Cool Runnings (1993)

Powerful

Perfect cast and a good story

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This movie actually holds a strange role in my history of movie going. This was a movie that my brother may have quoted the most out of any film ever made. I remember "No problem, mon!" and "...won't take no crap from no one!". I didn't know, "Rise and shine, it's butt-whooping time!" was from this movie too. It was just funny to hear these quotes my brother always said. Anyway, the movie itself is of course good.This was based on a real life event that was featured on Wikipedia's list of unusual articles. It was nice not to see the disclaimer at the end that it wasn't a work of fiction. It did, however still say that some organizations and names were made up. I admit the Jamaican accents can get kind of annoying. It's still great that we have John Candy, a very talented actor. Can you have spoilers for a movie based on a true story? ***

This is one of three sports movies that I can easily enjoy, the other two being Happy Gilmore and Moneyball. The main reason it is enjoyable is because it is more of a comedy than anything else. Most sports movies attempt to be inspirational by having an underdog team win the championship against insurmountable odds, usually with some kind of emotional conflict in it (e.g. Remember the Titans, Miracle, Rudy, The Perfect Game, The Express, Brian's Song). While Cool Runnings does feature an underdog team and has some amount of emotion in it, there is a much different feel to it than the aforementioned films. This is likely because it is not base on a true story, or at least very loosely, has no overriding emotional subplot, and has lots of humor mixed in with it. It also helps that the team is good evidently pretty good, but metaphorically crashes and burns due to unfortunate circumstances at the end. However, there is still an air of inspiration to the end sequence as the world recognizes their feats. The main characters are each easy to root for and likable in their own way. Their personalities are well developed and plausible as well as their relationships with each other. Derice and Sanka are friends already, so they obviously have pretty good character chemistry right from the start, though Derice has relatively little personality. Junior gets along well enough with the other four guys by being moderately outgoing. Yul is obviously averse to his teammates, but gradually pushes his emotions and pride aside to relate and collaborate with his teammates while retaining his cold personality. Irv is the only character that I have seen portrayed by John Candy who is not cheerful. However, Candy pulls off being a secluded and sorrowed guy. He does not contribute very much humor to the plot, but is nonetheless a good character. We can clearly see that the team sort of gives him hope, even if he tries to hide it.The sports element of the movie doesn't really kick in until after about forty-five minutes when the team gets to Calgary for the Olympics. Here, the emotional conflict is kicked up a notch in terms of Irv's dispute with the board and Junior standing up to his dad. There are only a few bobsled runs that are shown, and some of them are done for comical purposes. The front-runner Swiss team are kind of put in the villain position here, and we have a couple of encounters between the Jamaican and the Swiss athletes. Apart from that, we see some training scenes throughout.Finally we have the comedy element. The humorous moments come at a pretty constant rate with the same feel to the gags and lines. Some of the humor comes simply because of the absurd idea of a Jamaican bobsled team. Sanka contributes the most laughs out of anyone from his antics on the ice, to his three pump-up songs that he composes throughout, and other various jokes. The one scene that is devoted purely to comedy is the scene where the team tries to raise enough money to get them to Calgary. The technical execution is nothing special, but the acting and scripting is fine for the most part. One could maybe argue that it discriminates against Jamaicans, but I don't know enough about Jamaica to discuss this. The story is not award-winning by any means, but in a movie that is just sort of suppose to be fun, a strong story is not entirely necessary. I would recommend it to anyone seeking a good kid friendly comedy that isn't geared too strongly towards kids. I will caution prospective viewers not to be misguided into thinking this is a stereotypical inspirational sports film, because it isn't. It's not something I would recommend you rush out to buy, but if you happen to come across it, it's worth a try. Overall Rating: 8/10

This movie is Vanilla Ice's movie Cool As Ice's brother, although Cool Runnings is Cool As Ice's much more successful brother. At the movie family reunion sometimes it get's awkward. Was this movie based on a cartoon? I'm trying to remember which cartoon it is but I have various chemicals coursing through my veins inhibiting memory. The plot of this movie involves dinosaurs, particularly a precocious young dinosaur who has recently just lost his parents, or is that the Land Before Time? What's this movie about then? Is this the one about the post apocalyptic future, or the one about the Olympics? I love the Olympics! This movie is better than well over five thousand of all the movies ever made!

