Chariots of Fire: 2 Disc Special Edition (1981)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Hugh Hudson (Director) Featurette-Making Of-Wings On Their Heels Featurette-Chariots Of Fire - A Reunion Additional Footage Theatrical Trailer Web Links
Rating
Year Of Production	1981
Running Time	118:59
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Hugh Hudson
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Ben Cross Ian Charleson Nigel Havers Nicholas Farrell Daniel Gerroll Ian Holm John Gielgud Lindsay Anderson Nigel Davenport Cheryl Campbell Alice Krige Dennis Christopher Brad Davis
Case	?
RPI	$32.95	Music	Vangelis

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    This is the second Region 4 DVD release for the very popular film Chariots of Fire. The first version was a 'bare bones' disc which had a reasonable video transfer, ordinary audio, and no Extras. You might want to check out the fine review of that disc by my colleague Christine Tham for background - I will try to avoid going over too much of the same ground in this review. This new release is a 2-disc set (a 'Special Edition') which comes with two new audio tracks and a swag of Extras; so the question arises - is it better? Well, the short answer is Yes, this set is a distinct improvement over the previous release, and is worth considering even if you already own the single-disc version.

    The film itself (as I'm sure most of you know) is a story of faith and courage in the face of great adversity. It follows the parallel story of two young men in the 1920s who have their hearts set on competing in the 100m running event at the Paris Olympic Games of 1924. The film opens at a memorial service for one of the men in 1978, then shifts back to the British Olympic squad training on the beach in Kent (to the glorious strains of that famous theme by Vangelis). The first of the young men we meet is Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a Jew who runs only to win, which he feels will help him defeat the subtle racism he faces in life. Shortly after, the scene changes to Scotland and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson who died tragically young from AIDS) who runs to honour the strength of his religious faith.

    The film follows the fortunes of each over the period leading up to the games; Harold as he studies and trains at Cambridge , Eric as he struggles to reconcile the demands of his missionary work and his growing desire to compete in Paris. The two men only cross paths once, when Eric defeats Harold in a race, which prompts Harold to take on the services of a professional coach (Ian Holm in an excellent Oscar-nominated performance). When the games arrive Eric finds that the preliminary heats of the 100m are to be held on a Sunday - as the day is reserved for the Lord he feels he has to withdraw from the event, precipitating a crisis in the team. So, we are left to wonder - will Harold win the 100m, or will Eric succumb to the pressures from team management and compete?

    I had not seen this film for some years, and then only in a Pan and Scan version on a small screen TV, so I was looking forward to its release on DVD. I skipped the earlier version after numerous reviews were rather critical, in the hope that it would be re-released in better shape. This time around I have been lucky enough to watch it on a large screen, in the correct aspect ratio, with an excellent audio transfer. The film still has a lot of impact, and is wearing its age well - it fully deserved its Best Picture Oscar. The Oscar-winning music by Vangelis is also very moving - it is not as ubiquitous now and feels fresher than it did back in the early 1980s (as the director Hugh Hudson notes in his audio commentary, at one stage he "really got fed up of it").

    The film has an excellent period feel, and also a little of an epic scale (the framing device is reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia which Hudson viewed with key cast and crew members prior to production as inspiration). I am not usually a great fan of character-driven films, but was riveted to the screen for all of this, and my wife was in tears a number of times. Some of the production elements have been copied to the point of parody since; the slow-motion and montage scenes, the electronic soundtrack - but they just feel right here. The film was a breath of fresh air at the time of its release, and in this excellent set we can again go back to those days when those magnificent men had "hope in our hearts, and wings on our heels".

    In the sections which follow I will try to rate the elements of the disc in a manner which allows direct comparison with the previous release. It is worth bearing in mind that this is not always easy to do - as one example my subjective opinion of the quality of the colour in the video transfer in the original release may differ in some degree to that of Christine's in her review.

Video

    The video transfer is apparently from a restored print. While it is in reasonable shape it has a number of imperfections which detract from its impact.

    The aspect ratio is 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, which is acceptably close to the original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 (and marginally closer to it than the previous release which was framed at 1.75:1).

    The focus is a little soft at times, but not overly so. Shadow detail is subdued (as at 6:46) but luckily there is no low level noise.

    The colours are quite good, though a little faded. Flesh tones are quite good (as at 10:00) but some outdoor scenes seem a little dark.

    There is a tendency to grain in some scenes, and minor positive and negative artefacts. Around 13:27 there is a brief moment of telecine wobble, which appears again briefly once or twice later in the film. There is an occasional moment of edge enhancement, but this seems less frequent than last time around. All of these faults are minor, but stand out against the generally fine picture.

