Drama > G Drama > Holm, Ian > Oscar

Advantages: Inspiring to people from all walks of life
Disadvantages: Can seem overly 'English'

This, in my opinion, is one of the most timeless movies ever. Anyone who believes passionately in anything will relate to Eric Liddell, and be inspired by the passion, determination and drive constantly exhibited by this great man. And in the same way, anyone who has ever been marginalised and rejected will understand the pain of Harold Abrams, and the absolute determination to prove 'the establishment' wrong. Perhaps, yes, it has aged a little and ...
...group of priveleged and wealthy young men studying at Cambridge - yet the manicured and controlled beauty of the surroundings of the rich and balanced and humanised by scenes of the Scottish Highlands. Watch this, and I defy anyone not to have a longing to find the nearest beach and just run wild . . . ... Read review

Advantages: The soundtrack and the acting
Disadvantages: None

...Score and Best Costume Design), Chariots of Fire is the inspiring true story of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell as part of an Olympic team that won Britain one of its most reknowned sporting victories. Ben Cross and Nigel Havers had their first major movie roles in this debut feature for director Hugh Hudson. Producer David Puttnam, a Brit, mixed these elements to give us a highly enduring film. From its incredible footage of the competitions themselves ...
...Also starring were Sir John Gielgud, Ian Holm, Nigel Davenport, Peter Egan and Patrick Magee. While a few people have described this film as too patriotic, it was received with acclaim by audiences and critics alike and I personally see nothing wrong with a little patriotism. (Any Scot who watches Braveheart feels that way even in today's climate). Ben Cross as Jewish student Harold Abrahams is wonderful. Both he and Eric Liddell overcome great ... Read review

Advantages: fabulously moving film
Disadvantages: none

...films of all time - Chariots of Fire. This amazing film depicts the events of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris and the personal and public struggles of two athletes- Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddle. The film starts at a memorial service in 1978 giving thanks for the life of Harold Abrahams. We are then taken back in time to when those two men were hardly more than boys starting out on their quest for glory. Harold Abrahams is a student at Cambridge ...
...There is also a Chariots of Fire reunion where a number of people involved including Welland and Havers sit round and leisurely reminisce about how it all began. this was also very enjoyable to watch as well. On this second disc there are aslso some deleted scenes. It's always interesting to watch these and to wonder why some of them were left out! Overall, this is an excellent DVD - a brilliant film with some really good extra features as well. ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting
Disadvantages: Slow

...the amazing Tommy Lee Jones in it who is always fabulous. What we found though was that it was quite a hard going film which was slow and depressing but because it was based on true events it was fascinating. This review will tell you why it is worth watching but only when you are in the right mood. The story of this film is that a father gets a call from the military telling him that his son has gone missing from the base. His son has just come ...
...missing. The story is made in such a way that you believe it from start to finish and it is one of those where you are just so interested in what is going to happen and how it is going to end. The film is made well and the script pace fits the story very well. On the flip side although the scripts pace does fit the story I don't think it was quick enough for my liking. Due to it being slightly slow I got a little bored and my attention did waver ... Read review

Advantages: Far better performances than the film deserves.
Disadvantages: Let's see - sadistic, inhumane, dishonest, cowardly...

...and nasty Lars Von Trier, Breaking The Waves is, like his later Dancer In The Dark and Dogville, a cynical, misogynist melodrama that comes a hell of a lot closer to "Torture Porn" than anything Eli Roth has ever crafted. Emily Watson plays the childlike, mentally unstable Bess McNeil - the Holy Fool of the piece, pretty much - who, as a means of pleasing her recently paralysed husband Jan (Stellan Skarsgård), sets about prostituting herself to an ...
...far removed from Von Trier's. Breaking The Waves engages neither the soul nor the mind - it is an (admittedly well directed, for what its worth) insulting, offensive exercise in manipulation - a Sirkian melodrama shorn of heart or insight, loaded with bile and hatred in their stead. The performances, as is always the case in Von Trier's work, are wonderful throughout - far, far better than the film deserves. The handheld camerawork which would become ... Read review