{"id":3877,"date":"2016-12-20T19:34:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T01:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=3877"},"modified":"2017-07-08T12:01:36","modified_gmt":"2017-07-08T17:01:36","slug":"two-movies-that-are-a-real-treat-race-is-good-and-eddie-the-eagle-is-even-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=3877","title":{"rendered":"Two movies that are a real treat: RACE is good and EDDIE THE EAGLE is even better….."},"content":{"rendered":"

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The human spirit and\u00a0sport\u00a0come together in two fine films\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
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I do not get to the local theater much (I was a one or two movie theater\u00a0man for my first 57 years) so I pay close attention to what comes out on DVD\/Blue Ray or my in-home fiber optic wire.\u00a0 It is easy to pick up the more popular movies but I tend to find many of these movies as either bland, not interesting, or just plain garbage. But this past weekend I was lucky and was treated to two outstanding films that I was able to view on the best television for movies, my large Plasma that sits in my viewing room.<\/h5>\n

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The first film was the bio picture (college through the Olympic 1936\u00a0games in Berlin)\u00a0\u00a0of the great American Olympic champion Jesse Owens.\u00a0 The film has excellent production value and the use of CGI was top notch.\u00a0 The story itself was entertaining with above average acting by all involved.\u00a0 It was close to historically accurate as some might try to disagree.\u00a0 Owens was never given his due by the German Dictator Adolph Hitler, as the evil carpet-chewer thought of blacks as “Jewish niggers”.\u00a0 And of note, US\u00a0President Franklin D. Roosevelt never congratulated\u00a0Owens on his four\u00a0gold metals……not\u00a0one letter or recognition.\u00a0 As historical movies go, the movie did Mr. Owens well as he, along with Jack Johnson and Joe Lewis, our first two black heavy-weight champions paved the way for Jackie Robinson and those that followed.\u00a0 If you don’t know the story of Owens you cannot call yourself a sports history buff.<\/h5>\n

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The second movie I highly recommend is “Eddie the Eagle”, the story of British ski jumper Michael “Eddie” Edwards.\u00a0 If you are old enough to remember the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, this story of “sport” shows\u00a0why sports are so very important, especially for those that are participants. I have seen almost every movie on almost every sport that has been filmed and this one is as good as it gets. Only Vision Quest, in my opinion, is better in this regard.<\/h5>\n

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From the first scene of the movie, showing a very young Eddie Edwards, in his home bathtub in England, submerged in the water, holding his breath, timed for a new personal\u00a0record, you are hooked.\u00a0 Edwards, with a life long quest to be an Olympian, is one of the most interesting athletes of the past fifty years.\u00a0 His story, and the story of never giving up, is awe-inspiring.\u00a0 The versatile Hugh Jackman plays a former ski-jumper that becomes Edwards trainer and is top notch.\u00a0 Taron Egerton plays Edwards and gives the\u00a0performance of his career.\u00a0 Even the fantastic Christopher Walken graces\u00a0the film in a small but special role as Jackman’s Olympic coach.\u00a0The telling conversation between Edwards and Finish Gold Medal ski-jumper Matti Nyken as they assend the ski platform for their jumps in the 1988 Olympics is telling.\u00a0 Edwards is not in the class of the Finish champion but the dialogue goes deeper than winning and losing a medal.<\/h5>\n
\n
Nyken:\u00a0 \u00a0You and I are like
\n1 o’clock and 11 o’clock.
\nYou see we are closer to each other
\nthan to others.
\nWinning, losing,
\nall that stuff is for the little people.
\nMen like us, we jump to free our souls.
\nWe are the only two jumpers
\nwith a chance to make history today.\u00a0 (Ewards was out to set the British\u00a090 meter record and Nyken\u00a0to best his world record)
\nIf we do less than our best
\nwith the whole world watching…
\nit will kill us inside.
\nFor all time.<\/h6>\n

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Edwards:\u00a0 Good luck, Matti.<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/h5>\n
Walken’s character on what it means to be an Olympican:<\/h5>\n
\n
……..a true Olympian
\nwas not just about a God-given skill set.
\nIt’s about never giving up,
\nno matter what.
\nKnowing that doing your best
\nis the only option…
\neven if it results in failure<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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The human spirit and\u00a0sport\u00a0come together in two fine films\u00a0 I do not get to the…<\/p>\n

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