Cool Runnings (1993)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Jon Turteltaub

Writers (WGA):

Lynn Siefert (story) &
Michael Ritchie (story) ...

Release Date:

1 October 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

One Dream. Four Jamaicans. Twenty Below Zero.

Plot:

Based on the true story of the First Jamacian bobsled team trying to make it to the winter olympics.

Plot Keywords:

Telegram | Line Dancing | Airport | Hotel Room | Airplane

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Oct. 16	12:30 AM	TBS
Thur. Oct. 16	10:00 AM	TBS

Cast

Leon	...	Derice Bannock (as Leon Robinson)
Doug E. Doug	...	Sanka Coffie
Rawle D. Lewis	...	Junior Bevil
Malik Yoba	...	Yul Brenner
John Candy	...	Irving 'Irv' Blitzer
Raymond J. Barry	...	Kurt Hemphill
Peter Outerbridge	...	Josef Grool
Paul Coeur	...	Roger
Larry Gilman	...	Larry
Charles Hyatt	...	Whitby Bevil Sr.
Winston Stona	...	Coolidge
Bertina Macauley	...	Joy Bannock
Pauline Stone Myrie	...	Momma Coffie
Kristoffer Cooper	...	Winston
Bill Dow	...	Registration Official

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and brief violence.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Peru:PT | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Netherlands:AL | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Contrary to the story in movie, the Jamaican team was met with open arms by the international Bobsledding teams. One of the other teams even when so far as to lend the Jamaican team their back-up sled so they could qualify.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the final run, when the crashed sled is coming to a stop, one of the heads is bent at nearly a 90 degree angle and the neck is wedged between the sled and side of the track. When the overhead shot follows, all the sledders are tucked completely inside of the bobsled.

Quotes:

Sanka Coffie: I'm the driver.
Irv: You're not. You're the brakeman.
Sanka Coffie: You don't understand, I am Sanka Coffie, I am the best pushcart driver in all of Jamaica! I must drive! Do you dig where I'm coming from?
Irv: Yeah, I dig where you're coming from.
Sanka Coffie: Good.
Irv: Now dig where I'm coming from. I'm coming from two gold medals. I'm coming from nine world records in both the two- and four-man events. I'm coming from ten years of intense competition with the best athletes in the world.
Sanka Coffie: That's a hell of a place to be coming from!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "ITV - Formula One: 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Going Nowhere and Getting There Fast

Pretty fun sports movie

This one of those family-oriented sports movies that I have fond memories of from my elementary school days. Off the top of my head, I can name The Air Up There, Iron Will, and the Mighty Ducks in this category as well. They weren't masterpieces, per se, but they were pleasant, fun, and sometimes inspirational.

The thing about a sports movie is that the passion that a dedicated athlete feels is usually something that can translate itself visually on screen. For instance, if you were to make a movie about a passionate chess player, it's not as exciting to watch the final climactic moment when the hero checkmates his opponent, as it is to watch a game winning shot. What I'm getting to is that one of the draws of a sports movie is being exposed to that passion and desire in our hero.

In this case, the hero is Jamaican sprinter Derice Bannock who was accidentally tripped during the Olympic trials, but is determined to make the Olympics anyway. Since track's no longer an option for him, he figures why not start the nation's first bobsledding team, since a bobsled team hasn't been fielded yet. He also is encouraged in the sport by the fact that a friend of his dad happens to be a bobsled coach and he might be able to help. The bobsled coach declines citing as his reasons that there's no ice in Jamaica, that there's not enough time to train, that Derice doesn't have 3 other people which is needed to form a team, that he doesn't even think Derice was a good runner, and that he doesn't even like coaching anymore.

Nevertheless, Derice manages to convince the coach, and get three teammates consisting of his best friend, the guy who tripped him in the trials, and another sprinter who got tripped in the trials along with him. This is one of the better sources of entertainment in the film because the dynamics of this team are formed under such unusual circumstance. For instance, Yul, one of the two who got tripped during the trials, still hasn't forgiven Junior, the tripper.

The film very cleverly finds a balance between the inspirational element of this story and the humor. Essentially, Derice the most determined member of the group, is a person who we come to admire for his persistence, and maybe that's why it's a good family film, someone kids can look up to. The humor comes from Derice's friend, Sanka, who says a lot of funny stuff. This really is the only way the movie could work because if Derice was funny and told jokes, you wouldn't take him seriously, and if Sanka was more determined about winning, his jokes would sound out of context. The two guys in the middle of the bobsled, both metaphorically and literally, add to the film in their own ways but on a smaller scale. The late John Candy plays the coach and fills the part well.

The other notable thing about the film is it's ending. Provided, this is your first viewing, it really does a lot for the movie. I won't give it away, but the ending is unpredictable yet equally satisfying, something I don't often see. However, I wonder, since this was filmed only five years after the Calgary Olympics, how familiar would viewers have been with the actual event that inspired the film. If they knew the story of the '88 Jamaican bobsled team in its entirety, than the impact of that ending would have been lost.