This summer, Warner Home Entertainment will bring Chariots of Fire to Blu-ray. Director Hugh Hudson's sports drama stars Ben Cross (Star Trek) and Ian Charleson (Gandhi) as two British sprinters competing in the 1924 Olympics.
From Warner's official synopsis:
"Eric (Charleson), a devout Scottish missionary runs because he knows it must please God. Harold (Cross), the son of a newly rich Jew runs to prove his place in Cambridge society."
A critical and commercial success, Chariots of Fire received seven nominations at the 1982 Academy Awards Ceremony and eventually went on to win four Oscars, including:
Best Picture: David Puttnam
Best Original Score: Vangelis
Best Original Screenplay: Colin Welland
Best Costume Design: Milena Canonero
In addition, the film won the BAFTA for Best Film as well as the Best Supporting Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for Ian Holm's performance.
Update: While the Blu-ray's technical specifications are still unknown, the disc contains a number of bonus supplements, such as:
Commentary by Hugh Hudson
Four behind-the-scenes featurettes:
- Wings on their Heels: The Making of Chariots of Fire
- Chariots of Fire: A Reunion
- Sprint Around the Quad
- Famous Opening Shot
Three all-new featurettes produced for the Blu-ray:
- Paris, 1924: Birth of the Modern Olympics
- David Puttnam: A Cinematic Champion
- Hugh Hudson: Journey to the Gold
Deleted scenes
Screen tests
The digibook package also comes with a CD sampler that includes the following tracks from Vangelis' score:
I really didn't enjoy this movie when I first saw it on TV or VHS but I was also VERY young the last time I saw it, and I mean I was probably 12 or 13.
Does this one deserve another shot 25+ years later? I love the soundtrack, particularly the full length 20+ minute "Chariots of Fire" which most people incorrectly think "Titles" is.
@dobyblue: I was in the same boat so I watched it again recently. It's a somewhat interesting story but I was still pretty bored with it. (And I'm a fan of British period dramas.)
Just before the Olympics too! Good way to cash in.
A beautiful, lyrical, thoughtful and nostalgic film with a haunting score but I remember it as using very soft focus and a somewhat drab colour palette. I wonder if it will be pleasing on Blu-ray?
Excellent news. Let's hope the new Blu-ray features the correct cut: wasn't the later (two-disc) Warner DVD missing a brief shot of Jackson Scholz (Brad Davis)? I remember there being some slight difference in the cut between that release and the earlier single-DVD edition.
The CD soundtrack sampler and the three new-to-BD features are also on the UK edition, coming out from Fox nearly a month earlier (June 18). Don't know yet if it'll be region-free or locked.
Why don't they just put an isolated score track on there? Dum dum dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum dum. Dum dum dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum dum... Oh yeah!
