Customer Reviews

Fire On The Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story [VHS]

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If only the two major motion pictures on the life of Steve Prefontaine could have been as good as this video documentary! This short film on the life and times of Steve Prefontaine is a must for anyone who cherishes the memory of America's greatest runner ever! Not only do we see clips of some Steve's greatest races but we're sadly reminded about what could have been. Personally speaking, Steve Prefontaine has been a constant source of inspiration to run hard and give your best at all times but most importantly to never quit. For anyone who loves track and field or sports in general then this video is for you, GO PRE!

Steve Prefontaine was the most charismatic distance runner this country has yet produced[and probably its best]He brought mythic proportions to the track,enlivining a sport that was limited to agate type in major newspapers and the track and field news. This documentary is by far the best presentation of his short,brilliant life.He ran,as someone once said, like an oregon timber fire,and this documentary shows it.Fromhis early success at oregon under bill bowerman,to the 72 trials held in eugene, to the illfated race against finnish policeman Lasse Viren in Munich,1972,held a couple of days afetr the massacre there,this documenray covers it all very,very well. The narration by ken kesey is surprising;y good, the interviews weaved throught are seamless and cogent/Wonderful footage,lovely words of a man who inspired many, who NIKE shoes were founded upon,literally{the first shoes ever made were done from lasts of his},who ran through the running landscape, and died too damn soon.

I became one of "Pre's People" after watching "Prefontaine" (the Jared Leto version of Pre's career). After watching it a few times I wanted to learn more about the real person. I had never even heard of him until I saw that movie and now I was hungry for any info. Fire on the Track is GREAT!!! I loved it. It showed Pre in action...doing interviews...it interviewed the people in his life. He was a great athlete and will live on thanks to the books and movies and his great fans. GO PRE!!!

This video is a must for any Prefontaine fan. Those who saw him run, met him, or have recently been introduced to the "Legend of Oregon" would get tremendous value from this 58 minute video. Excellent footage of Pre's races, interviews, and comments about his views on the need for change towards athlete's in the 70's. I watch this for motivation and inspiration. No Hollywood story here, it's the real thing!

If you were a runner in the early '70s, Steve Prefontaine was your idol. Give Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers and even Lasse Viren their due, it was Pre who captured the essence of running as no other ever had or probably ever will. The guy had charisma - loads of it - and a style that grabbed you by the shorts and pulled you around the track with him. Was he America's greatest runner? Probably not, but who knows how good he could have been had his awesome potential not been snuffed. He may not have been the best, but he certainly inspired more runners than any of his contemporaries. The video provides comments and insights from family, friends and athletic rivals, and the footage from some of his races - particularly the 1972 Olympic 5000 meters - is an adrenaline-pumping reminisce of a spirit in American running we may never see again. This video allows the viewer to vicariously experience that fire and magic one more time.

If you are a Steve Prefontaine fan, or simply a fan of track & field, you will find yourself watching this video time and again. The highlight, in my opinion, is the footage of the 1972 Olympic 5000M Final. I have watched this portion of the video literally hundreds of times. Narration throughout the video is exceptional. Appearances by Ian Stewart and Kenny Moore are wonderful. Mac Wilkins' memories of Pre are particularly moving. A must see.

Excellent documentary on the fantastic, inspiring runner Steve Prefontaine. Narrated by Ken Kesey, with lots of commentary from many of Pre's contemporaries who knew him well (and...Dana Carvey!??), it's superior to the two biopics made about him starring Jared Leto and Billy Crudup.

Be advised, however, that this DVD is only 58 minutes in length and contains NO special bonus features. None! And for it's $19.98 amazon sales price, I think Pre fans deserve a little better. Plus, I had to return it because it was defective to boot.

Rent this one or Tivo it if you're lucky enough to catch it on TV. The aforementioned problems are why I "deducted" one star from a perfect rating.

Go Pre!

A great documentary. If you're a runner that is low on desire watch this video!

The information is extremely accurate and includes interviews from the best of the best (including Lasse Viren!) Extremely motivating. Highly recommended!

This work is about one hour long. The product now on sale also includes a second DVD of extras. Some reviews indicate that an earlier product included only the main feature and I would agree that was somewhat skimpy at the price. On the other hand this is a limited audience product (and limited budget) whose costs cannot be spread out over millions of copies as with major cinematic features. I don't know about the production issues around this but it seems to me that Nike could have easily financed the acquisition of any needed footage and it would be very appropriate that they do so. It is a very good production for what might be a "labor of love".

Strengths.
1. Extensive set of substantial interviews with people who knew Prefontaine both in the feature and on the extra disc.
I especially liked getting Bowerman and Dellinger after being exposed to two movie portrayals and
Ian Stewart's reflections on the Munich 5000 before, during and after.

