Chariots of Fire (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Fantastic movie with a great moral lesson. RPoduct received very timely. Highly recommend this seller.

I purchased for my husband, I wasn't able to find anywhere else. I placed my order very close to christ-mas yet IT came right on time,THANK U
My husband was well pleased.

Chariot's is one of my favorite movies. The character presentations are very good. Eric is one of the most likable people on the screen. He manages to make sanctity attractive. Honor is easily made attractive in movies and has been done hundreds of times. But sanctity is easily confused with sanctimoniousness. Moreover even when one sees it it is frightening in some ways. But Eric is not merely a good person. You really can feel God in him even in a movie. And yet he does not seem forbidding. He seems like someone you can talk to. He does not, even unintentionally talk down to people, and his sermons are splendid examples of the rhetorical art.
Abrahams is the troubling one. Some reviewer said that many Jews were annoyed by the characterization of Abrahams. Harold is intense, determined and perpetually angry except in those few momments when he softens. He has a ruthless determination. He is also perpetually suspicious and can't quite bring himself to return friendship. Every time I watch the movie I think "pity the poor Arabs!" You can pity him, and respect him, but you can't like him. But that is not the troubling part. For Harold in the movie, reminds one of something C.S. Lewis once said. If you do wrong to someone, the wrong doesn't merely consist of what was taken from him by the act itself, but the fact that one has momentarily taken the position of Satan and done harm to his soul. You have not merely hurt him, you have taught him to hate. The boys at Cambridge are actually very friendly. But they weren't what made Harold like that. It was the boys in earlier schools where the natural cruelty of boys toward any who is different was tolerated. The best expression of this thought is the scene where he swears to "run them off their feet" to the background of He is An Englishman. Harold was indeed an Englishman but England had forgotten what that meant in his case.
Another scene which few have noticed was the scene of the Prince of Wales urging Eric to put Country before God. What is not noticed is that he was Edward the VIII-the same one who later became involved with fascist politics(to be fair it was probably mostly shallow celebrity-foolishness then anything else). Mr Patriotism indeed! Which shows that if you exagerrate a normal and healthy loyalty out of place, that loyalty can itself become corrupted. The Prince demanded loyalty to country in the place of God-and in the end failed to be loyal to country.
For the rest the show was a splendid display of an idealization. That is not a denigration but a praise. The fact that aspirations are impossible does not mean that one should not aspire to them. Chariots shows the spirit of friendship between young men. This is shown when Lindsey joins Harold on the dash, "I run beside my friend", to support him.
The movie also shows the kind of patriotism that depends on a love of ones country and has nothing to do with hatred of others. The "cosmopolitanism" of the games as shown is the celebration of each nation and the pleasure taken in it by others-the joy of all in the love each has for what is their own. It is not "multiculturalism" in the modern sense, for to often that appears forced or depends on rivalry-is simply another form of "nationalism" in it's worse connotations. While the Olympics are by definition competitive, they are(as pictured) not competitive in the sense of requiring animosity. It is a picture of men and nations sharing friendship by their competition a paradox which many find hard to understand.
Chariots is a fine and splendid movie. It is not an action movie. It is far more.

Jason Taylor(son of John Taylor)

Enjoyed this movie very much when first seen on the big screen and had been wanting to view it again. Outstanding film and of course excellent music. Larry

Adding my voice to the majority of accolades seems to be carrying coals to Newcastle, but I was delighted to find this DVD, as I was shopping for a suitable Christmas present for my son, who is consequently going to receive a used DVD, since I could not resist watching "Chariots of Fire" again. It certainly lived up to my fond memories of watching the film in the theatre.

Upon reading the other reviews, I noticed that many viewers recalled their favorite scenes. The scene indelibly etched in my mind is of the charming Nigel Havers as the irrepressible Lord Lindsay, practicing leaping over a series of hurdles with filled champagne glasses balanced on each one. His character, who enjoys running for the pleasure of the sport, represents the perfect pivot between the two central characters, both driven to win because of their respective polarized beliefs.

The characters are believable; the movie is inspirational, recalling an era when sportsmanship and idealism prevailed over celebrity and the bottom line.