![[YT Edit] Chariots of Fire (1981)](https://img5.nokimo.com/storage/7/zu/ka/fb3178-019e8f76-0cc5-7901-9c70-3ee6737186f9.jpg)
[YT Edit] Chariots of Fire (1981)
Added 2024-07-25 18:29:34 +0000 UTCHey guys! Here is the YT edit for Chariots of Fire, which will premiere this afternoon!
Comments
Close Encounters of the third kind
Doug Fisher
2024-12-13 18:24:47 +0000 UTCI'm probably too late in posting this now but... In relation to Cassie's reaction to Chariots of Fire (1981), I just found this ITV documentary that actor Nigel Havers did, The Real Chariots of Fire, on both the making of the film and the backstories of both Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. This documentary was made in 2012 in the run up to The London 2012 Olympic Games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvPEpIRd284
JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS
2024-08-15 22:04:06 +0000 UTCMe watching any of the Star Trek's other than First Contact https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZrKesgfQWiQ8SZ21A
Zachary K. (Verified Swiftie)
2024-07-31 20:38:11 +0000 UTCGeez, hope he doesn't read my comments about 2001 or the first Star Trek movie...I almost fell asleep watching V'ger in the theatre. And why did V'ger call itself V'ger when it didn't need to read the side of the spacecraft to 'know' who it was? The Star Treks got immeasurably better when JJ Abrams came aboard.
crazyivan
2024-07-31 20:28:16 +0000 UTCWhen I ran cross country in college, my coach made us watch this for motivation the night before our first meet. Everytime i see this movie, it makes me want to go back to those days again. Cassie, I can totally relate to you getting anxious at the scenes where they're at the starting line and flashing back to your track days!
Mike Carey
2024-07-30 12:06:59 +0000 UTC@Carol this list? https://letterboxd.com/popcorn_in_bed/
My_Cousin_Mose
2024-07-29 05:23:40 +0000 UTCRight there with you.
Above Average Dave
2024-07-29 01:18:43 +0000 UTC"it's amazing how much got whitewashed right after WWII." For a closer example, look at what some American politicians were saying about Mussolini (the "father of fascism"), and visa versa, before the war. I'll leave it there to keep from getting too political.
Mike Lemon
2024-07-29 00:36:09 +0000 UTCIt's on Letterbox, but I missed it too because of the funky font.
Clarence Newman
2024-07-28 14:17:07 +0000 UTCAbsolutely correct. Part of the white-washing of Japan's atrocities was a direct result of the Cold War. The U.S. decided it especially needed Japan to checkmate the Soviets, and then China—which had been a U.S. ally for decades—after the communists took over. Meanwhile the heinous atrocities that had been committed by the Japanese in China, the Philippines and against the populations of every island nation it invaded and occupied, and against prisoners of war were minimized or scrubbed from the record. The info was widely known during the war, but the government and then the news media made it seem like it never existed, or at least, it wasn't "that bad." Only decades later did all of this resurface or new evidence of unthinkable atrocities (look up Unit 731, folks, if you want to see how depraved human beings can become) that put them on par with the Nazis in terms of atrocities. Indeed, it's amazing how much got whitewashed right after WWII. If you look at the newspapers of the day from late 1940 to late 1944, France was vilified as an enemy equal to the Germans and the Italians because they had sided with the Germans after surrendering and installed the pro-Nazi Vichy government. In fact, the first troops to fire on Americans when they landed in North Africa to fight the Germans were French soldiers. One of my grandma's cousins who fought in Europe told me after that every Frenchman he met after he landed in France in June 1944 claimed they were in the resistance. His comment: "If that many French people were in the resistance, the Germans would've never been able to occupy that country. Instead, it was their number one place for leave and leisure."
Above Average Dave
2024-07-28 14:11:10 +0000 UTCHmmm. Ok. I searched and didn’t see it. It’s probably back in that archived list I can never get to. lol. Thanks!
Carol Rocha
2024-07-28 12:58:29 +0000 UTCNot to mention Ash from Alien.
