Chariots of Fire: Critic Reviews

86%

MovieWeb: 1 reviews

87%

RottenTomatoes: 37 reviews

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Vincent Canby New York Times (Top Critic)

80

It's an exceptional film, about some exceptional people.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times (Top Critic)

100

This is strange. I have no interest in running and am not a partisan in the British class system. Then why should I have been so deeply moved by Chariots of Fire?
Full Review » 8 years ago
Dave Kehr Chicago Reader (Top Critic)

The battered Britons may have some excuse for enjoying this nostalgic re-creation of empire ideology, but what's ours?
Full Review » 5 years ago
Jack Pitman Variety (Top Critic)

No imbalance mars the pic, whose cross-the-board achievement lifts it to an impressive level of unified accomplishment.
Full Review » 5 years ago
James Berardinelli ReelViews (Top Critic)

88

Appreciation of this picture doesn't demand a love of sports, merely an understanding of human nature.
Full Review » 12 years ago
Richard Schickel TIME Magazine (Top Critic)

Like every element in this picture, the actors look right; they seem to emerge from the past, instead of being pasted on to it, as so many characters in historical movies seem to be.
Full Review » 4 years ago
Nell Minow Common Sense Media

100

Brilliant true story of 1924 Olympic footrace.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Dennis Schwartz Ozus' World Movie Reviews

59

A pleasant inspirational movie that failed to inspire me.
Full Review » 4 years ago
Film4

Lavish and uplifting sports movie driven by finely honed performances, and home to one of the most iconic sequences in 1980s British film.
Full Review » 4 years ago
Emanuel Levy Screendaily

67

This manipulative inspirational-religious sports drama, about the 1924 Olympics, benefited immensely from Vangelis stirringly brilliant score and editor Terry Rawlings slow-motion of the running sequences.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Wesley Lovell Oscar Guy

63

Emotionally lacking, Chariots of Fire is only limitedly entertaining as a piece of cinematic history and a glimpse into the history of a handful of Olympic hopefuls.
Full Review » 5 years ago
TV Guide's Movie Guide

75

A pleasant, mildly inspirational movie but hardly worthy of all the accolades it received.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Geoff Andrew Time Out

Really this is an overblown piece of self-congratulatory emotional manipulation perfectly suited for Thatcherite liberals.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com

67

Based on the true story of two men who run in the 1924 Olympics, Hugh Hudson's oscar-winning film is absorbing and inspirational but also middlebrow
Full Review » 7 years ago
Dragan Antulov Draxblog Movie Reviews

70

worth watching despite providing another reason to put words "Oscar" and "overrated" in the same sentence
Full Review » 7 years ago
John A. Nesbit ToxicUniverse.com

80

Worthy sports flick that avoids playing only to cliche
Full Review » 7 years ago
Christopher Null Filmcritic.com

70

There's drama here, but it's work getting to it
Full Review » 7 years ago
John J. Puccio DVDTown.com

90

Director Hugh Hudson turns a relatively small story into a rhapsodic epic of spiritual and heroic dimensions.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Steven D. Greydanus Decent Films Guide

100

A period piece that explores timeless themes of temporal ambitions and higher purposes, of commitment and sacrifice, of ability and spirit.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Jeffrey Overstreet Looking Closer

100

Most sport movies make winning the goal. Here, running is a metaphor for life, and the way these men run tells us volumes about their hearts.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Eric Lurio Greenwich Village Gazette

100

Full Review » 7 years ago
Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal

100

Full Review » 8 years ago
Daniel M. Kimmel Worcester Telegram & Gazette

80

Full Review » 8 years ago
John Esther Pasadena Weekly

80

Full Review » 9 years ago
Michael Szymanski Zap2it.com

25

I've never stayed awake through this whole movie, despite many attempts with lots of coffee. It ranks in my book as the movie that least deserves a best picture honor
Full Review » 9 years ago