Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

peter-2749 Not a bad TV movie and based on a true story but cannot help wonder that it has been considerably "embellished". There is a lot of "Chariots of Fire" in here. From the opening sequence running along the beach to the coach who can save minutes/seconds, the "reluctant" hero, the Oxbridge setting (I suppose this last bit can't be helped as both films used factual locations) but you get my drift.Saying that, an enjoyable hour and a half of anyone's time but particularly sports fans or people who respect Sir Roger Bannister's achievements.Although a very British subject there is not a British feel to the film and being a US TV movie it is also "sanitised" (probably a bit too much for my personal liking) but therefore suitable for a family audience. I think the subject matter probably earns it an extra point or two in the rating as it is a great story.

ed_two_o_nine Let me start by stating the obvious. Yes this is a television movie (but one of the small percentage that are actually of a decent quality), and yes this is a sports movie. So with that established one would know the territory they are in very early, and what to expect along the way. However he we get all of the above but delivered with a nice reined quality by all concerned. The script and direction are good and so are the performances. The film is bases around the events leading up to Roger Bannister becoming the first man to run a sun four minute mile, and to this extent you are invested in the movie and genuinely wish him to succeed. I know an artistic liberty where taken with certain characters, but that really is for athletics historians to quibble about. Jamie Maclachan is very good as the reserved Englishmen Roger Bannister who is continuously struggling to find the right balance between his medical studies at Oxford and his athletics. There is good support leading to the inevitable yet still enjoyable conclusion. Would I watch it again? Yes but not regularly and only if I find it on television.

Boba_Fett1138 I'm actually quite fond of sport movies and have a weak spot for it, no matter how formulaic they all are. Lots of them are the same, even though they concentrate on totally different sports. This movie is also like that but with as a difference that it also features some very sloppy and simplistic storytelling, which makes the movie seems like a totally unoriginal and uninspiring movie.The movie actually does have an original sports story, after all it's about the man who was the first to run the mile under the 4 minute mark and he developed some new training techniques to achieve this but yet the movie and its story do not work out very original because the movie decides more to feature all kinds of different less interesting sidetracks, such as on Bannister's love life. It basically features all of the clichés from the book, which causes this movie to not work out as the most original or inspiring one the genre has to offer.Not that it is an horrible movie, it still is a maintaining one but it also feels like a waste of such a fine and original sports story. After all, it's all based on real events and real life persons.The story also doesn't flow very well and feels quite sloppy at times. This is mostly due to the fact that the movie tries to tell too much in a too short amount of time. The movie is only like 95 minutes short but yet it tries to put Bannister's whole athletics career into the movie. This also causes the movie its story to progress in an highly unlikely movie. I mean, just because he ran well once during a school event he's being labeled as a great talent and shortly after it he already runs the Olympics. Like I said, it all happens too fast and sudden because of it that the story tries to tell and achieve too much in a too limited time span. It causes the movie to make some big leaps at times and because of this it partly fails to bring over the story of Bannister's groundbreaking achievement in the '50's.Further more it's obvious that the movie didn't had a big budget to spend. It's a made for TV movie, which means that the movie features some simple film-making. Nothing is out of the extraordinary and at times the movie decides not to show any of the races (such as the Olympic run), which obviously got done because of budgeting reasons and because it was virtually impossible for this movie with its limited resources to recreate an Olympics event from the past.The acting is quite good, though Jamie Maclachlan isn't the most charismatic actor. My guess is that he got picked because he looked like the real Roger Bannister, rather than that he got picked for having the best acting skills. But it needs to be said that the movie doesn't handle his character always well. For instance, in the beginning he is still a shy young man, who blushes when a girl even looks at him but later on he's a real player who uses cheesy lines and actions to get the girl he likes. And by the way, his looks also don't exactly makes it very likely that these type of girls as shown in the movie would ever fall for such a man like Bannister. Just one of the silly and unlikely aspects of this movie.The movie does get better though when it heads towards its ending, to its inevitable world record attempt. But here also lies a problem, you already know in advance that he is going to achieve to run under the 4 minutes mark. So despite the film-makers good efforts, the last run doesn't really work out that exciting and the tension that gets build up seems completely redundant.It's not a movie that I hated watching, it certainly is maintaining enough but as a sports movie it simply is not original or inspiring enough.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

fourmins A film with a lot of heart and fun for everyone! When someone achieves what seems to be the impossible, (Everest, the Moon, Four Minutes,) it opens the door for all of us, and that's it's appeal. Great performances, music and photography as well. Great stuff! I am a mile runner and found the races accurate and an inspiration. The four minute barrier was clearly a physiological brick wall and Bannister the doctor who ran for fun sets about examining the limits of human endurance. There aren't enough movies that celebrate human achievement, so congratulations to ESPN for backing this project. I wonder why it was left to an American network to celebrate the achievements of a British athlete?