I really like this movie but there is one thing I didn't like. As a former sprinter myself I can tell you their form was terrible. Their arms were flailing all over the place and their faces were full of tension. You have to run relaxed. Your cheeks need to be like jell-o. Just bad. Other than that, great movie.
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I did sixty in five minutes once...
I assume you know how movies/television casting works. You cast people to be as realistic as possible (with the exception of Rosie O'Donnell as Betty Rubble) so, yes, if you are making a movie about Olympic sprinters you should get actors who can sprint.
Come on man, use your brain.
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I did sixty in five minutes once...
Well as a former sprinter yourself you know that form on a dirt track is different than form on a Versaturf 360. Some actors were better than others. I though Ben Cross/Abrahams,was fine.
shareObviously, the OP has never seen old films of runners from the 1920s. Just another ego-centrist that thinks the way he experiences life is the way all people at all times of history have experienced life.
shareAlso:
Didn't they actually say, in the movie, that Liddell's form was bad?
I think part of the point was that - with the exception of Abrams - they were all a bunch of amateurs, particularly Liddell.
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Agreed. I don't know if any actual footage exists of either of these runners but if you watch old newsreels of foot races you see all manner of running styles. You don't even have to look that far back; if you dig up some Olympic footage you'll see some very interesting runners who would have their rough edges knocked off nowadays by coaches/mentors.
Here's Liddell:
http://youtu.be/fRdrtp5YAxU
Looks pretty much like the movie, at least at the end.
I applaud you. We need more posters like you, tomkaren.
Not for nothing: if relaxation matters in sprinting, it matters more in the grueling long distances. One of THE greatest long-distance Olympians of All Time is Emile Zatopek, “the Czech Locomotive.” Zatopek won the Olympic 5K, 10K and Marathon. If you looked at his face when he ran, he looked like he was having a seizure; but if you looked at his stride and his arm carriage, he looked like flowing water. He made his facial expressions to sucker his rivals! They would back off, thinking he was going to die, figuratively or literally, at any second. They were wrong. If you think running—sprinting, middle-distance, long-distance or ultra-distance—isn’t a mind game, you need to think again.
in real life. It was even mentioned in his obituary.
Harold Abrahams defended Liddell's running style, saying "People may shout their heads off about his appalling style. Well, let them. He gets there.".
Yeah. Brad Davis leaping over the line. Ian Charleson throwing his head back and flailing. What were they thinking?
Probably trying to be as accurate to the real character's styles as they could. As it happens.
@Twitzkrieg - Glasgow's FOREMOST authority
As a former sprinter myself I can tell you their form was terrible.Interesting you say this about actors representing runners from almost 100 years ago, who were, as the movie underlines, rigidly amateur in almost every aspect of their preparation (Abrahams took a more liberal, progressive attitude). share
Original footage of Abrahams and Liddell in the 1924 Olympics. The movie looks like it got the running styles spot on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvLl64HI_5M
It's a great clip and there's been a lot of advancement in running skill, shoe technology, and track design since then. My father-in-law holds records at his college for fastest sprint times (40 years ago). Due to the change in tracks, he believes the record should be changed to reflect current runners rather than him holding it.
shareYour reply was the only recent one, so I thought I'd add an aside. Abebe Bikila, from Ethiopa, who won the 1960 marathon in Rome, had the most economical running style I've ever seen. His upper body, other than his arms, is so quiet that it's practically unmoving. An interesting note: he ran the race barefoot.
You can see clips here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_zRr9KOFWE
I agree, especially the way Abrahams ran, he looked like he was straining himself, with his chest puffed out, and his arms up in the air behind him, it just didn't look natural, one would have to wonder how he won so many races. It's just like the pro golfer, Arnold Palmer and the awkward way he would hit a golf ball, he did quite well actually, and won many tournaments.
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