Ben Cross, as Harold Abrahams, crosses the finish line in Chariots of Fire.

Chariots of Fire is proof that the Academy doesn’t always get it right. This true story of British athletes competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1981 along with Oscars for Costume, Score and Original Screenplay. Today it seems over-long and - ironically for a movie about runners - incredibly slow paced.

It is best remembered for its instrumental theme by Vangelis (a surprise number 1 hit on the Billboard singles chart), which underscored the opening and closing scenes of men running along a beach in dramatic slow motion. These scenes, by the way, are the highlight of the entire movie.

This brings up one of the movies' biggest flaws, its over-use of slow motion. In nearly every scene where there is a foot race the action is shown in melodramatic slo-mo. After a while it is nearly unintentionally funny. And being a huge Gilbert and Sullivan fan will surely help with the enjoyment of this movie as their music is featured prominently throughout the story.

I don’t have a problem with Chariots of Fire winning the Oscars for Costume and Score. In these two categories the movie holds up well. But how the hell it won for Original Screenplay is beyond me. What little there is of a story concerns the two main athletes. One is a devout Christian and one is Jewish. The Christian athlete’s main dramatic storyline concerns his refusal to run on the Sabbath and the Jewish character feels victimized for his faith yet is never shown being openly discriminated against. Other than that not much really happens.

There are a few minor supporting players. John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson play Masters at Cambridge in a few brief scenes, spent mostly looking down into the quad from above while discussing the students. Alice Krige plays the Jewish runner’s love interest, proving (as she did in Ghost Story that same year) that she looked good wearing period clothes from the 1920s. Brad Davis has a very small role as a famous American runner.

The final race at the Olympics contains the usual cheer-along moment, ubiquitous in sports-themed movies; once again employing slow-motion. Unfortunately the story that precedes this final race is slower than molasses in January and dull as dishwater (pardon my mixed metaphors). Even the tag line is pretentious and needlessly long.

On a positive note, Chariots of Fire is beautifully shot and it painstakingly recreates the time period. The acting is also first rate. But believe me after sitting through this 2 hour movie you’ll feel as if you’ve run a marathon – in slow motion. It easily ranks as one of the most disappointing movies ever to win the Academy’s top honor. On a trivia note, see if you can spot Kenneth Branagh and Stephen Fry in their cameos as two artists. It will help pass the time.
 

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