MovieChat Forums > Eddie the Eagle (2016) Discussion > Well-menaing but forgettable

Well-menaing but forgettable

posted 9 years ago by ToshJank
6 replies | jump to latest

It’s disappointing that we only get 10 to 15 percent of Edwards’ true story in Eddie The Eagle. The film’s producers openly admit that fact. Portraying Edwards as an affable doofus too clumsy to qualify for the British Downhill Team, they later claim he traveled to Germany to learn ski jumping from a drunken, washed-up former prodigy. But Edwards was an accomplished – if unimpressive – skier in real life and narrowly missed qualifying for the Brit squad. He was also a bit of a daredevil. That made his move to jumping all the more logical. Edwards actually traveled to Lake Placid, NY – not Germany – to learn jumping. From real coaches. It’s worth noting that the writers either don’t know or just don’t care that a unified Germany didn’t exist during the film’s 1987-88 time period: http://www.cutprintfilm.com/reviews/eddie-the-eagle-review/

[–] baj2 9 years ago

I seem to recall that Eddie The Eagle had travelled to Garmisch once. It seems he was there in 1989 --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q44igt-zcvU

German reunification happened in 1990.

And...it seems he also competed in nearby Oberstdorf in 1987.

http://www.bavaria.by/the-german-alpine-road-1

The Alps are an adventure playground. In Oberstdorf, for example, for £30 you can walk a high-wire 100 feet up between the towers of the ski-jumping arena where Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards famously came last out of 98 competitors at the 1987 Nordic Skiing World Championships.

Film adaptations are sometimes not very close to actual events. Key facts and places are likely retained but some fiction is likely to be included to make for an interesting film. It is not meant to be a documentary. Did you ever see the movie THE LONGEST DAY -- a recollection of the Allied invasion of Normandy during the second world war. I am sure that some of the many interesting sidelights in the movie were likely fictional but they did not detract from the historical lineage of the storyline.

[–] search_for_truth 9 years ago

You do realize that the real Eddie the Eagle loves the movie and is enthusiastically promoting it, right? I think his opinion matters most.

[–] paulchipuer 9 years ago

Just like your spelling.

[–] horsenbuggy 9 years ago

Yeah. I don't understand the point of tying it to a real person if you're not going to tell that person's story. The film is entertaining. Just make it a completely fictional story.

[–] search_for_truth 9 years ago

The real Eddie the Eagle loves the movie and is promoting it so the fact that people are having a problem with the fictional parts is irrelevant. Eddie is happy with how he was portrayed and how his story is being told. That is so much more important than what anybody on IMDb thinks.

[–] C-Younkin 9 years ago

While the film does portray him as a bit of a bigger clumsy nerd than I thought he actually was, I think the movie does briefly go into how accomplished he was as a skier but also that ski jumping it a much bigger and harder thing to accomplish.

And if anyone is interested in a review for this movie- https://youtu.be/umvewb4c1Dc

Trying to go for an informative, and hopefully something people think is funny, youtube channel so hope you guys like. Thanks.