History Film / ChariotsofFire

* TheMissionary: Eric Liddell, who happens to be the son of missionaries. He sees running as [[MissionFromGod his own form of missionary work.]]

* {{Irony}}: The Prince who urged Eric to put country before God was Edward VIII who later flirted with fascism, and also disdained his royal duties at a time when British PatrioticFervor was really needed to fight UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

* TheBigRace
* BrilliantButLazy: Lindsay is implied to be this. He's a very talented athlete, but never shows the same kind of dedication and self-abandonment that Eric and Harold do.

The film is largely remembered today for it's groundbreaking electronic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU title theme]], which at the time was a bold departure from other period pieces which typically used orchestral scores.

-->'''Harold''': Foreign as a frankfurter
-->'''Monty''': And a kosher one, at that
-->({{Beat}})
-->(Harold laughs)

* YeGoodeOldeDays : ''Lots'' of nostalgia. Practically fuels the show.

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: Because there was literally no content in the film worthy of a harsher rating, a cricket match at the beginning was changed in the US release to a scene where Harold and Aubrey see some disfigured UsefulNotes/WorldWarI veterans at a train station, with an utterance of the word "Shit".

The film is largely remembered today for its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU title theme]], which at the time was a bold departure from other period pieces which typically used orchestral scores.

** Sybil was never the lead singer for an opera company. As a matter of fact, she seems to have been confused with a different Sybil, who was.

* WriterOnBoard: One of the producers was a socialist, and didn't like that a lord had completed the quad race at Cambridge, so he changed it to Abrahams. This understandably didn't sit well with David Burghley, the real life runner, so he didn't allow his name to be used in the film. The completely original character of Lord Lindsay was written instead.

The film is based on the RealLife track and field athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who competed for Britain in the 1924 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames. The film does have a large dash of HollywoodHistory, but was still impressive enough to be nominated for seven UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, winning for Best Picture, Original Screenplay (Colin Welland), Costume Design (Milena Canonero), and Original Score (Music/{{Vangelis}}).

* DarkHorseVictory: Won the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward despite the fierce competition of ''{{Reds}}'' and ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.

The film is based on the RealLife track and field athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who competed for Britain in the 1924 OlympicGames. The film does have a large dash of HollywoodHistory, but was still impressive enough to be nominated for seven UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, winning for Best Picture, Original Screenplay (Colin Welland), Costume Design (Milena Canonero), and Original Score (Music/{{Vangelis}}).

The film is based on the RealLife track and field athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who competed for Britain in the 1924 OlympicGames. The film does have a large dash of HollywoodHistory, but was still impressive enough to be nominated for seven {{Academy Award}}s, winning for Best Picture, Original Screenplay (Colin Welland), Costume Design (Milena Canonero), and Original Score (Music/{{Vangelis}}).

The film is largely remembered today for its [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU title theme]].

-->''Harold'': Foreign as a frankfurter
-->''Monty'': And a kosher one, at that

--->'''Colonel Kenny''': Well, to battle. I hope you enjoy the games. ''(walks off)''
--->'''Mussabini''': ''(after a few seconds)'' "Games"? You must be joking. I've seen better organized riots.

** Eric: "Don't you believe it--his head's not back yet."

The film is based on the RealLife track and field athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who competed for Britain in the 1924 OlympicGames. The film does have a large dash of HollywoodHistory, but was still impressive enough to win the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward best picture Oscar]].

The film is largely notable today for its [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU title theme]] by Music/{{Vangelis}}.

The film is based on the two RealLife athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who competed for Britain in the 1924 OlympicGames. The film does have a large dash of HollywoodHistory, but was still impressive enough to win the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward best picture Oscar]].

''Chariots of Fire'' is based on the two RealLife athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who competed for Britain in the 1924 Olympics. The film does have a large dash of HollywoodHistory, but was still impressive enough to win the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward best picture Oscar]].

The film is largely notable today for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU its score]] by Music/{{Vangelis}}.

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: A cricket match at the beginning was changed in the US release to a scene where Harold and Aubrey see some disfigured UsefulNotes/WorldWarI veterans at a train station, with an utterance of the word "Shit".

* PatrioticFervor: A notably amiable form in which everyone was greeting each other's flags, etc. and assuming that they and everyone else were part of a {{True Companions}}hip of nations. Mostly TruthInTelevision, since this was soon after UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and more vitriolic forms of patriotic fervor were frowned upon.

The film is largely notable today for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU its score]] by Vangelis, who was famous for making incredible music with synthesizers, despite the hatred in the music industry for those devices.

''Chariots of Fire'' is based on the two RealLife athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who competed for Britain in the 1924 Olympics. The film does have a large dash of HollywoodHistory, but was still impressive enough to win the [[AcademyAward best picture Oscar]].

* DarkHorseVictory: Won the AcademyAward despite the fierce competition of ''{{Reds}}'' and ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.

** Abrahams finished last in the 200 meters after winning gold in the 100. This was changed to before in the movie to make that win more of a triumph.
** Eric knew for months a heat for the 100 meters was on a Sunday, and had long since arranged to run the 400 instead. This just wouldn't be that interesting to play out on film.

** Sybil was never the lead singer for an opera company. As a matter of fact she seems to have been confused with a different Sybil, who was.

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: A cricket match at the beginning was changed in the US release to a scene where Harold and Aubrey see some disfigured UsefulNotes/WorldWarI veterans at a train station, with an utterance of the word "Shit" .

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Eric. In his case it is better handled than many for he is also nice, friendly, and makes you think that GoodFeelsGood.

* PatrioticFervor: A notably amiable form in which everyone was greeting each other's flags, etc. and assuming themselves and everyone else was part of a {{True Companions}}hip of nations. Mostly TruthInTelevision since this was soon after UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and more vitriolic forms of patriotic fervor were frowned upon.