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Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786300269682 Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC ISBN: 630026968X Label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Warner Home Video Release Date: April 01, 1992 Running Time: 124 minutes Sales Rank: 14320 Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 1982
Amazon.com: It takes a lot to win. This movie is usually considered a classic of lesbian cinema, and that's too bad: its true sensuality lies in powerful erotic associations with running and the sheer pain of competition. The film opens with a memorable close-up of sweat dripping on tarmac, an early glimpse of a visual style which evolves throughout the picture into almost pornographic slow-motion sequences of high jumps, shot puts, and running legs.
The story follows a young runner (Mariel Hemingway) from a clueless start in the 1976 Olympic trials through a vexed affair with her mentor-competitor (Olympic runner Patrice Donnelly) to a final, triumphant qualifying race for the boycotted 1980 Moscow games. The human elements are told in an almost documentary style, giving an honest, complicated look at the blossoming of friendship into love against the near-military backdrop of world-class competitive sports. Hemingway and Donnelly can act, and their drive to win is compelling, both on the field and in their personal lives. But what really makes the film worth watching are the races--stunning images, beautiful editing, and the timeless drama of athletic endeavor. --Grant Balfour
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - I remembered this movie to be better than it was
When Personal Best came out in 1982, at about the same time as Chariots of Fire - another running movie - I loved it. But seeing it again, it's lost something. Now, all I see is Mariel Hemingway whining and crying through the whole movie. I think what caught me the first time was the great photography, Mariel's hot bod, and Scott Glenn's great lines about comparing coaching the women's team to Chuck Noll coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers. All three are still great. Just don't expect much else.
Rating: - Personal Best
Was a little disappointed in this movie, but being a big fan of the actor I watched all of it anyway.
Rating: - DVD was not as described , not real happy about this
DVD was not as desribed , it has many small scrathes and sound quality is poor ( fuzzy ) not in origanl DVD case .
NOT HAPPY !!!!!
Rating: - Hard to beat
"Personal Best" is all about extending yourself to the limit and taking matters into your own hands. It still stands up after all these years. The lasting memories of this movie will always give me something to hold on to; it is just as stimulating as it was in 1982, right up to the climax.
Rating: - One of my all time favorite movies
I love this movie. it was one of the first one's I saw, but they should have ended up together, but that's what you get when the movie is written by a man.
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