Chariots of Fire

Chariots of Fire

Chariots of Fire Poster
YouTube Thumbnail
Drama History

This is the story of two men who run, not to run, but to prove something to the world. They will sacrifice anything to achieve their goals... except their honor.

Director: Hugh Hudson

Writer: Colin Welland

Producer: David Puttnam

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.

123 min Rating: 6.785/10 Released
Watch Trailer

Top Cast

Ben Cross
Ben Cross
 Harold Abrahams
Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson
 Eric Liddell
Cheryl Campbell
Cheryl Campbell
 Jennie Liddell
Alice Krige
Alice Krige
 Sybil Gordon
Nigel Havers
Nigel Havers
 Lord Andrew Lindsay
Ian Holm
Ian Holm
 Sam Mussabini

Movie Info

Director: Hugh Hudson

Writer: Colin Welland

Producer: David Puttnam

Production Companies: Enigma Productions, Allied Stars, 20th Century Fox

Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Similar Movies

Eskimo Day
Eskimo Day
1996-04-04
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
1946-10-29
On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront
1954-06-22
Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur
1959-11-18
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
2001-05-21
Manhattan
Manhattan
1979-04-25
Annie Hall
Annie Hall
1977-04-19
All About Eve
All About Eve
1950-11-09
Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester
2000-12-21
Top Gun
Top Gun
1986-05-16
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
1987-10-04
GoodFellas
GoodFellas
1990-09-12
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
1939-12-15
Transamerica
Transamerica
2005-02-14
The Poseidon Adventure
The Poseidon Adventure
1972-12-01
The Cuckoo
The Cuckoo
2002-01-01
Apollo 13
Apollo 13
1995-06-30
The Experiment
The Experiment
2001-03-08
Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves
1990-03-30
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
1962-12-20

User Reviews

What Others Said

CinemaSerf: The opening bars of the Oscar-winning Vangelis score coupled with the shot of the athletes running along the beach, barefoot, at St. Andrews is amongst the most iconic opening scenes from any film, but somehow the rest of this strays all too often into mediocrity thereafter. It tells the story of two British athletes who strove to thrive at the Olympiad in Paris in 1924. Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) comes from a Lithuanian Jewish background. who is welcomed to Cambridge University, but never quite accepted. The other is Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a devout Christian who comes from missionary stock and who believes that he must serve God before himself - and that includes not running any races on the Sabbath. Both of these men have considerable athletic skills, and the story intertwines their efforts to get to the Games, whilst both must deal with their differing priorities and challenges. It's this middle portion of the film, the prologued character development phase, that all plods along too slowly. It has too little pace and too many characters, and that just drags the film down. The last fifteen minutes liven up considerably though, not just with the events on the track - but amongst those determined to ensure that the whole team attains success making sacrifices and compromises along the way. It has a classy look to it, the costumes and settings are top drawer, but I found the leading performances rather disjointed and at over two hours long, I did struggle to stay engaged.