I liked it when I first saw it in February 1982, and enjoyed it again when I watched it 30 years later. The story, acting and music are outstanding.
shareAgreed. Watched it as a kid and love it as an adult.
shareYeah, it's tied with The Elephant Man for my favorite movie. Loved it when I first saw it 22 years ago and still love it to this day. When I was a high school and college runner it greatly inspired me as well.
shareI think what makes it work so well and remain timeless is the screenplay, above all else. It has the literate force of a stage play, where you feel braced again every time you watch it (screenwriter Colin Weland also wrote for theater as well). His work here is keen and elegant.
And the story centering on the lives of two runners still continues to work on our minds after all these years, because they represent very real facets of human nature. Some compete to prove something, to topple and take away, and others compete to serve, to add, to improve. Abraham ran with competitive ferocity and vengeful purpose, and Liddell ran with a kind of transcendent humility and divine duty.
Two very different philosophies, and both victims of cold prejudice for different reasons. You may have a completely different lifestyle and mindset from them, but you always understood their motivating drive to win. It becomes something more than just the running for them:
"I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. But WILL I?"