2. A well assembled biography including his fight with the AAU and role in the success of Nike.

3. The bio information that accompanies the interview segments on the extras DVD.

4. A fairly realistic assessment of Prefontaine's actual accomplishments and ability with a minimum of fan hype.
In particular I appreciate the realistic review of the Munich race. As good as he was it was unlikely that he could win it
even if it came down to a "guts race" (and for him it did) and even if the pace had been brisk from the start.
(A faster race would have probably preserved a medal for him with more distance back to the pack but one must seriously
question if Pre was capable of lowering his U.S. trials 13:22 PR to 13:17 to match Viren's in that faster race.)

Stewart makes this point well, everything Pre could threaten (like a sub 4:00 final 1600),
was within the reach of 3 or 4 others who would likely be in the race and with better finishing speed to boot.

Viren in particular had no reason to fear Pre as all his best times were substantially
superior to Prefontaine's including two world records (10K final, 5K heat) he had run at Munich event.
Viren had far more reason to be concerned with others in the field such as:

- Gammoudi, who had risen to the occasion in 1964 and 1968 to acquire a complete set of medals.

- 3000m WR holder Puttemans (record set in 1972) who would soon after beat Viren's WR by three seconds.

- Ian Stewart whose PR at the time was equivalent to Prefontaine's and thus could hang onto a pace
but also had the potential to finish the last lap under 55 seconds off a fast pace.

At Munich it is fair to say that Viren had Pre coming and going in the absence of a prodigious career breakthrough at age 21. In an article by Kenny Moore I found online it is clear that this was not a secret to Pre or his coaches and teammates before the race after they saw Viren set the 10K record on his way to a gold medal after falling down in mid-race. Their only hope was that it might have tired him a bit. What hope that gave was dashed by the delay caused by the Palestinian terror episode in which all the Israeli hostages were killed, that also provided Viren with ample rest.

Prefontaine ruled U.S. running in his events with an iron fist. But at no time was he demonstrably superior to the
whole world in peak form. His best times lagged the WR by many seconds at all times.

He held all the American records, a bit soft by world standards, but never held or seriously threatened a world record.
He seldom managed to dominate top non-Americans on the international circuit.
The race with Norpoth comes to mind. But perhaps Norpoth did have to bleed since to win Norpoth set his own PR 13:20.6,
about two seconds ahead of Pre's best time to date. Pre never promised to win every race, only that anyone who beat him would have to bleed to do it.

All that might have been just around the corner as the documentary suggests but it
never happened in the tangible reality of major international races won or world records set (or even a near miss).

6. It delivers a balanced portrayal and appreciation of a great athletic presence, rarely equaled competitive spirit,
and (is there a argument here?) the greatest U.S. born distance runner of all time.

Weakness.

Too short and bit superficial on the sport itself. Very little in the way of extended coverage of full events. The event coverage is extremely weak and running footage is mostly used to highlight the discussion or interview background. This is good for a general audience documentary but more should be done with the extras disc.

Considering the Prefontaine video I have found on You-Tube I think the (or another) extra DVD should have assembled many more complete races (or at least final several laps) with top competitors and with better video quality than You-Tube.
In particular:
The 1972 Olympic trials race against George Young with splits shown to compare with the presentation in Without Limits.
The 1972 Olympic final (there was enough in this DVD to see the critical fight before the finish however)
Some of his mile races in particular, the 3:54.6 race with Wottle, the indoor events on You-Tube.
Some of his wins in major U.S. events such as the NCCA or AAU, American record setting events etc.
Some of his three mile wins, especially under 13:00 which was not common at the time.
(I would like to see the real race portrayed in Without Limits, I think I found the time
but that race was against WSU not Stanford as portrayed in order to have Kardong in the race.
If someone can clear up this point I would appreciate it. I doubt there is footage for a regular season college meet.
I recall seeing Pre out-run Don Kardong in a Pac 8 final on TV at the time of the event.)
The HS two mile record.
American records at various distances or any really well contested races.
The 1973 race with Norpoth.
Actually, the more the better as far as I am concerned.

Given a choice, the record preserved by the interviews is more important, so the producers have done well.
Still I hope someone is working on preserving the archive footage of races.

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Quibble:
The extra disc entry on Pre's personal records makes a point of stating that Pre's collegiate records for the 3 mile (12:53.4) and 6 mile (27:09.4) still stand. Anyone who knows anything knows that this is only because these distances are no longer contested and apparently no one is taking split times in the current 5K and 10K events. It does not take much arithmetic to realize that Rono's 5K 13:08.4 (a WR at the time incidentally at a mere dual meet) (or even Bill McChesney's "U.S. born" collegiate record of 13:15.8) are substantially superior to the 3 mile mark and that Kamau's 27:36.2 10K (and Ed Eyestone's "U.S. born" 27:41.5) are also comfortably ahead of the 6 mile mark. It is a disservice to a viewer who does not follow the sport to leave the impression that any of Pre's major records are really still standing (leaving out school records, meet records, stadium records etc. It will be quite a day in Coos Bay when anyone breaks the Marshfield HS records).

Questions:
Did Bowerman really run off 12:36 during the memorial service to represent a 63 second lap three mile as shown in Without Limits?

How did Pre really hurt his foot before that NCAA final?