Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Thursday Thirteen 142: Olympic Movies


In honor of the XXI Winter Olympics going on right now in Vancouver, here is a short list of movies with Olympic tie-ins. Some I've seen, some I had never heard of; some debuted in movie theaters, some were made for TV. Feel free to give a shout out to your favorite!

Blades of Glory (2007) — I have not seen this one. I have no desire to see this one. I cannot stand Will Ferrell and this type of low-brow “comedy” simply does not appeal.

Munich (2005) — One I have not seen yet, but would like to. The world was watching in 1972 as 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics. Based on the true story of the Black September aftermath, this is the story of the five men chosen to eliminate the ones responsible for that fateful day.

Miracle (2004) — The true story of Herb Brooks (Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad.

Without Limits (1998) — The film follows the life of famous 1970s runner Steve Prefontaine from his youth days in Oregon to the University of Oregon where he worked with the legendary coach Bill Bowerman, later to Olympics in Munich.

Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story (1997) — Recounts the difficulties encountered on his way to becoming one of the world’s top Olympic divers. I cringe just thinking of that year he hit his head on the diving board.

Cool Runnings (1993) — Look Alice — I worked it into TWO blog posts this week! Based on the true story of the First Jamacian bobsled team trying to make it to the winter Olympics.

The Cutting Edge (1992) — Toe pick! A pairs figure skater teams up with a former hockey player to go for gold at the Albertville Olympics.

Nadia (1984) — The story of Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci. Coached by Belya Karolyi, Nadia received 7 perfect 10's in the Montreal Olympics.

Chariots of Fire (1981) — Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew, and the other a devout Christian who compete in the 1924 Olympics. This is the story of two men who run...not to run...but to prove something to the world. They will sacrifice anything to achieve their goals...Except their honor. And who could forget the theme song by Vangelis?

The Jericho Mile (1979) — Rain Murphy is a man sentenced to life in prison, choosing to do his time in near-isolation, and engages in distance running when given the opportunity for free-time. While his form and speed capture the attention of prison officials who believe he could be competitive for the Olympics, Murphy is originally disinterested.

The Games (1970) — Four marathon runners (one from England, one from the U.S., a Czech and an Australian Aborigine) prepare to run in the Olympic games. The film follows each one and shows what their motivations are for running in the games.

Downhill Racer (1969) — David Chappellet (Robert Redford) is a mean-spirited skier, who profits from another skier's injury to gain a spot on the American Olympic team.

Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937) — I couldn't help throwing this one in when I stumbled upon it! When a strategically important new aerial guidance system is stolen, Charlie traces it to the Berlin Olympics, where he has to battle spies and enemy agents to retrieve it.


LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:
(Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)

Stephanie Adkins * Mary Quast * Adelle Lauden * Kaye
Alice Audrey * Shelley Munro * Ms. Menozzi * Sasha Devlin
Elise Logan * Tatiana Caldwell * Paige Tyler * Inez Kelley
Ella Drake * Debbie Cairo * A. Catherine Noon * Colleen
Jehara * Irishcoda * Nicholas * Stacy * Desi * Small Reflections


More Thursday Thirteen participants




32 comments:

kayerj said...

great list--I thought Molly would do Olympic movies for Monday Movies. You might have found them all :)

Alice Audrey said...

The only one I've seen is Cool Runnings.

Shelley Munro said...

Miracle is a really good movie. I enjoyed it. Cool Runnings always makes me smile.

Ms Menozzi said...

I've seen a few of those, actually. Cool Runnings was probably my favorite (I'm a sucker for comedies), but Prefontaine was good, too.

Mary Quast said...

Awesome list. We're having so much fun watching the Olympics, I think I'll look for a few of these to watch afterward. Thanks.

Happy T-13!

Sasha Devlin said...

I love The Cutting Edge. And I have to tell you, as a HUGE fan of ice skating, Blades of Glory really was funny. If nothing else you can enjoy the cameos.

Stephanie Adkins said...

I love love love The Cutting Edge! It was one of the first movies my husband and I watched together. :) Happy Thursday! *Hugs*

Unknown said...

I've only seen Chariots of Fire and Cool Runnings. I am TOTALLY WITH YOU on Will Ferrel. I can't watch a movie with him in it. Great list.
Happy T13!

Elise Logan said...

I have to find Charlie Chan at the Olympics! Awesome.

