I loved this film, having seen it in 2006 for the first time 27 years after its first release! It really showed Michael Douglas' early potential to become the Oscar winning star he became in the 80's, everything was there - nice guy, caring, all the mannerisms, facial expressions and voice intonations that he later did so well, but I think this was the absolute best of his early roles. OK so he was the messed up guy that he portrayed so often, but in this film he had an ambition that took over his life, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I really felt for his kids - embarrassed by him at first, but then so thrilled for him. And the finale - well, he could have won the gold medal, but that would have been unreal and wrong in the context of the film, instead we saw him battling it out to the very end - and I had tears running down my face when he finally entered the stadium. I rate this one of the best Douglas movies!

This is one of my favorite films. I saw it about 1981 on a premium channel, and recently went to great lengths to obtain this film on DVD. Apparently it hasn't been released in the U.S.. Though the production itself is lacking,(especially the music) I think the story itself is one of the best ever brought to film with the old "quitter finally triumphs" plot. Michael Douglas really brings his character to life. What jogged my memory about this film was the "running" portion of "Forest Gump". After watching the DVD of "Running", I can't help but think that section of "Forest Gump" was derived from this movie. This is especially apparent in the scene where Michael is training and the neighborhood kids join in on the run. The extras could have been cast to be more realistic, but if you'll look past the production, you'll find a truly inspiring story!

My memory of this film is probably not congruent with the reality, but for an eight year old kid I was deeply impressed. The story is of about a talented but grandiose marathoner runner who's fear of failing keeps him form fully engaging in commitments. He is under-employed, separated/divorced and estranged from his children. He pins all his hopes and identity on becoming an Olympic champion but intentionally slacks off during the close finish of the Olympic trials coming in fourth. His self-esteem being incapable of surviving an honest defeat. But after an injury to one of the other runners he is selected for the team anyway. During the actual race it seems that he plans to make good on his talents and takes a commanding lead until he slips and falls on the wet pavement dislocating his arm. At this point my memory is a little vague but for some reason he finally gets it: his self worth can't be determined by the alloy of his medal but by the test of character that is the highest symbolism of all athletic competition, and so he decides to finish the race for himself. The man who couldn't bear to ever be second only shot, now, is last, and he is alone running against himself. In his defeat he wins the victory of redemption and walks away with a prize far more valuable then an Olympic Gold Medal. I would very much like to risk the disappointment of seeing this film again as it was probably, outside of Black Beauty, the biggest cinematic impact on me before I turning ten.

This was not a great movie but I enjoyed it. There are lots of running scenes. It is about a guy who has been a failure at everything all his life, including running, and who decides to do what he really wants to do, despite what everyone thinks. So he devotes himself to making the marathon team for the USA in the Olympics. It is uplifting. I found the ending kind of hoaky but all in all it was enjoyable. I taped it