Product Details

• Actors: Torvill & Dean, Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 24, 1991
• Run Time: 52 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301934628
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,191 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

This fascinating chronicle tells the story of World Ice Champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. Their rise to the top featuring interviews and exciting ice footage from three World Championships and more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best dancing ever to grace the ice, January 11, 2002

By 

Deborah Brooks (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Torvill & Dean - Path To Perfection: World Ice Dancing Champions [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have been a devoted fan of Torvill & Dean since I first saw them. My background is in dance (off the ice) and I especially appreciate T&D's choreography, which I consider to be some of the most innovative and beautiful I've seen, on or off the ice. This documentary shows their development as competitors and artists, through the World Championships that preceded the 1984 Olympics, in which they won the gold. Complete performances of some of their most memorable routines are shown, including "Mack and Mabel," "Barnum," "Paso Doble" and "Bolero."

When I bought this video, I already owned "Torvill and Dean: Face the Music" (1995), which I love because it shows T&D just before they retired, at the height of their artistic maturity. However, the camera work in that video can be aggravating, in that the camera angle changes every few seconds, at times making it impossible to figure out what the skaters are doing. By contrast, the camera work in "Path To Perfection" is typical sports coverage style (you see everything), and I was very happy to finally be able to say, many times, "So THAT's what that movement is!" (But I recommend buying both videos, as well as T&D's autobiography.)

As for the non-performance parts of the documentary, the interviews with T&D and the people who influenced or observed their careers are sometimes interesting, sometimes not so interesting, but they all contribute to this portrait of the best ice dancers ever.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT ACCOUNT ON T&D'S AMATUER CAREER!, April 19, 2000

By 

Dorothy Sewing (Carteret, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Torvill & Dean - Path To Perfection: World Ice Dancing Champions [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Although I've had this video for years, I found it very interesting. I was only nine years old when Torvill & Dean won the Olympic gold medal in 1984. So of course I couldn't remember them skating thier routines in the early 1980's. I remember when I saw thier free dance in 1994, there was one move where they glide across the ice and they moved thier feet back and forth. Somehow, that move looked familiar. So when I watched "Path to Perfection" there was a similar move in thier 1982 free dance, "Mack and Mable". The difference here was that they changed direction from forwards, to backwards, and then forwards again. When I saw that, I said to myself, "That's where I saw that move!" I must have been watching the 1982 world championships! I was only seven years old at the time!

Anyway, I had a chance to see "Mack and Mable", "Barnum", and the "Paso Doble". "Barnum" eventually became one of my favorite routines. "Paso Doble" showed me what exactly an Original Set Pattern dance was. For your information, an original set pattern dance is a series of dace steps repeated two or three times. When I saw T&D skate in 1994, the OSP, as it was called, was replaced with an original dance. There was no repitition of dance steps in the original dance as there was in the OSP.

This video is a good buy for any skating fan, especially for T&D fans. It tells you about where they came from, and thier triumphs in the early 1980's. I would also recommend buying thier autobiography as well. It tells you more about what they have done since 1984, including thier bid for a second Olympic gold medal after spending a decade as pros.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Video quality is poor but it's worth the nostalgic trip...., July 24, 2002

By 

sonytoao (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Torvill & Dean - Path To Perfection: World Ice Dancing Champions [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I bought this video after reading the warnings by other viewers of the poor video quality. I was still somewhat taken aback, however, when I popped the tape in the vcr. It will be a shock to anyone used to a digital signal from a satellite, DVD or frankly even a good quality vcr. HBO Video and the BBC made no attempt to remaster the video or audio for that matter. Both are very poor. If I rated it on this alone, I would've given it 1 star.

Having said all that, however, I still very much enjoyed the tape. You do get to learn how T&D started, the sacrifices they made, and the triumph they became. Some of the interviews could have been excluded and the BBC interviewer apparently believes that good technique is asking an inane question, sticking the boom mike in the subject's face and hope they're too polite to decline to answer. For example, I exploded with laughter when early in the tape and T&D's career, he asked the male member of the Ukranian ice dancing team, (who were the World Champions at the time of the interview) "when did he realize T&D had so much talent?" The skater replied somewhat miffed that he barely knew them and had only seen them skate once or twice; the BBC interviewer then proceeded to ask the female member the same question !!

I'd recommend this video if only to watch Torvill and Dean skate the Pase Doble routine where Dean conceptually treats Torvill as his cape. These two were the Michael Jordan of ice skating. People hadn't seen their like before and haven't since....