Stranger2Reality
2024-07-27 23:36:30 +0000 UTCJapan really had all the atrocities they committed in WWII kinda papered over by history, and now people don't think of their actions in any way to be comparable to what their allies the Nazis did, but rather see them as somewhat sympathetic or even victims. I believe this is because the US dropped two atomic bombs on them, which basically allowed them to be seen as victims of those attacks, rather than at all focusing on the absolutely horrible things they did to many other neighboring Asian countries and people during the 30s and 40s. I felt this most keenly last year with the release of Godzilla Minus One, which was a good movie, but the way the Japanese were portrayed in it at the end of WWII and immediately after made them far too sympathetic to my liking. I found myself wondering how well the movie would work if it was instead about Germans in the waning days of WWII and in the postwar reconstruction period, and don't think audiences would have been nearly as sympathetic to them. After all, kamikaze pilots were a last act of desperation by a Japanese army which refused to surrender, even in the face of certain death and defeat. They were not terribly different than the way Germany conscripted children to fight in the last few months of the war.
Stranger2Reality
2024-07-27 23:34:42 +0000 UTCI suggested the same thing the other day, Carol, but apparently she's already seen it.
Clarence Newman
2024-07-27 20:14:19 +0000 UTC7th highest grossing movie of 1981, Chris, ahead of that year's Bond film, "For Your Eyes Only". The website Rotten Tomatoes describes it as "Decidedly slower and less limber than the Olympic runners at the center of its story," but concludes with, " Chariots of Fire nevertheless manages to make effectively stirring use of its spiritual and patriotic themes." Technically, therefore, you were both right. However, because you were polite and friendly about your observations and he was nothing but rude, his opinion is hereby disqualified. In short, the film was good. The troll who bit your head off is the one that sucks.
Clarence Newman
2024-07-27 19:50:14 +0000 UTCWas the movie itself well liked at the time? Said in the comments on YouTube the other day that it was a little slow for a sports film and this guy chewed my effing head off over it.
Chris Thom
2024-07-27 18:52:25 +0000 UTCThis was such a big part of pop culture back in the day. Still used today
Zachary K. (Verified Swiftie)
2024-07-27 16:53:41 +0000 UTCThe only thing I wish they hadn't minimized in this was at the ending where they say "Eric Liddell died at the end of WWII in occupied China" they left out the part where he was routinely tortured and starved by the Japanese who imprisoned him and tens of thousands of Chinese Christians.
Above Average Dave
2024-07-27 15:27:19 +0000 UTCCOOL RUNNINGS was an awesome Olympic movie! Took place in 1988 in Calgary, Alberta. Your folks may remember about the Jamaican Bobsled team. Idk if you’ve seen it or not.
Carol Rocha
2024-07-27 03:02:10 +0000 UTCKnew the theme Song, but that about it to. Looked like a good Movie.Like Period piece movies. Because of the time period remains me of Fly Boys and Red Baron 2008 which were good first world War movies.
Tim C
2024-07-27 02:57:34 +0000 UTCThanks, I'll give it a try.
Clarence Newman
2024-07-26 16:07:36 +0000 UTCNot necessarily applicable to you, but the link I keep for myself: https://letterboxd.com/popcorn_in_bed/films/by/name/ (One would think alphabetical sorting would be the default...)
Happy Hanukkah
2024-07-26 15:52:54 +0000 UTCThanks for confirming, Mike. I must have gone cross-eyed trying to find it on Letterbox and shot right past it.
Clarence Newman
2024-07-26 10:55:12 +0000 UTCOh bummer. That would have been a really fun reaction to watch
Paul Ark
2024-07-26 10:51:10 +0000 UTCI was wondering why Cool Runnings wasn't in the Olympics poll, because it's a fun movie and it has John Candy in it, and we know Cassie loves him. I'm thinking she's watched it already but I can't find it on any of her lists. If not, it's another fun ride just waiting to be taken.
Clarence Newman
2024-07-26 10:49:04 +0000 UTCShe's seen Cool Runnings. The "already watched" list- https://letterboxd.com/popcorn_in_bed/films/
Mike Lemon
2024-07-26 09:45:02 +0000 UTCHave long enjoyed your channel, and was really pleased to hear that you did hurdles, 100, 200 and 400 in school. Those were all the events I did on my high school track team, and I totally understand that tension/nervousness right before a race. Suggested movie for future Olympic themes: Cool Runnings. Not exactly a true story, but inspired by true events. And as a Disney sports movie, it will definitely be brimming with the feel good vibes that resonate with you and Carly.
