Downhill Racer

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mark g @Mark_Alan_G. Jan 11 What am I missing here? This thing drags like no other "action" film I've seen. Gene Hackman is completely wasted, appearing for about a minute in the first hour. You forget he's in the film. Redford plays a conceited punk that you couldn't care less about. Any strong performances here from supporting cast? Nope, none at all. 85% fresh? Really? Why? Just comes off as lethargic and not well made. See more Steve B Jan 4 Redford at his arguable best. Here he is not the incredibly handsome. charming, lead that he was in all those classics. He is a smug, self-centered athlete who is only concerned about his performance. The downhill racing sequences are the best ever filmed in a major movie. Watch for his response to his hometown girlfriend after their afternoon tryst in a parked car. She lays out her plans and dreams and worries for her future. Tells you all you need to know about this character. See more Matthew D @OceanSage Nov 7 Robert Redford is very handsome and charismatic as this arrogant jerk pro skier. The Swedish actress is beautiful, but a shallow character. The shots of snow, trees, and mountains are lovely, but creative cinematography means nothing when the script is atrocious. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched a movie this slow and plotless. It’s hard to care when you can barely follow anyone’s names or aspirations. Most of the film is shots of each guy trying to ski down this difficult course and crashing. Gene Hackman’s coach is pretty good, but like Redford, they are given nothing to work with here. A totally forgettable film unfortunately. See more Marcus T @MarcusT12 Sep 25 This movie is made in a documentary style, with little drama apart from the skiing scenes and crashes. It keeps it's distance from its characters. Redford does what he can with the script and the direction. The plot is pretty minimal. Camilla Sparv was quite fetching as the love interest, but there again the viewer is kept at a distance from any emotion between them. I saw this when it came out and had a similar feeling about it then. It was amazing to see the equipment and conditions they were racing on. Brought back memories of skiing in the old days. See more Mark B Sep 18 An empty film about and empty person. Yawn. Has a reputation it most certainly does not deserve. A good scipt makes us care about a character and the sport but this film is cryptic, unfinished and as I said empty of all content. Does not touch James Salter's book A Sport and A Pastime. See more Blu B Aug 4 It's good. It's a bit on the challenging side because Redford plays a character that has lots of charisma but is a jerk to put it lightly at times. He reminds of Maverick from the first Top Gun. The ediitng isn't bad but it has trouble tying things like the romance subplot and his father into the sports stuff. I get it, it shows more of his character and it does make sense. Half of this film is honestly character related stuff and it works...for the second half and when it focuses just on the sports side more. The music isn't bad either but it isn't used much and it can feel a ittle dry at times. Everything else though is pretty solid honestly. Redford & Hackman are great here. No one else really gets that much focus but does a good job. The skiing scenes are great and the best part visually. This is a very quiet film with not a lot of dialouge or soundtrack to it. But to it's credit I can follow it pretty well for the most part which was cool. It's cool seeing shaky cam ski scenes and POV shots in 69'. Really innovative stuff. The direction isn't bad but is better during ski scenes. It follows a basic sports movie archetype at it's core but it's got that New Hollywood style character study to it as well. He's a rebel but also the teams best hope. It's not as easy a watch as something like Remember the Titans or Hoosiers just because it's hard to like the character, a bit dry, lacking much interesting support outside of the two leads, and it's honestly a little clunky tying the character/sports plots together but it comes together enough and the visual storytelling is impressive. Anyone who is a fna of sports movies in particular old school ones, ski movies, the director, or any actors in this should check this out. It's a Deep Cut Redford & Hackman Classic. See more Read all reviews

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