In honor of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Warner Bros. has released a beautiful Blu-Ray transfer of their 1981 Best Picture winner, Chariots of Fire.   The disc is an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 and keeps the dark grays and saturated tones of cinematographer David Watkins original film print in tact.  Warners has gone out of their way to make this disc special with a complete Chariots of Fire experience.  If you love this film, then you are getting more than your money’s worth with a retrospective book included in the case along with loads of special features.  It also includes interviews with the cast, a documentary of the 1924 Olympic Games and even commentary from director, Hugh Hudson. 

Warner Bros. seems consistently dedicated to releasing fantastic transfers on Blu- Ray.  Sonically, the mix is pretty tight, presented here in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix., bringing to life the memorable Vangelis score made so famous by the film.  Who doesn’t remember running happily with the Chariots of Firetheme playing haplessly in your brain?  Since the film’s release, the music must have been spoofed dozens of times.  In fact, the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics featured Mr. Bean, himself, running along the beach with the theme playing as he goofily ran by the ocean.

Insert Vangelis music here.

The Olympics are a time to bring everyone in the world together to compete.  Chariots of Firetells the true story of two runners in the 1924 Olympics running for God and Country.  Ben Cross plays the Jewish brit, Harold Abrahams, who wants to prove he is the fastest runner on the planet.  Ian Charleson plays Eric Liddel, the devout Christian from Scotland who will not run on Sundays but will fight for his faith and any race you put in front of him.  I would say the best acting in the film comes from Ian Holm who plays Harold’s dedicated coach.

In 1981, this film pulled a major upset at the Academy Awards, beating out Raiders of the Lost Ark and REDS for its Best Picture Oscar.  I grew up believing I loved Chariots of Fire, singing the theme song, running to my hearts content attempting to win like Harold Abrahams.  But as a kid I may have been a bit disillusioned by the popular Vangelis theme.  Upon watching this film again with this Blu-Ray release, I must admit I was taken aback by how unbelievably slow and tedious this film is to watch.

Ian Holm trains Ben Cross to be the best of the best on Blu-Ray!

The race scenes are cut together in a way that destroys any kind of suspense.  The film tries to dazzle by often showcasing the winner quickly and then using flashbacks to show the race in slow motion cutaways posthumously; a strange and ineffective technique.  Some dialogue scenes go on and on without moving the story forward at all.  I found myself bored with this film in retrospect, mainly because it is a sports film that lacks excitement in the key area of its star…RUNNING.

In my opinion, Raiders and REDS were robbed in 1981.  Both of those films deserved Best Picture over this film easily.  And for a better movie about running, try Warner Bros. Without Limits, starring Billy Crudup as the ill-fated Prefontaine.  And for a better all-around sports film, try Breaking Away,from 1979, which is about cycling.  If you are watching the Olympics, these films are sure to inspire.

“What? We beat out ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’?!”

Writing this made me remember 1986’s film, American Anthem, in which actual gymnast Mitch Gaylord starred in a film about getting to the Olympics to win the gold in gymnastics.  The aforementioned films are not on Blu-Ray and deserve the gold treatment.  I hope to see it happen soon.  As great as this Chariots of Fire Blu-Ray looks, it can’t change the film itself that upon second viewing, in my opinion, is just not as great as the Academy will have you believe.