You won't be disappointed!

Truly Dreadful Film

Dreadfully Boring

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

When the movie started i was amazed how flashy, fast and impressive the photography was. I thought I was in for a great ride. How could I have missed such an important picture with Gene Hackman and Robert Redford starring in it? I thought I had overlooked a precious movie for many years. But I was wrong. My first thoughts were right on the money: how can a picture about skiing be interesting other then for sport fans? It cant. Not this one. I wont reveal the story to avoid spoilers, although there is not much to get spoiled because the story is going nowhere. That is just the main and only true fault of this movie: an utterly boring story. Unless you are into skiing...What is really good about this movie is the photography. Mind you, this picture was shot in 1969, for those days the speeding downhill camera shots were really revolutionary. Even to this day, the camera work is really enticing. Gorgeous shots. Acting is good too. How couldnt it be, with young upcoming stars like Hackman and Redford. The soundtrack fails miserably though, more suited for a war movie. But hey, they experimented with lots of modern classical stuff, so I praise them for trying to do something out of the ordinary. All the techniques used in this picture are truly up there with the best. But the story is NOT.All this experimental soundtrack stuff, the truly mind blowing camerawork and the great acting still cant hide the obvious fact that the story is dead boring. Still wanna know what the story is about? A new young ski talent goes to the Olympics and becomes successful. Wow. If you think that is a thrilling story, then this is the movie for you. I thought it was going nowhere beyond what one can already see on t,v. during any other sports tournament.

Even if you love Robert Redford and you love skiing movies, I can't recommend you sit through Downhill Racer. My preference lies with the former category, and since he won a BAFTA Award for his performance, I was looking forward to seeing some high-quality acting. There was no redeeming quality about this movie, and for the life of me, I don't know why he was honored for it.Robert Redford plays a skier with hopes to join the American Olympic team. He's arrogant, rude, and a total cad with the women in his life. Gene Hackman plays the team's coach, and while it's fun to see him and Dabney Coleman so young, it's hardly worth seeing the film all the way through.The script feels nonexistent, the acting feels ad-libbed, the plot is thin, and there's more boredom evoked than suspense. Michael Ritchie's directing style feels extremely European, and I don't generally like that artsy, noncommittal, aloof style of film. Besides Havana, this just might be the worst Robert Redford movie ever made.DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie is not your friend. Most of it is filmed with a hand-held camera, and the skiing scenes seem to be filmed by the skier himself, and they will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

It becomes very hard to watch this one from early on as the sequences appear to be just highlights from an afternoon on ABC's Wide World of Sports which used to run on TV when this movie was made. Yes, the skiing is okay but nothing special. No, it will not shift to the Harlem Globtrotters or Boxing during the movie.Redford is too old for the role as a stud skier going to the Olympics to win a gold medal. He meets a woman and has some very mechanical overnight exercise with her. His coach, Hackman, try's to motivate him though Gene does not get any really inspired Hoosier type speeches here. The film is about as bland a Redford movie as can be found anywhere.At least there are the lovely vistas that show up at times but often they are so short you see them for a few seconds and then pow your back to looking at bland stuff. What plot there is seems to be trying to capitalize on US Nationalism as the feeling of the thrill of victory for the US Skier is supposed to excite you at the end. Instead of that it is almost as bland as a poorly animated cartoon. Maybe that is why this one just does not come off.

"Downhill Racer" stars Robert Redford in his prime as David Chappellet, a taciturn loner from Colorado, who competes with an underdog American team for Olympic gold in Europe. Gene Hackman co-stars as the coach who tries to temper Chappellet's narcissistic and reckless drive for glory."Downhill Racer" came out late in 1969 hot on the heels of Redford's success with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Unfortunately it wasn't marketed properly and failed at the box office, but don't let that deter you 'cause this is a great film well worthy of your time.Although the movie is from '69 and therefore has obvious dated aspects, "Downhill Racer" was very innovative in it's time and holds up amazingly well to this day. In fact, aside from the ski paraphernalia & styles, I don't find the film dated at all. It somehow has a fresh quality and plays out like a docudrama similar to, say, "Saving Private Ryan," which was made nigh three decades later(!)."Downhill Racer" is reminiscent of 1966's "The Blue Max" in that both films are about an unlikable loner who is ruthlessly ambitious in his area of skill and functions as a fish out of water in the social circles to which he's thrust. It goes without saying that if you liked "The Blue Max" you'll probably like this one too. Both rank with my favorite films of all time.Downhill racing is an insanely hazardous sport in that the skier can reach speeds of 80-90 mph(!). Needless to say, one bad fall could take you out for life. Downhill is also an extremely individualistic sport, which is well pointed out in the story when a teammate criticizes Chappellet for not being a team player and another guy responds, "Well, it isn't exactly a team sport, is it?" Needless to say, it takes a very certain kind of individual to be successful at downhill -- someone who's ultra-daring and bold; someone with a wild, reckless edge balanced by the necessary discipline to train and compete. Redford effectively plays such a person here. He rises up in the ranks to become the American team's only true hopeful; the coach attempts to somewhat keep him under reigns and criticizes his individualism and recklessness even while he knows these are the very qualities that makes him a winner. Throughout the picture Chappellet and the coach act like they don't like each other at all, and it's true because Chappellet is a loner in the truest sense, but ultimately the coach is squarely on the young racer's side: When it comes time for the vital Olympic run the coach looks into Chappellet's eyes and confidently states, "You can win this." Take note of the stark contrast of Chappellet's plain hometown in Colorado and the glitz of the European ski resorts where he races. Also contrasted is Chappellet's throw-away hometown girl ("Do ya have some more of that gum" -- LOL) and the glamorous self-absorbed babe he hooks up with in Europe (Camilla Sparv of "Mackenna's Gold" fame); she gives him a good taste of his own bad self, if you know what I mean. Also of interest is his 'relationship' with his distant father, a simple country man who doesn't understand his son's preoccupation with skiing and the lack of financial gain thereof.While watching I couldn't help but think of Bill Johnson, the unlikely downhill gold medal winner for the USA in the '84 Olympics. Like Chappellet he was cocky & reckless and irked the European snobs with his bold predictions of Olympic victory. I have no doubt that "Downhill Racer" was one of Bill's favorite films. Unfortunately Mr. Johnson staged an improbable comeback bid for the 2002 Olympics that ended abruptly with a horrible downhill crash in March, 2001, leaving him permanently brain-damaged and in need of constant care. How the mighty have fallen! One cavil I have with "Downhill Racer" is that Redford is playing a person in his early 20s while he was 32 years-old during filming and looks it. But this is just nitpicking. Besides, Redford looks great at 32 or any age (and I say that with a staunch record of heterosexuality).Highly recommended.