Worst Running Movie

soufsider wrote:

I'm really surprised "Personal Best" has only been mentioned once in passing so far.

That's because it was the best lesbian T&F movie that focused on the pentathlon ever made.

smd wrote:Don't forget the scene where there are approximately 523 guys in contention in the last stretch of the Olympic marathon trials.

And if I remember right, at least two of those marathon contenders had significant paunches.

The Games from 1970 has to be near the top of any list.

Based on a novel (which I haven't read), it seems to use the 1960 Rome Olympics as its starting point. The film follows four marathoners as they prepare for and run the Olympic marathon. The American hope and bad boy is played by Ryan O'Neal whom we first encounter winning a 400. The Briitsh runner (Michael Crawford) has a maniacal coach (Stanley Baker) who wants him to be the first to run under 2:00 and has him training in a steam room. Charles Aznavour plays the Iron Curtain runner who seems to be based on Emil Zatopek. The fourth runner is an aborigine (Athol Compton) who loves to run but is used to win bets by his manager down under. When the race is about to start, he realizes he just can't run in his brand new shoes and so runs the marathon barefoot.

With a screenplay by Erich Segal (after Love Story), this wasn't some low budget effort but was produced by Fox and had a standard US theatrical release. Laughable from start to finish.

I won't give away who wins the race but I think you might be able to guess.

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK0IO7ccu8c

Just watched this. Good lord, it's worse than I remembered.

Take a look at all the gushing commentary below. I'd like to think it's tongue in cheek, but somehow I doubt it.

Morocco Mole wrote:

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK0IO7ccu8c

Just watched this. Good lord, it's worse than I remembered.

I liked the part where he's running down the city streets all alone with cars everywhere, yet at the end he has a motorcycle with him. You'd think in the olympic marathon that they'd close the course until everyone finished.I do have to admit though that he looked like a runner, not bad form.

That showed that god awful movie to us in health class in middle school.

Heptathalon, but yes, you're right on the mark. I think what saves "Personal Best" from being lumped with all the other "worst movie" picks is the brilliant cameo by Kenny Moore. He always lends a certain credibility, don't you think? Plus, the song "Why Is There Dyanabol, At All" is brilliant!

On the Edge...that has to be one of the worst endings in the history of movies.

Ben Folds wrote:

On the Edge...that has to be one of the worst endings in the history of movies.

Absolutely. It was like they just couldn't figure out what to do with it. And the whole premise of the story is so... 1982. Pretty much every old, broke down runner's fantasy, though!

Other than the ending, it was a pretty entertaining movie. I believe that it was one of the first movies to use the steadycam, to shoot the trail running scenes. And it was fun to see Gary Bejorkland (sp?)in a cameo.

[quote]The Games wrote:

The Games from 1970 has to be near the top of any list.

Based on a novel (which I haven't read), it seems to use the 1960 Rome Olympics as its starting point. The film ...[quote]

The book (The Games, by Hugh Atkinson) is much better. More about the politics. As I recall, it was about the Mexico Games, though the movie was set in Rome, as you say.

In the movie, I loved Michael Crawford. I thought he did a great job, acting-wise. He sure LOOKED like a '60s era marathoner. The script was pretty lame, though. And what sorta doping was Ryan O'Neal up to, that would cause him to smack into a wall? Speed, I suppose...

This movie had the best one liners. I've been trying to find a copy for years. Anyone have one?

Not Roger Ebert wrote:

Heptathalon, but yes, you're right on the mark. I think what saves "Personal Best" from being lumped with all the other "worst movie" picks is the brilliant cameo by Kenny Moore. He always lends a certain credibility, don't you think? Plus, the song "Why Is There Dyanabol, At All" is brilliant!

I'm pretty sure that when "Personal Best" came out the women were still doing the pentathlon. I haven't seen it in years. I forget who said it, but someone commented on Kenny Moore's peeing scene and said that his part was a small one.

Lughead wrote:This movie had the best one liners. I've been trying to find a copy for years. Anyone have one?

I got it off TV long ago and my copy is pretty bad. I have seen it listed on Ebay several times, so there are copies floating around. Likely TV copies, as well.

I used to really enjoy the hunt in collecting running movies but since the internet, it's gotten too easy and the fun isn't there. That, and all the little mom-and-pop video stores are closing. It was fun to poke through the bargain bins. I suppose the same is true for music collectors...

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK0IO7ccu8c

Never saw this movie, but this tribute was awesome! My favorite part was when Michael Douglas staggers like a zombie at the finish. I kept expecting him to take a bite out of Susan Anspach's shoulder. My god, how did Douglas ever win an Oscar for any of his roles? What a horrible actor! Great afro on Eugene Levy though.

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK0IO7ccu8c

Run, Fatboy, Run was certainly the better of the two.

The Games is one of my favorite inspirational movies. It’s one of the best “feel good” movies for distance runners, although there are several more recent good ones out now. I’d heard that it never made it to video, much less DVD. Oddly though, I did find it as a download on the Blockbuster movie site for $9.95, about 6 months ago.

Anyway, back in my college running days, in the mid-70’s, it was in frequent rotation on Movie Night at the dorms. Several of us guys on the XC/Track team would try to catch it as often as possible. After watching it, we always felt like going out for a run. Sometimes we even did.

It’s an incredibly inspiring running movie which follows the lives of 4 marathon runners as they overcome various obstacles (athletic and otherwise), go through some pretty grueling training, cross paths at various pre-Olympic events, deal with their insane or otherwise twisted coaches/handlers and then face off against each other in the Olympic marathon. Having watched it 6 months ago for the first time in about 30 years, the production value is a bit dated, as are the late 60’s cloths and hairstyles. Also, the running done by a couple of the actors and most of the extras is an example of some of the poorer acting in the movie. But the movie itself is a good running story.

Michael Crawford, of later Phantom of the Opera fame, plays the British runner. A young Ryan O’Neal plays the American (a young Sam Elliot plays his best friend). The character of the barefoot Australian runner is loosely based on Ethiopian Abebe Bikila. The Emile Zatopek-like character is a former 5,000 & 10,000 meter Olympic champ, now 40 and a military officer from some eastern European totalitarian country called out of retirement to bring glory to the state by moving up to the marathon. He is under strict orders to win. Even former Olympian Rafer Johnson has a part playing himself as a TV commentator.

The screenplay is by Eric Segal, a former college runner and who later became an Olympic Games commentator and is the same Eric Segal who wrote Love Story, among other mushy novels that became movies, and taught at Harvard.

The book by Hugh Atkinson that the movie was based on, can still be found and is the same basic running story, but goes into the corrupt politics of the Olympic site selection process and the elitist bureaucrats controlling the Games, which is not in the movie.

Although a bit dated, this is a good running movie and should not be on a "worst-of" list.

What the... ??? wrote:

Although a bit dated, this is a good running movie and should not be on a "worst-of" list.

Good defense of the movie!

A movie that is terrible from a T&F standpoint but that I really enjoy is "Walk, Don't Run" with Cary Grant and Tim Hutton. I really like the running gags about the female Russian shotputters and Hutton as a racewalker that won't tell anyone what his event is.(As a former national team walker, I can appreciate his hesitation!) But overall, it's a relly well written and acted 60's romantic comedy.

If you haven't seen it, check it out. It was Grant's last film.