Product Details

• Actors: John Candy, Leon, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis, Malik Yoba
• Directors: Jon Turteltaub
• Writers: Lynn Siefert, Michael Goldberg, Michael Ritchie, Tommy Swerdlow
• Producers: Christopher Meledandri, Dawn Steel, Jeffrey Bydalek
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English, German, Russian
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1994
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303039456
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,346 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Based on an improbable but true story, Cool Runnings concerns the Jamaican bobsled team that competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Director Jon Turteltaub (Phenomenon) does a fine job with both the absurdity of the situation (the athletes had never even seen snow) and the passion behind it (their desire to compete and win). John Candy, in one of his last roles, is touching as a disgraced coach who seizes the opportunity to work with the Jamaicans as a chance for redemption. The bobsled scenes look good, and the races are exciting. The climax, which is entirely unexpected, takes the film to a wholly different level, even if events in the story don't quite match the facts. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Based on a true story, this is the comedic saga of four Jamaican athletes going to extremes to compete as bobsled racers at the Winter Olympics. With few resources and virtually no clue about winter sports, it's an uphill course for this troupe from the tropics who are sliding on thin ice as they go for the gold in Calgary, Canada. Refusing to let anything stand in their way, these four Jamaicans enlist the help of a down-and-out ex-champion American slider named Irv. Unavoidably drawn back to a sport he had come to loathe, Irv is faced with coaching a team of complete novices. But once committed, he is determined to turn them around and to somehow right the wrongs of his own failed career. It's a bumpy ride but with pride, determination, and dignity, the bobsledders make their impossible dreams come true.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hillarious and Inspirational, July 12, 2004

By 

Liz "LoftyKitten" (Springfield, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cool Runnings [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Everytime I watch Cool Runnings, I still feel the magic and excitement of the first time I watched it. This movie is exceptional. Everything about it works.
The acting is powerful, the story is both exciting and moving, the comedy is fresh and enjoyable, and the soundtrack is perfectly suited to support the mood of the movie.
Cool Runnings is a perfect family film. People of all ages will be drawn to it and enjoy cheering for the Jamaican Bobsled team. There is some mild use of profanity, but it can be overlooked in favor of the moving story, and the morals that children will pick up along with it. Cool Runnings shows the value of pride, tolerance, and persistance.
Throughout the course of the movie we see the team prove to the world through their persistance that they are just as good as any other team, regardless of where they come from. They learn to become a team, learn to take pride in their culture, and do a lot of self discovery.
This movie is one of the few that is sure to touch you and to uplift your spirit.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool Runnings is better than cool, August 29, 2000

By 

jasenao (Dothan, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cool Runnings [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I always wanted to see "Cool Runnings" since I first saw the previews on tv. I finally got to see it after a few years while I was in Texas with my family and it was even better than I thought it was gonna be. Since John Candy is in it, I thought it was gonna be just another great comedy. But I was wrong, parts of it are funny, but it's more of a great drama movie.

Three Jamaicans who are dying to get to the '88 Olympics run track and are on their way to the Olympics for sure until all three of them trip. They decide to start a new trend in Jamaican history by trying to become the first Jamaican bobsled team to get to the Olympics. But on their way, they find out that all the runnings aren't cool. The other teams such as East Germany laugh at them because they don't have a top notch bobsled and because they don't think they belong in the Olympics. John Candy is a 2-time Gold winner of the Olympic bobsled team of about twenty years ago and he must coach the crew of four Olympic hopefuls in order for them to have a chance to qualify for the '88 Olympics.

"Cool Runnings" is a great story that is based on real facts of the '88 Olympic Jamaican team. This is one movie I recommend everybody to watch any day of the year.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, heartwarming...truly one of my all time favorite films..., September 28, 2006

By 

Damian Gunn "The Dark One is I" (I am everywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cool Runnings (DVD)

`Cool Runnings' is one of those movies I can watch over and over again and never get sick of it. Based on a true story that is both touching and inspirational, Jon Turteltaub does a magnificent job of infusing enough humor and wit into this script to make it one of the most entertaining movies I've ever seen. The story is about a young group of Jamaicans who are vying for a way to the Olympics. Derice Bannock (Leon) has dreamed of running in the Olympics all his life. His father was a famous Olympic runner and he dreamed of doing the same. Junior Bevil (Lewis) lives under the strict watch of his wealthy father who humors Junior's fantasy about running in the Olympics but doesn't wholeheartedly support it. And then we have Yul Brenner (Yoba) who lacks a good education but makes up for that with brute strength and arrogance. On the day of the tryouts Junior takes a fall and trips up Yul and Derice ending all of their chances to make it to the Olympics.

That is until they meet Irving Blitzer (Candy), an ex-bobsledder who knew Derice's father when they were in the Olympics together. Irving had always believed that runners would make the best Bobsled team and now he had the opportunity to try that out. With the help of Sanka Coffie (Doug E. Doug) they form the first Jamaican Bobsled team and head off to Canada to compete.

They are met with serious scrutiny, not only because they are Jamaican but also because their coach, Irv, is hated among the Olympic community. Irving was disqualified back in his Olympic days for hiding weights in the front of a sled to make it go faster, thus disqualifying, and humiliating his country, his teammates and his coach. Thus, they don't like him very much and because of that the Jamaicans have to work extra hard to make an impression. The film has plenty of funny scenes but it also has plenty of heart and by the end of the movie you'll be wiping away the tears and pushing through with a smile. They don't make many movies like this one, so when they do we need to grab them and never let go. `Cool Runnings' is definitely a one of a kind film, a film that's entertaining and suitable for the whole family, and one that any DVD library would be incomplete without!