Product Details

• Actors: Lynn-Holly Johnson, Robby Benson, Colleen Dewhurst, Tom Skerritt, Jennifer Warren
• Directors: Donald Wrye
• Writers: Donald Wrye, Gary L. Baim
• Producers: John Kemeny, Rosilyn Heller, S. Rodger Olenicoff
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: May 15, 1997
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630279742X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,819 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars charming, inspirational drama; Lynn-Holly Johnson is lovely, February 1, 2005

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ice Castles [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Heartwarming and inspirational drama, starring the lovely Lynn-Holly Johnson (THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS) and Robby Benson (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), and featuring the Oscar-nominated theme song "Through the Eyes of Love" by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager.

Alexis `Lexie' Winston (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is a promising young 16-year-old ice skater, living in Iowa with her widowed father (Tom Skerritt). She receives her training from Beulah (Colleen Dewhurst) a former ice skater, now the owner of the ice-rink and bowling alley. Beulah knows that Lexie won't achieve her full potential until a proper trainer takes her on. So when renowned coach Deborah Mackland (Jennifer Warren) offers the chance of a lifetime to Lexie, she leaves small-town life behind and begins her quest to become a champion ice skater...until a freak accident shatters her dreams.

Now with the help of her father and Beulah, and the guidance of her boyfriend Nick (Robby Benson), Lexie sets out to overcome her adversity and skate one last time...

Filled with excellent performances and the soaring, emotional music of Hamlisch, ICE CASTLES is a satisfying movie experience. Colleen Dewhurst and Tom Skerritt provide exceptional supporting performances. Lynn-Holly Johnson, in her movie debut, gamely rises to the challenge in the demanding role of Lexie. Robby Benson turns in a solid performance as Nick. Only Jennifer Warren, as coach Deborah Mackland, seems cold and aloof (though this is mainly due to the character).

ICE CASTLES is highly-recommended!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The movie that introduced the world to my schoolboy crush :), April 20, 2006

By 

Darren Harrison "DVD collector and reviewer" (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ice Castles (DVD)

I have been enchanted by Lynn-Holly Johnson's bubbly personality and amiable charm ever since I saw her skate across the ice rink in the 1981 James Bond movie FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. While the majority of Bond fans seem to dismiss her role as an oversexed, yet naive ice skater as nothing more than simple eye candy, I thought she delivered an incredible performance and was one of the most attractive of all the Bond women.
So, perhaps it is no surprise that I love the movie ICE CASTLES (made three years before she became a Bond girl), what is a surprise is that it took me almost 30 years to see it.
So, when it appeared under my Lynn-Holly Johnson TiVo wish-list I set it to record knowing only that it features Johnson in a lead role and involved ice skating. Yet, over an hour into sitting down to watch it I was once again entranced by Johnson and the unfolding human drama and hoping the movie would never end.
Yes, I am a sucker for tear-jerkers, especially when they tug so forcibly at the emotions. I expected to enjoy Johnson's performance, what I was not expecting was to get so caught up in the story.
Johnson plays Alexis `Lexie' Winston, a promising 16-year-old ice skater, living in Iowa (which as an aside provided extra interest for me, having lived there as an exchange student.)
Trained initially by small-time trainer Beulah (played by Colleen Dewhurst), Lexis jumps at the chance to take her dream of skating glory to the next level by accepting a coaching offer from world-renowned trainer Deborah Mackland (Jennifer Warren.) That is until an emotional Lexie takes to a late unsupervised ice skating session that results in an accident that leaves her blind.
It is the second half of the movie where this feature really shines and shows true courage (along with its leading character.)
It would have been so easy for the movie to have taken a `Lifetime' movie spin of showing a character dealing with shattered dreams and adjusting to her blindness. And at first it seems that the movie might go this route. But instead we see the courage of her family and boyfriend Nick (played by 1970s heartthrob Robbie Benson) in helping her get back on the ice and deal with her handicap determined to prove that she can still compete.
Featuring the Oscar-nominated theme song "Through the Eyes of Love" by former James Bond composer Marvin Hamlisch (1977s THE SPY WHO LOVED ME) and Carole Bayer Sager, ICE CASTLES is solid entertainment and very easy to recommend. In addition to those actors already mentioned this movie also features Tom Skeritt in an outstanding performance as Lexie's over-protective father.
I have to agree with the other reviewer who notes that this movie is one that even a guy can enjoy - I did, immensely.
Another ice skating movie that is well worth checking out is THE CUTTING EDGE.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep the Kleenex handy!, August 25, 2000

By 

Becky - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ice Castles [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Ice Castles " is a heartwarming, emotional story about triumph over tragedy and love conquering all. When Lexie Winston (Johnson) a talented figure skater with her mind set firmly on the five rings is blinded in a freak accident, her career appears over, and she hides herself from the world, unwilling to face or accept what has happened to her, but bolstered by the love, support, and faith of her childhood sweetheart Nick (Benson), her father (Skerritt), and her first coach (Dewhurst), she makes a triumphant return to life, and in extension, to figure skating. Excellent performances, excellent scenery, and excellent skating make this movie a perennial family favourite which can never be watched without shedding tears.