Tatiana Caldwell said...

I didn't realize how many Olympic movies I've seen, until this list. I really enjoyed Cool Runnings. I'm not a big Will Ferrell fan either, but I must say that Blades of Glory surprisingly gave me a couple of chuckles.

Paige Tyler said...

We've seen Cool Runnings and The Cutting Edge. Actually, The Cutting Edge was the first movie my hubby and I saw together when we were fist dating! LOL!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Heather said...

Kaye ~ I beleive Molly didn't think there would be that many Olympic movies, but I found easily twice this on a simple google search. And that's just the English language films! *g*

Alice ~ Get thee to Blockbuster or NetFlix! LOL

Shelley ~ I loved Miracle, too - and Mark Johnson of the 1980 team coaches our UW women, as well as this year's Olympic team.

Ms M ~ Cool Runnings is a long-time fave, but Without Limits sounds good, too. I've added a couple of these to my "to watch" list.

Heather said...

Mary ~ Me too, and wasn't last night an AWESOME night for team USA?! I can't wait to watch mens figure skating finals tonight.

Sasha ~ While I love The Cutting Edge, I'll take your word on Blades. I just can't stand Ferrell.

Stephanie ~ Aww...too sweet!

Adelle ~ THANK YOU! So glad I'm not the only one who does not like him.

Heather said...

Elise ~ Doesn't that sound like it would be a fun one? LOL

Tatiana ~ I was surprised by how many movies I found above the several I was able to come up with on my own. I think if you looked for movies about individual athletes the list would be incredible.

Paige ~ LOL - The Cutting Edge seems to be a big date movie.

Inez Kelley said...

I like this list and it actually gives me some fodder for movie night, thanks!

Heather said...

Thanks, Inez - I hope you find a few to enjoy!

Alice Audrey said...

LOL. All right, all right. I'll watch more movies. Maybe Netflix has some of these online. Always much more likely for me.

A. Catherine Noon said...

What a fun list! I love the descriptions, too. Thank you!

Happy TT!

colleen said...

I think the only one I've seen is Chariots of Fire. It won the Academhy Award for best picture the year it came out.

soleil said...

I love The Cutting Edge. Great movie. A local theatre is showing it on the big screen tomorrow night. Looking forward to revisiting it. :)

Irishcoda said...

Oh. My. Gosh. Charlie Chan at the Berlin Olympics, really? I loved "Miracle" and also saw "Chariots of Fire". I liked the music, didn't care for the movie. Haven't seen the others.

Ella Drake said...

Every time I watch Olympic ice skating, I get uncontrollable urges to watch The Cutting Edge.

I will be watching it again in next few days. I'm sure.

Nicholas said...

The only one of those I have seen is the one you haven't! Munich. It's a good film and you'll probably enjoy it but there was one very disturbing scene that took me several days to shake off.

Anonymous said...

Just saw Blades of Glory. You aren't missing anything! Love The cutting Edge! And Cool Runnings was fun too.

Heather said...

Catherine ~ Thank you, glad you enjoyed!

Colleen ~ I (vaguely) remember that.

Jehara ~ How fun it would be to see The Cutting Edge on the big screen. Enjoy!

IrishCoda ~ Yup, Charlie Chan at the Olympics, LOL. I actually liked the Chariots of Fire theme song better than the actual movie, too.

Ella ~ I know what you mean -- I love that movie!

Nicholas ~ Thanks for the warning on Munich. Should probably find someone to watch it with me, huh?

Stacy ~ Hehe... Thanks for supporting the skip of Blades.

jillconyers said...

Great list. I've seen more Olympic movies than I realized.

My T13
http://jillconyers.typepad.com/

Heather said...

Thanks, Jill!

L said...

I haven't seen many of those, but Munich was really heartbreaking.

Americanising Desi said...

wonderful TT

More than just annoyed

Small Reflections said...

Timely and interesting topic for this week's T-13 ... I had no idea there were so many films about 'Olympics' related events.
Hugs and blessings,

Heather said...

L ~ I keep hearing that about Munich. Must remember to keep tissue handy when I finally see it.

Desi ~ Thank you!

Small ~ And many, many more I did not have room to list, or that did not come up in my search. As mentioned above, if you count films about individual athletes, the number would be gigantic.

Latesha said...

I can say I've seen 2 movies on your list: Cool Runnings and Cutting Edge.