The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984)

Sadly Over-hyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

"Disappointing" is the best word I could think for this film, especially considering the glowing reviews it receives from some other users.One thing that really spoils the film is that it is unabashedly partial(in both senses of the word). Not only does it present a very selective description of the games (focussing as it does on the US athletics team) but it also contains several inaccuracies, most of which serve to exaggerate the difficulties the US team faced.What is even more disturbing is that all the omissions and mistakes (?), appear to glorify US sportsmanship to the exclusion of other athletes (with a few celebrated exceptions). For example, the viewer is led to believe that the US won the majority of medals in the Games, when in fact they won only one out of four gold medals and one out of 6 total. Similarly, many athletes are portrayed as caricatures of their respective countrymen (thus we have an arrogant Brit, and a wine-swilling French). This attitude does very little service to the Olympic ideals that the film is supposed to celebrate.In conclusion, I believe that this film would appeal to that part of the US audience that is looking for a quick boost of national self-esteem. Those looking for a detailed and historically correct description of the games are advised to look elsewhere.

Just 10 days before the Athens 2004 Olympics games, I spent my evening watching this film inspired by the title. In the beginning I thought of the movie as a historical description of the first modern olympic games. Unfortunately a more accurate title would be "The American olympic team during the 1896 Olympic games" since this movie is all about it and nothing else. Four hours of lame dialogues, poor acting, historical inaccuracies and the infinite number of the US national anthem add up to one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Minimum comments for the achievements, the training and the difficulties the other athletes came across.

I was only 12 the first time I saw this mini-series/movie but luckily my parents got it on tape and I watched it over and over until I killed the tape. I was absolutely in love with David Carouso. It is because of this mini-series that am so in love with history and with the olympics that come every few years. It was well written and the cast was incredible. It was wonderful to see the traditions and all the various athletes from various countries and what they had to go through to get to the olympics. It makes me think about how far we have come and what our athletes go through now versus what they went through then. It will be interesting to see what Athens looks like this summer when we all conviene for the new season of Olympics. Should be interesting!!

This is a terrific miniseries, a wonderful story splendidly told. The origins of everything from the starting position for sprinters to the impulsive selection of the Star Spangled Banner as the national anthem, this story of the first Olympics in 1500 years is filled with drama, wit, and unforgettable characters.