Feeling His pleasure! Gulp.

What a statement! I remember the first time I saw this I was maybe 5 years old, and the scene that stuck with me was when Eric Liddell got knocked down, got back up, and won the race early in the movie! Being a baseball and football fan, I still have no idea why that scene in particular stuck with me. But over 20 years later, I know why it will always be one of my favorites. The stubborn, yet amazing faith of 2 men, but with faith in 2 different things. The amazing thing is that ultimately, they both came out winners!

I say that because I myself am like Harold Abrahams. You better believe that this man hates to lose! And he's seeking top prize, not for just 1 competition, but for everything he enters. 2nd place isn't good enough. Not even close to being good enough. The woman he's dating scolds him by telling him he's acting like a child after a close 2nd place finish, and he still can't accept it. And that's my kind of man! By the way, I love the Gilbert and Sullivan through parts of this, you can't go wrong with a classice duo such as Gilbert and Sullivan, amen?

But then you have Scottish missionary, Eric Liddell. This is a man after God's own heart, and there are certain things that he will not compromise, it just isn't going to happen. He has it in him to stand up to people with the right amount of grace, yet with boldness! You won't find Eric Liddell back down. Also I find that I am at times in awe of how Liddell loves what he does, because he's doing it for his Lord. He knows God made him for China, but God also made him fast, and then he says something that everyone should pay attention to, "And when I run, I can feel His pleasure!" Hey, sometimes you can't help but go, "GULP!" as you try and choke back a tear or two.

These guys are both faced with adversity, yet they both triumph! And they never gave in!

Still Gripping After All These Years

Hard to believe Chariots will be 25 next year. Holds up surprisingly well considering its basically a stuffy Edwardian Brit drama. The kind Merchant & Ivory spent the 80's and 90's making. The movie is set between the wars and towards the end of the British Empire. Chariots can be read as little more than 2 hours of British cheerleading & self congratulations. Classism, rascism, anti-semitism, nationalism and any other unsavory aspect of the English ruling class are perfunctatorily mentioned and delicately set aside in favor of King, country and running really fast. The Vangelis theme, sympathetic characters, sumptious cinematography and fine acting are the keys here.

Chariots of Fire (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1981)

I am a really huge fan of this movie - in fact when it came out in the Theaters I saw it twice that same day -- and we are talking about 1981 - almost 25 years ago. I know why this picture qualifies as Best Picture -- it is tremendous -- a real period piece set back in early century England and surrounding areas. The photography, sets, costumes and dialgoue are all superb. The pace and music are also very moving and really bring you into the drama that unfolds. Iam Holm as the Coach is marvellous and it is really neat to see a movie that focuses on the Olympics when they were on a smaller scale, yet of such importance to the athletes because of the feeling of national pride.

I am so delighted to see Special Features as well -- can't wait to listen to the entire commentary to hear how the film was made.

MY ONLY COMPLAINT WITH THIS DVD IS --YIKES -- IT IS A WORSE VISUAL PRINT THAN THE PREVIOUS DVD, IN TERMS OF CLARITY, COLOR, SHARPNESS AND COMPLETENESS. Supposedly this is a "First Time Wide Screen" presentation of this Best Picture, but the company that produced this disc should be more responsible.They CROPPED a good 10% of the height of the picture that the previous DVD (that was already "formatted to fit your screen") contained. Plus on the sideways dimension (i.e., the width) they have improved the coverage on the left by about 3%, but have stolen that picture area from the far right hand side of the print. All these measurements were carfully taken by comparing the old DVD (from 1997) to this one, supposedly in Widescreen!

Boy, now I have to keep track of both discs and can't even look forward to seeing the whole picture area (and "see" the Director's creative genius) like I did way back in 1981 when I was in the theater.

I know this disc says that this version uses a "matted" widescreen process to preserve the original aspect ratio, but , boy, they really ZOOMED in too much {with their 16 x 9 "camera"}. So I'll be watching the movie on the old DVD, then switching to the new DVD to hear the commentary (but not really watching the film that closely) and then popping in the Special Feature DVD disc for all the extra jazz.

I sure wish the Studios that manufacture these discs treasured them as much as us film students. I guess I'll really never "see" that complete version again -- unless the Studio takes our input seriously!! Maybe if enough of us speak up, they'll re-issue an improved print!

HAVE A GREAT DAY -- and buy this one (but keep your old DVD for more than nostalgia purposes)