Review of Chariots of Fire (1981) by Phil H — 11 Mar 2010

Chariots of Fire is a good film, but it does limit itself in some ways. It's an inspirational true story of some British athletes and one Scottish athlete who compete in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. With admirable performances from most of the cast, Chariots of Fire touts strong patriotic and religious themes, which may or may not appeal to certain viewers.

The film is a bit slow to get started, especially since nobody runs until about a quarter of the way into the film. There's nothing wrong with this, it's just that some people's expectations may be brought down a bit. Anyway, I'm not sure if it was just me, but I was confused at the beginning of the film. I had trouble distinguishing characters from each other, and then when Eric Liddell comes into the plot, I thought he'd run for Scotland in the Olympics rather than Great Britain. At any rate, I had a general idea of what was going on, and the story was compelling enough for me to sit up in my seat, lean forward, and feel my own heartbeat speed up as the nerves of the runners fired like machine gun bullets.

Despite not being Christian, I really found the whole character of Eric Liddell to be fascinating. I thought Ian Charleson did a fantastic job portraying him. His speeches are delivered with admirable conviction, and his more tender moments still contain his iron-will. It probably would have served me better to have a bit more background knowledge on this story prior to seeing the film.

The film won four academy awards: best picture, best original screenplay, best costume design, and best original score. Honestly, the Best Picture award came as a huge surprise to everyone. Warren Beatty's Reds was the favorite that year. The screenplay was solid and Collin Welland was deserving of his award. However, the costume design and musical score of this film were exquisite! Those two awards were beyond well-deserved. The clothes that the characters in this film wear do so much to put the viewer in the 1920's. It was actually quite amazing. And the musical score by Vangelis....this is probably the film's most famous element. I am a fan of electronic music, and Vangelis' score is mostly electronic. More than that, it is beautiful, moving, moody, and atmospheric. Chariots of Fire is one of the most exemplary films of how much a good musical score can add to a film.

I don't know. I would say Chariots of Fire is a classic, and anyone should probably see it. It's interesting to see the British perspective on the American athletes. It's also neat to see the brilliantly created sets that feel so atmospherically natural to the time period. The film has a lot of strong points, it's just a bit sentimental.