This group of young people after the first World War, they strive to pursue their ideal of a perfect life, with their own beliefs and goals and gentlemanly code of conduct. Even if they do not know what they are doing at the beginning, but live life experience will let them live to understand, become open-minded, understand that life is the most powerful enemy is their own. The soundtrack of Vangelis's film is so magical, there's always something magical about it.

This true tale of runners and running back in the days when sportsmen could stand in the middle of the track smoking fags between races will always hold a special place in my heart - when I was growing up and we only had two or three video tapes, to watch when my dad rented or borrowed a vcr for the weekend, this was one of them (along with Star Wars, Raiders, and Superman II I think), and it got a lot of play. A lovingly made look at the lives of two great British sportsmen building up to the Olympics and a stab at the greatest glory a track athlete can achieve, this is awash with period flavour, rich in wonderful acting (sadly neither of the two leads repeated their on-screen glory moment, Ian Charleson's early death being particularly tragic), and featuring that unforgettable Vangelis score, this will always be a great film to me and continues to inspire. Despite some of the highlights provoking a "Ooooh, here comes the bit where he falls over and gets up again..." in anticipation, it still has such a richness that some scenes and lines can still evoke new feelings, inspire new thoughts and connections. Fantastic.

I don't know if this is because of the actors trying to recreate the actual runner's gates or if it is the use of slow motion or what, but all the race scenes are absolutely hysterical looking. The final 400 meter dash is especially goofy and weird. The first time I saw this I couldn't help but laugh out loud at it. This may be more a personal reaction but boy when the sport section of your sport film doesn't work you film is in trouble.

The rest of the film, the tasteful drama about how religion and society interact with sports, is generally OK. It is all far too slow, and far too proper to fully engage. It is rather perplexing that this won Best Picture at the Oscars as it is really a British God and Country film. Re-watching it a few days ago really soured me on the film because the the film feels so 80's, especially the score.

Very weak Best Picture winner