Obviously Fake Running Performances in Movies and TV

Who has a better running form? Jared Leto in "Prefontaine" or Billy Crudup in "Without Limits"?

rolo wrote:

Push Alt F4 wrote:

In my opinion the worst running movie ever made was Chasing a Dream by the Hallmark Channel. The bigger kid, who is the main character, has a HS friend who has run something like 4:02 for the mile like 10 times and is trying to break 4. So he dies and his friend now decides he will break 4 in his memory.

This page has the trailer, but good to watch the movie to laugh and cringe.

The writer of that film sports a 24:50 5K PR, but not for lack of effort. He's run 100-150 of them.

THAT IS NO EXCUSE! You would think after running in 100+ 5K's he'd at least have an idea of what a runner looks like and beg to the casting department to find an skinny actor to play the lead. And what football position does the heavy lead character play anyways? Wouldn't the task of running a 4 minute mile be better suited for a wide receiver or maybe a kicker? Jebus!

David Tennant in Dr. Who.

Oh man, what a riot watching him run. Otherwise great show and he is truly a great actor. His 'Hamlet' at the Royal Shakespeare was beyond brilliant.

But he runs like an alien.

Lunacyracer wrote:

Who has a better running form? Jared Leto in "Prefontaine" or Billy Crudup in "Without Limits"?

Peter Strauss in the 1979 TV movie, The Jericho Mile, plays a prison convict who discovers that he has some serious running talent. A good movie by the way and he does lace up spikes when he runs on the prison dirt track.

Here is the last scene:

coquette wrote:

They always run so slow for the camera.

In Prefontaine he breaks the AR in 13:22, then the entire field finishes five seconds later.

My friend played Viren in the movie and said Leto couldn't break 60 for 400 meters they had to shoot the really fast scene's without him.

my pick is the Brad Pitt Rick Schroder movie. can't remember the name though "Across the tracks".

Somalian being tripped and then talking trash is awesome. You know if he ran on a real track with proper spikes, I am sure he could have taken webbs record:)

grrrrreat! wrote:

latently homosexual teenager wrote:

Montage at 13:40 is very inspiring. He trains with midgets to and pwns a Somalian!

^^^ rocks 4:16, 4:18 miles in a workout during that montage while, ironically, still looking like he could star in Heavyweights. I can't get enough of this movie

Heres a short clip on youtube about Billy Mills famous 10k.

It is absolutely hilarious. My favorite parts are when he is getting shoved by Gammoudi. The last 400 drags on for about 3 minutes and the announcer says there's 400 meters left while theyre on the backstretch

Also if you watch the finish youll see a pack on about 10 behind the top three only a couple seconds back...then when they do the awards presentation the scoreboard shows the top 3 runnners within 1.4 seconds, another 5 seconds back, then the rest are almost 30 seconds back.

My friend played Viren in the movie and said Leto couldn't break 60 for 400 meters they had to shoot the really fast

Well most recreational runners can't break 60 so you've got to cut him some slack. I credit Leto for at least looking the part because he certainly did not look that way on My So Called Life.

Across The Tracks. Brad Pitt runs like he has a stick up his ass. Ricky Schroeder is more believable.

nokaman wrote:

Lunacyracer wrote:

Who has a better running form? Jared Leto in "Prefontaine" or Billy Crudup in "Without Limits"?

Peter Strauss in the 1979 TV movie, The Jericho Mile, plays a prison convict who discovers that he has some serious running talent. A good movie by the way and he does lace up spikes when he runs on the prison dirt track.

Here is the last scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjkHZyGpdh8&NR=1

I read somewhere that Strauss actually ran a 4:20-4:25 mile.

Michael Landon in "Loneliest Runner". Skip to 6:25 and watch Landon enter the stadium winning the Olympic Marathon. He looks like he's just warming up, smiling to the crowd. Landon once held the Prep Javelin Record.

Ryan O'Neal and Michael Crawford in "The Games"

Tom Courtney in the Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. He looks like a runner but I could walk faster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXMS5ZXKvYA&feature=related

Love this scene, by the way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk9dLy58rsc&feature=related

Does anyone else remember the episode of Magnum PI where Magnum finishes the Ironman and immediately chases down a criminal he spotted at the finish?

Saint Ralph about a 14 year old kid who tries to win the 1954 Boston Marathon. In the end he winds up getting second in a kick to Roger Bannister. There also is a scene where he does 20 mile repeats all sub 5:00 with the last one at 4:25. And all this is about 6 months after taking up running.

Caught one of the Christopher Reeves Superman movies last week. In one seen a high-school aged Clark Kent is racing a train (which happens to hold a young Lois Lane). His form is almost indescribable. I'm guessing htey hoisted him up on cables and told him to run while hanging there??? I don't know how they could make a super-hero look so pathetic running. It was just sad. He did beat the train to the crossing though, so cudos to him.

If you thought Ryan O’Neal and Michel Crawford were bad in The Games, what about the other co-star, Charles Aznavour?

He was a chain smoking, French crooner, popular at that time, brought into play a Zatopec like figure.

I know some extras who had to ‘run’ with him in the track scenes and they told me they were tripping over themselves to run slowly enough for him to overtake them.

He could run about 50 yards before he’d blow up and need oxygen to recover for the next take.

Incidentally, Ryan O’Neal, a chubby figure, who was supposed to be a 400mt runner in the US track team - turns to the US coach and (seriously) states: “Coach, I want to run the marathon in the next Olympics.”

Erich Segal of all people, wrote the screenplay.

Seinfeld's Jean-Paul the marathon runner from Trinidad and Tobbogan who overslept for the Olympics. He ran the New York Marathon and it showed him out in front at mile 25 winning the race - it was so pathetically funny!

My favorite episode

watch 19:40 hahahhhaahhha

C/M Runner wrote:

ph wrote:

to the dude who mentioned Across the Tracks with Pitt and Schroeder. I agree that movie was terrible. The thing I loved the most was how they started all their races in the middle of the straightaway. So after making their final turn, they run 50 meters and done.

My dad ran in college (graduated in 1976) in upper NY and he said that it was not uncommon for the 440yd hurdles back then to start and end in the middle of a straightaway. so there is some basis to that.

That's how most HS races in L.A. in the 70's were in the 440/880/mile. In fact, watch Ryun's 1965 HSR in the mile against Snell, the finish is in the middle of the straight.