Cool Runnings
Cool Runnings
PG | 01 October 1993 (USA)
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When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games, he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican bobsled team.

Reviews
BoardChiri

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Neive Bellamy

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

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Asad Almond

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Payno

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

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Jamie Spivak

One of those great movies that just gets better with each viewing. I remember watching it as a kid and loving it! Now that I have my own kids, they have a blast watching it too! I especially like how inspirational the message is. There are so many reasons why the team shouldn't be able to succeed, but they still manage to in their own special way.

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Michael Radny

This is one of the greatest family movies with moral messages and a great feel good vibe. There is enough comedy for both kids and adults to chuckle at, but I wish there was more to wail about. John Candy is at his usual best in this film giving a good acting role and playing his typical cynical comedian self. But that aside, you won't find another movie that is quite like Cool Runnings. Everything from the storyline to the comedy and to it being based on a true story, no other movie I've seen is anything like Cool Runnings. A great family gem that is not just for the family. Perfect from start to finish, but I wish there was just that little bit more for me to want to re watch it countless amounts of time.

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englishroom-201

We loved the film. Favourite phrase : "You dead, man?".We liked the sport, the courage and pride of the bobsledders.The film is very funny, Sanka is funny with his egg.Favourite character : Sanka. The film is very funny, Sanka is funny with his egg.Favourite phrase : "You dead, man?".We loved the music. We loved the film. We liked Jamaica and Canada.The team spirit is very important. Favourite character : Sanka.We liked Jamaica and Canada. We liked the sport, the courage and pride of the bobsledders.The 5A class in Fréjus

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Vivekmaru45

Top casting, top acting, top script, photography, background musical score & direction.With established comedy actor John Candy(Uncle Buck, Planes Trains and Automobiles) and a solid supporting cast which includes Leon and Doug E. Doug.This film is loosely based on the true story of the Jamaica national bobsled team's debut in the bobsleigh competition of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Canada.Plot: Irving "Irv" Blitzer was an American bobsled two time Gold Medalist at the 1968 Winter Olympics who finished first in two events again during the 1972 Winter Olympics but was disqualified from the latter for cheating and retired in disgrace to Jamaica, where he leads an impoverished life as a bookie. Irving is approached by two Jamaican athletes: top 100m runner Derice Bannock, who failed to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympics when another opponent tripped him at the trials, and Sanka Coffie, a champion push cart racer.The athletes wish to use Irving's previous experience as a Coach in order to compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics as bobsledders. Irving had been good friends with Derice's father, Ben, a former sprinter whom Irving had tried to recruit for the bobsled team years ago, who is presumed to be deceased. Yul Brenner, another runner who was tripped at the qualifier, joins the team as does as Junior Bevil, the runner who tripped Yul and Derice. Eventually Irving is convinced to coach the team.The four try to find various ways to earn money to get in the Olympics; singing on the street, arm wrestling, and holding a kissing booth, but all fail. Junior, however, sells his car, which gets the team the money that they need.In Calgary, Irving manages to acquire an old practice sled from the American team, as the Jamaicans have never been in an actual bobsled. The Jamaicans are looked down upon by other countries, in particular the East German team whose arrogant leader, Josef, tells them to go home, resulting in a bar fight. The team resolves to view the contest more seriously, continuing to train and improve their technique. They qualify for the finals, but are briefly disqualified. At the primary judge meeting, Irving immediately confronts his former coach from the '72 Olympic Winter Games Kurt Hemphill, now a primary judge of the '88 Olympic Winter Games, for disqualifying the Jamaicans for his mistake. He confesses that he made the biggest mistake in his life by cheating by hiding weights underneath the sled to make it run faster. Irving's 1972 Gold Medals were revoked and he embarrassed his country with the scandal. He says that if Hemphill wants revenge, just punish him, not his team. He begs Hemphill to let the Jamaicans qualify and represent their country in the Olympics. Later, the judges overturn their decision and the Jamaicans are back in.The Jamaicans' first day on the track results in more embarrassment and a last place finish. Sanka convinces Derice to stop copying qualities of the Swiss team. Once the team develops their own style, the second day proves better; the Jamaican team finishes with a fast time which puts them in eighth position. Later, Irving tells Derice the truth about his past and convinces him to think of himself as a champion even if he doesn't win the gold, saying, "A gold medal is nice, but if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough with one." For the first half of the final day's race it looks as though they will break the world bobsled speed record, until tragedy strikes: their sled, due to one of the blades falling off, flips on its side coming out of a turn towards the end of their run, leaving them meters short of the finish line. However, the team lifts the sled over their shoulders and walks across the finish line to rousing applause from spectators, including Josef, Hempill, and Junior's father. The team, at the end, feels accomplished enough to return in four years to the next winter Olympics. A brief epilogue states the team returned to Jamaica as heroes and upon their return to the Winter Olympics four years later, they were treated as equals.Completely unlike the story in the film, the Jamaican team was not in conflict with any of the other international bobsledding teams. Other teams were, in fact, supportive of the Jamaican team. One of the other teams even lent the Jamaican team a backup sled so they could qualify.The bobsled competition in the film consists of three individual runs, whereas in reality the Olympic bobsled competition is two runs a day held over a two day period.In the film, the Jamaicans are on world record pace during the final run of the competition when their sled crashes. They emerge from the sled and carry it across the finish line. In real life, however, the crash occurred before the finals (eliminating the Jamaicans) and Jamaica was not on a world record pace. However, real-life footage of the crash was used in the film. After the crash, the team walked next to their sled as track officials slid it down the track. They received sporadic applause, but not a rhythmic slow clap as in the movie Verdict: A MUST BUY FILM THE WHOLE FAMILY WILL ENJOY.

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