Olympic movies....Miracle and Cool Running

With the Olympics officially underway across the Pond, I thought it was only right to do review a movie based on the Olympics. Sadly, however, I have only seen two movies based on the Olympics and neither one are Summer Olympic movies.  The most resent Olympic movie released was Miracle (2004) based on the 1980 US Men's Hockey team.

Miracle stars Kurt Russell as, Herb Brooks, the coach for the men's hockey team made up of amateur and college hockey players who at first have a major problem of playing as team and as a result get embarrassed in their exhibition games prior to the Olympics beginning. One of these exhibitions games was against the USSR in Madison Square Garden which ended in a 10-3 lose for the Americans. Russell's character is finally able to break down the team making them realize they are no longer playing for themselves to get noticed but instead playing together to represent the USA. Team USA begins playing the right way during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid and meet the Soviet Union in the finals. The media had already declared the USSR the winners based on the previous exhibition game but that would not be the case on the ice as the American team would defeat the Soviets 4-3.  The movies ends after the USA defeat Finland in the finals to win the gold medal.

Cool Runnings (1993) is based on the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and debut of the first Jamaican Bobsled team.

The movie begins during qualifying for the 1988 Summer Olympics when Derice Bannock, played by Leon Robinson, does not qualify for the 100m run after being tripped up during his final qualifying run. Bannock's father was an Olympic athlete and he was determined to keep his father's tradition of being in the Olympics. This is when he meets Irving Blitzer, played by John Candy. Candy's character was a former American bobsledder who was accused of cheating and then he retreated to Jamaica. At first Blitzer does not want to help Bannock's goal of going to the Olympics but Bannock convinces him he needs to prove he never cheated.
The movie goes through showing Blitzer training Bannock and his 3 friends working to get better but instead of using bobsled during training they use boxcars until they arrive in Calgary for the Olympics.  It is not now that the get to practice with their old, worn out bobsled that was found beside a dumpster but Blitzer says it was the top of the line at one point.  With each practice run the team gets better and better.  During the teams last run Bannock is leading his team to a new course record until the bobsled flips over when coming around the last turn. Everyone everywhere stops not knowing how the team is and the other teams begin running down the track to help the Jamaicans. It is then you see the the other teams parting like the red sea with the 4 members of the Jamaican team carrying their bobsled across the finish line while being applauded by the other countries who at first thought the team was just a joke, but that would not be the case as the team would continue to go to the Olympics and other world events.
At 1992 Olympics in France, the team would finish in 14th beating the USA, Russia, France, Australia, and Italy. Finally in 2000 the team won their first and only gold metal at the World Push Championships in Monaco.

Although this two movies are not about the summer Olympics they can still get a person ready for the Olympics no matter the age as both are family friendly. Not only do they get a person ready for to support their country but they also help teach some Olympic history.

Until next time
RD3

The Dark Knight Rises

For my first blog and my first movie review I will be taking on the most anticipate film of the 2012 Summer and the end of the greatest superhero trilogy of all time....The Dark Knight Rises.

As a lifelong Batman fan it was great to see Christopher Nolan's vision of Gotham City first come to life on the big screen in Batman Begins and then a second visit in The Dark Knight.  However, it was not until the third installment of Nolan's Batman trilogy that the New York skyline was actually shown because 95% of the filming took place in Chicago (true for all three films).

The Dark Knight Rises is without a doubt the greatest Batman movie all time as it movies away from the comic book style movies that both Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher had previously made prior to the Batman reboot that started with Batman Begins.  TDKR has all of the previous stars returning to reprise their respective roles from the The Dark Knight.  Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman while new comers Anne Hathaway joins as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Tom Hardy joins the cast as Bane. Also Joseph Gordon-Levitt joins the cast as a Police officer turned detective named John Blake.

This movies pulls together all the lose ends Christopher Nolan started back in 2005 while at the same time starting new story lines for any director brave enough to tackle the Batman after Nolan.
Nolan said he will not return Gotham anymore but maybe we can ask him nicely to return on last time for The Dark Knight Returns, just maybe. Or will there be a spinoff trilogy based on one of the characters introduced to us in the The Dark Knight Rises.

If you do venture out to your local theatre to see the greatest Batman movie ever made be sure to look for clues to Christopher Nolan's next work or even clues to a 4th Dark Knight movie.

Until next time,

RD3