    There are two subtitle tracks, English for the Hearing Impaired (which has good audio cues) and (a nice touch) an English subtitle track for the Audio Commentary.

    I did not notice the layer change on my equipment.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The remastered audio is excellent, both in the dts track and in the Dolby Digital. I would also have liked to see the original audio here (yes, even with all its faults), just in case the remaster had gone wrong (as it did on the Ten Commandments DVD).

    There are three audio tracks on the disc. The best of them is the English dts 5.1 track encoded at a bitrate of 768 Kb/s. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track encoded at 448 Kb/s is also very good. Lacking only a little of the clarity and depth of the dts track, it will certainly satisfy if your equipment does not support the dts. There is also an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track for the Audio Commentary. I listened to the film in its entirety in dts, and to extensive segments in Dolby Digital 5.1. The comments which follow are based on the dts soundtrack.

    Dialogue is clear at all times, but with an occasional strident moment. Audio sync is good for dialogue and all audio elements.

    The music is exceptional, I'm sure every viewer of this disc will recognise the main theme (my kids play it for music practice). Vangelis Papathanassiou has done a superb job composing, arranging and playing; the screenwriter for the film (Colin Welland - who won an Oscar for his work) states in one of the Extras that at least 40% of the success of the film can be attributed to the music. The volume level of the music is well balanced with other audio elements.

    The level of surround presence is quite good, though being largely dialogue driven it is necessarily limited to the front of the sound stage for the most part (where it has a nice spread across the front of the screen). The stirring music provides the majority of the forward projection for the sound, though the crowd at the sports events adds some subtle presence from the rear speakers (and a closing door at 64:40 shows that there is projection to the sides when needed).

    The subwoofer is subdued, but adds some nice bottom-end to some of the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There is a nice set of Extras on the disc, though we miss out on one or two which are on the Region 1 release of this Special Edition.

Menu

    The menu is animated with audio (THAT tune). Your choices on the first disc are: Play, Scene Selection, Special Features, Language Selection. The menu on the second disc lists each of the Extra features (the audio commentary is the only Extra on the first disc). There are 36 scene selections available, spread across 4 pages. Each disc opens with an anti-piracy advert which is most annoying.

Commentary (Director - Hugh Hudson)

    While not the best audio commentary I have ever heard this is reasonably interesting and should please fans of the film. It covers a number of elements including production history, cast and crew, and main film themes. Hudson is a reasonably eloquent speaker, but there are some lengthy gaps in his discussion. One comment I found interesting was that some swear words were added to the film to gain a PG rating (rather than G) which it was assumed would make the film more attractive in the US market. He also discusses the need for 'artistic licence' in some scenes to allow the compression of 4 years of time into 2 hours of screen time.

Wings On Their Heels: The Making of Chariots of Fire

    This is an informative feature which runs for 27:16 and is framed at 1.33:1 with letterbox film excerpts. Most of the key creative team behind the film are interviewed (including producer David Puttnam), along with surviving cast members. One interesting revelation is just how late in the production the main theme was added, and then only after Vangelis persuaded Hudson to listen to an alternative to the piece he originally preferred.

Chariots of Fire: A Reunion

    Some of the cast and crew spend 18:57 reminiscing, which is more interesting than it sounds. There are some laughs, some interesting revelations; and it is nice to see the producers of the DVD trying something different.

Additional Scenes

    There are seven scenes here, shown at a variety of aspect ratios. The first is a cricket scene which was included in some local versions of the film (and would have been well suited for reinstatement to the film), the rest provide some interesting character background but seem well left out of the main feature.

Theatrical Trailer

    This appears to be the US trailer, shown here at an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1, non 16x9 enhanced. The main focus is on critical opinions, and people running to some music (well, you know which music don't you?).

Web Links

    Each disc has a web link to a Fox film site - they would not work on my PC but you may have better luck.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    This Special Edition is also available in Region 1 where it also includes screen tests for Ben Cross and Ian Charleson as well as two Easter Eggs. I have no idea why these features are missing here but completists might prefer that version. For the rest of us the PAL picture here means that we may call it a draw.

    This is a superb film which finally receives the DVD treatment it deserves in Region 4. The film is inspirational, with excellent production values, great acting, and a superb music score; it fully deserved the Best Picture Oscar it won.

    The transfer is quite good, though some minor flaws are disappointing.

    The new audio transfers are very good, and almost reason enough to buy this even if you have the previous release.

    The Extras are good, and seal the deal - this set is worth your money.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall