Viewed in
2011
Formats
HDTV
Premise
A movie about the 1924 Olympic runners for Great Britain.
Liked
Epic slow-motion shots.
Disliked
Music choice, slow pace.
Thoughts
Visually and character-wise, this was very strong. I really enjoyed the poetic, epic, and glamourous slow-motion shots. They're really well-done and probably would look gorgeous on the big screen. I also really liked the two lead characters, and was very much invested into how race and religion really drove these people.
The cast overall was very strong and all put in good performances. It included a young Ian Holm, Richard Griffiths, the late, great John Gielgud, along with Star Trek films alums Alice Krige and Ben Cross.
Meanwhile, I'm torn about Vangelis' famed score. It was well-done and remarkably memorable, but was it truly appropriate to have 1980's synthesizer music to help tell a story that takes place in 1920's posh Europe.
Not surprisingly, the pace was rather slow at times. While I liked the main characters, I had trouble telling the rest of their friends apart, and the self-important, grandiose dialog made it hard for me to really pull for these privileged characters during their triumphs and falls.
Chariots of Fire held up pretty well after three decades thanks to elegant visuals, strong characters, and a wonderful (though arguably inappropriate) score.