This underdog sport movie is sure to touch you and lift your spirit. It's nearly a perfect family film. The film is loosely based on a series of true events of the first ever Olympic Jamaican Bobsled Team during the 1988's Calgary Winter Olympic Games. The movie by director Jon Turteltaub takes a lot of creative liberties in the story, recreate a movie infusing enough humor, heart and charm to make this story, very entertaining. The movie tells the story of four Jamaicans athletes, seeking a new way to make their country proud after failing the Olympic tryouts in track & field. All four, find the way in, through an ex-bobsledder named Irving Blitzer (John Candy) whom was banned from the sport, due to cheating. Now, living in shame, in Jamaica, Irving has become an alcoholic has-been. The team enlists his services to be their coach, and soon we find ourselves that maybe Team Jamaica might have a chance to make it to the Olympics, after all. The comedy was funny and enjoyable as each archetype character brings in a lovable trait in that makes it worth watching. First off, there is Derice Bannock (Leon) who dreamt of Olympic grander even if it's takes him losing his Jamaican identify by copying the Swiss team to do it. Then there is Junior Bevil (Rawle Lewis) whom lives under the strict watch of his wealthy father who doesn't wholeheartedly support his Olympic goals as a sub-plot. Third is Yul Brenner (Malik Yoba) who lacks a good education but makes up for that with physical strength and macho attitude. He is often mistaken as a thug. Last person in the team is Sanka Coffie (Doug E. Doug) whom may not be the best athlete of the four, but carries the most heart and pride in being Jamaican. The bobsledders portrayed in the film are fictional, but at less, the movie could had more realistic names for the four characters than naming one out of a pot of coffee, and an old Western actor. It's like naming a fast runner, Usain Bolt. Wait a minute, the last one is really his name. Haha. In the film, the team is formed by Jamaican sprinters after failing to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympics. In real life, the Jamaican Summer Olympic Trials would have occurred following the Winter Olympics in Calgary. Irving "Irv" Blitzer is a fictional character as well; the real team had several trainers, none of whom were connected to any cheating scandal. In the sport of bobsledding, adding weight to the sled is perfectly legal. Both two and four-man sleds have minimum and maximum weights. As of this writing, the character of Irving Blitzer did nothing wrong. John Candy is amazing in the role, and it's sad that he died so soon after this movie. The villains of the film, if you can call them 'villains' are the East German team lead by arrogant leader, Josef (Peter Outerbridge) who treat the Jamaicans with serious scrutiny. Like the cartoony Jamaican stereotypes, the East German portrayal in the film are just outlandish racist. The only thing missing is the pencil thin mustaches for them. In real life, the East German team was very supported to the Jamaican bobsled team. There were somewhat true things about the film that worth noting. They did indeed turned up in Calgary without a sled. The nightclub fight didn't happen, but they almost start a riot there, when their singer got carried away and tried to sing a country song during a fund raiser for the sled. They were disqualified by the Olympic committee, but able to gain appeal. It was because the lack of training and whole thing about not having a sled. Not because cheating. Without spoiling too much of the ending, the events that happen are way different than that in real life, but the crash footage was the real life footage shot that day in 1988. The movie is so sport clichés that it's predictable to watch. The slow-building standing ovation is an example of this cheese formula. The film's depiction of such bobsledders carrying the sled over the line on their shoulders for dramatic effect works. This film in a masterful way shows that what matters is not always the victory but just being there and participating. Throughout the course of the movie we see the team prove to the world through their persistence that they are just as good as any other team, regardless of where they come from. They learn to become a team, learn to take pride in their culture, and do a lot of self-discovery. Even if the film itself, verges on being a bit mushy. Great morals that children will pick up on. There is some mild use of profanity, and few violent, but for the most part, it's worth watching with your children. The humor works, and the soundtrack is perfectly suited to support the mood of the movie. While the film was made by Americans. I think Jamaicans can find this movie, interesting to watch. Without this film; there wouldn't be much of a Jamaican bobsled program. The Jamaican national bobsled team still represents Jamaica in international bobsledding competitions even today. One of the original bobsled team member even won a Gold Medal in the Olympic in 2006 for Canada. International fans would love it for its Olympic source material, and the use of supporting your culture. So ya mon, it's a good movie!