Paul Ark
2024-07-26 06:19:28 +0000 UTCFor those interested, a short excerpt from James Gleick's biography of Richard Feynman, "Genius," demonstrating a similar mindset in parts of the good old US of A: https://imgur.com/a/vXZ1sjO
Happy Hanukkah
2024-07-26 01:34:16 +0000 UTC3:40 "I wish I enjoyed running like that." To simplify slightly, one can argue that this is the very theme of the movie: Liddell does, Abrahams doesn't. Just in case we don't get it, the movie hammers the point home by inserting a shot of Abrahams during Liddell's race. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwyltmUR3MU&t=164s 25:15 For connoisseurs of irony, the Prince of Wales who delivers this advice/request is the one who would later become Edward VIII. 26:50 Harold's inquiry: "I'm forever in pursuit and I don't even know what it is I'm chasing." Cassie's answer: A moth! :-) Here's a link to the related performance of Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzjlmBLfrQ
Happy Hanukkah
2024-07-26 01:23:24 +0000 UTCCassie did you recognise Ian Holm (Bilbo) as the coach?
Neil
2024-07-26 00:19:29 +0000 UTCDoubling down on Andrew’s comments, and providing a bit more context. England is an island, and they have a long and storied history of taking an Isolationist approach. They even consider themselves separate from Europe! The Isolationist outlook causes a stance toward anyone not born there as an “outsider” and someone not to be trusted. Some outsiders are even more distrusted than others. And even if someone is born there, if they look different or have a different name, or follow a different religion, there are certain factions of the population that will look askance. Layered on top of that is whole vibe of “the sun never sets on the British Empire,” where several countries around the globe were conquered and controlled for decades and decades. So there’s a firm sense of superiority as well. It’s a beautiful and complicated country.
Marja
2024-07-25 21:41:22 +0000 UTCIt's a sports movie of course, and a wonderful period piece. But it also offers a rare sort of blueprint of two intersecting social prejudices in 1920s England -- anti-semitism and the class system. Anti-semitism then was far, far more prevalent, formalized, and accepted than it is now ... even if at that time it was a lot less than it had been in previous decades. So Abrahams could go to Cambridge. He wasn't barred from it for being Jewish. But he was subject to a lot of prejudice, especially around the notion of being a "striver." And being a "striver" was also something that was considered distasteful among the upper class, which is what most people at Cambridge were at that time. Being a "gentleman" meant being pleasant, good-natured, and confident -- but without seeming to try too hard for it. So an Englishman who was Jewish trying to enter into the upper class was automatically considered something of a "try hard" just for making the attempt. And THAT of course overlapped with the ideal of the Olympics being amateur, not professional -- not "tainted" by money, or by people who tried to make a living of sports. So a big part of the message of "Chariots Of Fire" is to show how twisted some of the values of this very elegant and attractive-looking British era actually were -- especially by modern standards and values.
Andrew Pulrang
2024-07-25 20:27:16 +0000 UTCWAAHH WAAHHHHHHH. WAAH WAAAHHHHH BLING CHHCHAAACHACHA. CHHCHHAAACHAACHAA
Brian McGovern
2024-07-25 20:01:09 +0000 UTCThe tension between everyone towards Abraham's coach was because he was a "professional" coach. The Olympics use to be very amateur centered. Not the case anymore but back then it was a big deal.
T.L.A
2024-07-25 19:27:51 +0000 UTCIf anyone watched THE CROWN, this was one of the films produced by Dodi Fayed.
Above Average Dave
2024-07-25 19:25:10 +0000 UTCTRIVIA FACT: Actor Nigel Havers (who played Lord Linsey) is godfather to UK comedian Jack Whitehall. I remember Jack Whitehall's interview on Desert Island Discs; One of his chosen discs was the opening music from The Lion King (1994), and he described the times, when he was a little kid, of Nigel Havers lifting him up and mimicking the opening scene when Rafiki lifts baby Simba to the crowd.
JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS
2024-07-25 18:58:10 +0000 UTCAt 3.11, you know the sad irony of this opening scene is that in real life these two main actors, Nigel Havers and Nicholas Farrell, are the only two main cast members still alive now. Ian Charleson (who played Eric Liddell) tragically died of AIDS, aged just 40. Ben Cross (who played Harold Abrahams) died of cancer in 2020, the same year Ian Holm died. At the BAFTA In Memoriam a clip of them both from Chariots of Fire (1981) was used. RIP to all three of them.
JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS
2024-07-25 18:47:56 +0000 UTCI really love this movie, and of course the score (not just the main theme either). Looking forward to watching this.
Stranger2Reality
2024-07-25 18:43:44 +0000 UTC
