I waited 40 years to see The Games. I remember seeing it at the drive-in and I must have been about ten years old. Over the years I thought of it, and when the internet arrived, I summarized the plot on some message board, because I could not remember what it was called. Someone told me the title and I looked for it on DVD. This was probably 6-7 years ago. Every couple years I would look to see if it had been released.
At some point I did a search on TVguide,com and was amazed to see it was scheduled to be on Fox Movie Channel in a couple weeks. I checked my Comcast and it was an available channel, although I didn't have it at that time, but then, I forgot and missed the day it aired.
I checked a few more times and finally it was on again. I called and ordered the channel for one day only, DVRed it and just watched it.
I was afraid it would not hold up, being 40 years old and all, but wow, it really did hold up! Sure there were a few unbelievable plot points, like how a milkman could become a world-class runner so quickly and how people who had only run a couple marathons could be near the top in an Olympic marathon, but there were so many things that were spot-on, regarding race relations, the differences in the 4 different countries represented, and the amazing way they were able to stage the different races and especially the Olympic marathon. And all without CGI I especially liked how the announcers, one played by Rafer Johnson, commented on the progress of the race.
My only memories were of events of the last 20 minutes or so of the movie, the Olympic race itself, so the first 75 minutes were highly entertaining to me, but the dramatic conclusion was also amazing, because I was not sure who had won the race.
For a movie with a major star like Ryan O' Neal and that is that well-done and entertaining, with that big of a budget, to not be on DVD is mysterious and frustrating. But I am glad that I finally got to see it again, it was inspiring!
At some point I did a search on TVguide,com and was amazed to see it was scheduled to be on Fox Movie Channel in a couple weeks. I checked my Comcast and it was an available channel, although I didn't have it at that time, but then, I forgot and missed the day it aired.
I checked a few more times and finally it was on again. I called and ordered the channel for one day only, DVRed it and just watched it.
I was afraid it would not hold up, being 40 years old and all, but wow, it really did hold up! Sure there were a few unbelievable plot points, like how a milkman could become a world-class runner so quickly and how people who had only run a couple marathons could be near the top in an Olympic marathon, but there were so many things that were spot-on, regarding race relations, the differences in the 4 different countries represented, and the amazing way they were able to stage the different races and especially the Olympic marathon. And all without CGI I especially liked how the announcers, one played by Rafer Johnson, commented on the progress of the race.
My only memories were of events of the last 20 minutes or so of the movie, the Olympic race itself, so the first 75 minutes were highly entertaining to me, but the dramatic conclusion was also amazing, because I was not sure who had won the race.
For a movie with a major star like Ryan O' Neal and that is that well-done and entertaining, with that big of a budget, to not be on DVD is mysterious and frustrating. But I am glad that I finally got to see it again, it was inspiring!