Chariots of Fire (1981)

 

Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.

From memory: Grand-scale historical drama based on true events is excellently directed with great period detail, a good cast and an inspiring tale, but does not spare us some pathos and patriotism.

Halliwell***: "A film of subtle qualities, rather like those of a BBC classic serial. Probably not quite worth the adulation it received, but full of pleasant romantic touches and sharp glimpses of the wider issues involved."

Maltin***1/2: "Absorbing and unusual drama...Fascinating probe of their motives, challenges, and problems, and a case study of  repressed emotions even in the midst of exultation." 

 

 

 

Empire of the Sun (1987)

A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation during World War II.

Grandiose epic of a child's coming-of-age amidst the horrors as war, both adventure and affecting drama, full of detail and made with cinematic expertise; and Christian Bale's performance is sensational.

Halliwell***: "Intelligent and thought-provoking movie about the loss of childhood innocence through the horrors of war. Bale, as the boy, gives an extraordinarily believable performance."

Maltin**: "Strawling, ambitious, but emotionally distant and loaded with cinematic crescendos (replete with crane camera shots and overbearing music by John Williams) that simply don't have the emotional content  to warrant all that fuss."