Reviews (2)

DEATH SHIP
SCARY,CREEPY AND VERY WELL DONE! WELL WORTH THE PURCHASE.SHOULD BE ON DVD.A MUST SEE!!!!

Creepy
Not bad at all.Death Ship may not be the best horror film out there,but at least It's original. ... Read more

Description

From the author of "Rumpole of the Bailey" comes a touching portrait of fathers and sons and a celebration of life.Filmed in John Mortimer's chilldhood home and current residence, this is the story of Clifford Mortimer, a strong-willed eccentric lawyer, as brave as he is stubborn. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This television miniseries tells the story of the founding of the modern Olympics by focusing on individuals in several countries and their preparationsand eventual competition in Athens in 1896. David Ogden Stiers (a familiar faceto viewers of M*A*S*H reruns) portrays a Princeton classics professorwhose knowledge of the ancient Olympics means he's given the task of recruitingan American team for the 1896 games. The stories of how some athletes have to beconvinced to join the team may seem contrived, but they do reinforce the idea ofhow fragile the concept of reviving the Olympics was at the time. A young DavidCaruso (years before he'd swagger through the stationhouse of N.Y.P.D.Blue) portrays a cocky Boston Irishman who walks away from a Harvardscholarship to participate in track events. And if Caruso does veer perilouslyclose to doing an extended James Cagney impression, he serves as a sturdy focalpoint to the American team. Once in Athens, the focus is very much on theAmerican athletes and their surprising success, and there are some interestingand humorous touches in the plot. For instance, the fledgling American team hadenlisted a local blacksmith to render an iron discus, thereby giving them anunexpected advantage when presented with the much lighter "official" discus inAthens. Even if the various plots and subplots about the athletes don't alwayshold up very well, the scenes of competition in Athens do provide anentertaining re-creation of the first modern Olympics. --Robert J.McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (14)

The First Olympics - First Rate
This is a magnificent and wonderful movie about the Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens... the first Olympics in 2000 years. The characters are generally well cast, the dialogue is fitting, and the relations between characters is well developed. I don't know if all the scenes are historically accurate, but I know that a great deal of it is... especially the names of the athletes, the results of the events and the Olympic Stadium in Greece. Although centered around the American team and its athletes, there is considerable attention paid to the lives of athletes from other countries, most notably Greece and Australia. Unfortunately a couple of the athletes portrayed could have been played by actors who were more appropriate for the events they were in, and you'll pick them out right away.

This is a FAMILY MOVIE, no sex, no vulgar language, nothing that shouldn't be seen by anyone in your family. It is a true classic in my mind, and one which I enjoy watching on a regular basis. Now, if it would only come out on DVD I'd buy it in an instant. There's so much garbage out there on DVD, why can't this and other classics be brought out on DVD?

Chariots of desire.
If you have 280 minutes to spare, this is an engaging and enjoyable account of the first modern Olympic games, held in Athens in 1896. At such a length, one might expect a tedious documentary approach, but instead we get a nicely-paced story of privileged young men enjoying some pure athletic rivalry and old-fashioned male bonding. This film manages to avoid Chariots of Fire's melodramatic themes while still delivering an exciting depiction of those first Olympic games, where athletes competed because of their simple desire for greatness.

The First Olympics
The movie The First Olympics is not just an educational movie it also demands your attention for the full 4 hours and 40 minutes. In fact at demands my attention as well as my siblings that everytime we visit our grandparents house in Utah we have to watch it, even if it means staying up until early in the morning. It shows how the first olympics of modern days actually was and what American athletes, as well as other athletes went through, both on their way there and at the Olympics. I would definetely suggest this movie to anyone!!

The "true" story of the first modern American Olympic team
"The First Olympics - Athens 1896" tells a story that is a far cry from the spectacle the world witnessed tonight in Salt Lake City. In an effort to promote peace, the Baron Pierre de Courbertin (Louis Jordan) wants to revive the Olympic movement. Athletes from around the world will gather in Athens in 1896 and the Baron thinks it is important that the United States field a team. David Ogden Stiers plays William Sloane, a professor of classic studies who agrees to put together the American team. If the stories told in this charming slice of history are not true, please do not tell me. For me the focal character is young Robert Garrett (Hunt Block), who kisses his mother (Angela Landsbury) goodbye and goes off to compete for honor and glory. But neither Robert or the good professor know anything about the sports in the Olympics beyond what they can learn from reading Homer and looking at pictures of Greek urns while the maid has to show the boys how to run the high hurdles. This results in an awkward moment at a fundraiser where the team concludes they are suppose to compete in the nude like the ancient Greeks. The American team receives no governmental support and the Ivy League schools are against in; their uniforms are white with stripes representing their college colors. The first part ends with the Professor left behind as the team sails off to Europe, at which point he learns that the Greeks follow a different calendar and the team will not get there until the final day of competition. That means the second part starts with a mad dash across the continent to arrive in Athens in time.

While the mini-series does focus on the American team, we also follow several other notable participants in that first modern Olympics, including the legendary Greek marathoner, Spiridon Loues (Nicos Ziagos). There is a cute moment when the Greek orchestra leader has to pick between two songs to represent the Americans at the awards ceremony but my favorite part is when Robert Garrett learns that he will not be allowed to compete with the shot put and discuss he has been practicing with all these many months. You see they are not regulation size. In fact, they are about twice as big as they are supposed to be. Seems those Greek urns need to be updated. The scene where he is given the shot put he must use, instead of his cannon ball, and he tosses it up into the air a couple of times. There is also a very touching moment when back in America Professor Sloane receives the telegram that announces the first Olympic Gold medal in almost two thousands years has been won by an American. Stiers is wonderful in this role as are the cast of unknown young actors (only David Caruso as a cocky Irish long jumper from Bah-ston is recognizable). "The First Olympics--Athens 1896" is one of those mini-series that should be shown every four years, right before the summer Olympics. If you have seen it, then you have never forgotten it, and everyone who enjoys watching the world's best athletes compete before the entire world should get to see this mini-series at least once as well.

Best Olympic Movie Ever
This is was the best about the olympics that I ever saw. It had all the parts that a great epic movie should have. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

One of the worse films I've ever seen....
I recently made it through King Solomon's Treasure. While this film has a great cast who can all act, none of them managed to make it through this film unscathed. The film is a story of the search by Allan Quartermain for King Solomon's Treasure, which in this version is found in a supposedly Phoenetian style city somewhere in Africa. This is only the beginning of the far-fetched nonsense that we see throughout this film.

While there were some entertaining scenes, particularly the interplay between McCallum, Colicos and McNee, they were overshadowed by the giant monsters and other bad special effects (particularly a lot of watery mud that was supposed to be lava).

I have yet to understand where all these giant monsters - including a giant crab and dinosaurs - came from in what is supposed to be an 1800's period action adventure.

While Britt Eckland and David McCallum are particularly beautiful in some scenes, I discourage you from watching this film as you will be as bitterly disappointed as I was. ... Read more