuls. Full Review |
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3/4 |
A pleasant, mildly inspirational movie but hardly worthy of all the accolades it received. Full Review |
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The battered Britons may have some excuse for enjoying this nostalgic re-creation of empire ideology, but what's ours? Full Review |
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Really this is an overblown piece of self-congratulatory emotional manipulation perfectly suited for Thatcherite liberals. Full Review |
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3/5 |
No review available.
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7/10 |
worth watching despite providing another reason to put words "Oscar" and "overrated" in the same sentence Full Review |
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4/5 |
Worthy sports flick that avoids playing only to cliche
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3.5/5 |
There's drama here, but it's work getting to it Full Review |
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9/10 |
Director Hugh Hudson turns a relatively small story into a rhapsodic epic of spiritual and heroic dimensions. Full Review |
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A+ |
A period piece that explores timeless themes of temporal ambitions and higher purposes, of commitment and sacrifice, of ability and spirit. Full Review |
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A+ |
Most sport movies make winning the goal. Here, running is a metaphor for life, and the way these men run tells us volumes about their hearts. Full Review |
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5/5 |
No review available.
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4/4 |
This is strange. I have no interest in running and am not a partisan in the British class system. Then why should I have been so deeply moved by Chariots of Fire? Full Review |
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5/5 |
No review available.
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4/5 |
No review available.
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