by Chris Marshall:
For a few very brief moments, I started to believe I was
going to enjoy Chariots of Fire. The
opening scene is its most iconic, the often parodied sequence where you see
guys running in slow motion while the famous theme song by Vangelis plays. If
you’re not familiar with the original—and I didn’t know this is where that
trope started either—you’ve likely seen similar sequences in films such as Mr. Mom. Everybody’s seen Mr. Mom, right?
Anyway, in case you’re not familiar with this film, and I
think there’s a very high probability of that, it’s a true story about two British
Olympic runners. Eric Liddell (played by Ian Charleson, who we’ll see again
next year) is a devout Christian who devotes all of his achievements to
advancing his religious beliefs, even going so far as refusing to run a heat that’s
scheduled to be held on a Sunday. Harold Abrahams (played by Ben Cross) is
Jewish, and he is attempting to use his fame to reduce anti-Semitic prejudices.
About the only person involved in this film that people
might have heard of is Ian Holm. He’s Liddell’s trainer, but he’s better known
for playing Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of
the Rings trilogy. And I guess some people may know John Gielgud, who we
will also see again next year.
