The First Olympics: Athens 1896
by Alvin Rakoff
List Price:
Our Price: $17.99
You Save: $1.95 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 3 days
Buy Used: from $11.46 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alex Hyde-White, Benedict Taylor, David Caruso, David Ogden Stiers, Hunt BlockDirector: Alvin Rakoff
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Paul Beeson
Editor: John Grover
Producer: Charles Gary Allison
Writer: Charles Gary Allison
Producer: Larry White
Producer: William Hill
Writer: William Bast
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 237 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of The First Olympics: Athens 1896
Movie Review: An exceptional film
Summary: 5 Stars
I am so happy this film is finally available on DVD. This is a wonderful movie about the start of the modern Olympics. It is a movie that all of the family can watch and enjoy. I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in athletics, history, or the olympics. It is inspirational and for me had me cheering from time to time as I became so absorbed in the content of the movie. So sit back, relax and enjoy. The movie is long and has been cut into two parts. Both parts are equally interesting.
Summary of The First Olympics: Athens 1896
The inspiring story of a rag-tag team of amateur American athletes that stunned the sports world comes to life in this dramatization of the first modern Olympic games revived in 1896. Veteran Actor Louis Jourdan stars as Baron Pierre du Coubertin, a relentless visionary who sets out to renew the ancient Olympic games after 1500 years. Dr. William Sloane (David Ogden Stiers) is the Princeton professor who pulls together the first American team with 13 unlikely boys and a meager supply of sports equipment. Competing in events that had never been seen in the United States before the Americans went on to Athens and secured the winner's post despite almost insurmountable odds.This television miniseries tells the story of the founding of the modern Olympics by focusing on individuals in several countries and their preparations and eventual competition in Athens in 1896. David Ogden Stiers (a familiar face to viewers of M*A*S*H reruns) portrays a Princeton classics professor whose knowledge of the ancient Olympics means he's given the task of recruiting an American team for the 1896 games. The stories of how some athletes have to be convinced to join the team may seem contrived, but they do reinforce the idea of how fragile the concept of reviving the Olympics was at the time. A young David Caruso (years before he'd swagger through the stationhouse of N.Y.P.D. Blue) portrays a cocky Boston Irishman who walks away from a Harvard scholarship to participate in track events. And if Caruso does veer perilously close to doing an extended James Cagney impression, he serves as a sturdy focal point to the American team. Once in Athens, the focus is very much on the American athletes and their surprising success, and there are some interesting and humorous touches in the plot. For instance, the fledgling American team had enlisted a local blacksmith to render an iron discus, thereby giving them an unexpected advantage when presented with the much lighter "official" discus in Athens. Even if the various plots and subplots about the athletes don't always hold up very well, the scenes of competition in Athens do provide an entertaining re-creation of the first modern Olympics. --Robert J. McNamara
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Olympics
The First Olympics: Athens 1896Sony; Release date: 2008-08-05; DVD
Best price: $9.23
Price in other shops:
The 2002 Olympic Games - Olympic HighlightsRelease date: 2002-04-09; DVD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Olympic CenturyRelease date: 2004-06-29; DVD
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
The Olympic Series: Golden Moments 1920-2002Release date: 2004-07-20; DVD
Best price: $16.99
2008 Olympics: Michael Phelps - Inside Story of the Beijing GamesTeam Marketing; Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $4.69
Price in other shops:
The Openning & Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Part of the Official DVD Collection of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games(3 Disc,new Edition)Published: 2008; DVD
Best price: $16.96
2008 Olympics: Beijing 2008 Highlights - The Games of the XXIX OlympiadTeam Marketing; Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
2008 Olympics: Beijing 2008 Complete Opening CeremonyTeam Marketing; Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $7.40
Price in other shops:
The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC: From Athens to Beijing, 1894-2008 (Official History of the Olympic Games & the Ioc)by David Miller
Mainstream Publishing; Published: 2008-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $60.88
The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Editionby David Wallechinsky, Jaime Loucky
Aurum Press; Published: 2008-05-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.07
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Iron Man (Two-Disc Special Collectors' Edition)IRON MAN-ULTIMATE EDITION (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $15.84
Price in other shops:
Nim's Island (Widescreen Edition)NIM'S ISLAND (WS) (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-08-05; DVD
Best price: $6.46
Price in other shops:
Chariots of Fire (Two-Disc Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $12.74
Price in other shops:
Stargate: ContinuumSTARGATE: CONTINUUM (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-07-29; DVD
Best price: $9.48
Price in other shops:
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Widescreen)Universal; Release date: 2008-12-16; DVD
Best price: $10.94
Price in other shops:
John Adams (HBO Miniseries)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $20.99
Price in other shops:
Sleeping Beauty (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2008-10-07; DVD
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince CaspianRelease date: 2008-12-02; DVD
Best price: $5.81
Price in other shops:
Centennial: The Complete SeriesUniversal; Release date: 2008-07-29; DVD
Best price: $30.99
Price in other shops:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Two-Disc Special Edition)INDIANA JONES & KINGDOM OF CRYSTAL SKULL (DVD; Release date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $9.57
Price in other shops: