Customer Reviews

Wilma [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I owned this in VHS format, and I was very happy to finally have it in DVD. Wilma Rudolph is an inspirational person - one who overcame polio, poverty, etc., to set the world on its heels in the Olympics. A very young Denzel Washington plays Robert, Wilma's love interest. Cicely Tyson is superb as usual. Although originally made for TV, the film speaks well to a turbulent time. I love the scenes when the Tennessee Tech. Coach Temple makes the jokes about FDR in his social studies lessons and when he makes his sprinters run cross country to build their endurance. It shows he was a man ahead of his time.

I watched this movie on TV and I really liked it. It is based on a true story and is about Olympic track and field athlete Wilma Rudolph who had contacted Polio when she was 4 years old and despite that went on to become an olympic gold winning athlete and this movie is an inspiration to follow ones dreams and never give up. Wilma Rudolph is played by Cicely Tyson who was wonderful and I highly recommend this movie!

This made for TV docudrama is the true story of Wilma Rudolph, one of America's greatest Olympic athletes. Wilma was born into a poor (by our standards), black family in Tennessee and rose to become the crowd favorite at the 1960 Olympics in Rome where she became the fastest woman in the world and the first American woman to win three gold medals in the same competition. Her journey included overcoming a debilitating case of polio at a young age which forced her to wear a brace and heavy shoes for several years and receive daily therapy. She also lived and competed in a world where being black in the deep South meant being segregated and second class. She also had to overcome an unwanted pregnancy which threatened to end her career early. It is an amazing story of perseverance and the love of a family and the support of her coach and community. As with Jesse Owens ahead of her and so many athletes, there is a coach behind her success, Ed Temple, the track coach at Tennessee State who saw in Wilma the raw potential of a great athlete. The movie builds to a climax with the Rome Olympics and shows all three of the actual events in which she won the gold medals. She also went on to become a role model for young women and the first real superstar female athlete and also an ambassador for amateur athletics.[...]

This was a truly inspiring video. I believe he book would do her more justice but this should tell people inspite of the obstacles and challenges in life, Wilma Rudolf became the best she could be. She did have a great support system in her life and that is what I believe makes the story great.

I learned quite a lot that I did not know about a lady that I did see in the Rome Olympics. She was a great gift to our country and it is very sad that she died at only age 57. She could have continued to be an inspiration to a lot of young people.

I really liked this movie and I can especially recommend it for family viewing. It shows a close, functioning family without excess sentimentality. The movie focuses on how Wilma overcame polio and personal obstacles to become a great runner and Olympic champion. Most of the movie deals with these struggles without too much time spent on the actual Olympic experience( nice original footage of the real Wilma in action).
It also shows an era when real grown-ups were in charge.
The characters are played very convincingly- Shirley Jo Finney as Wilma is especially good. I think anyone could enjoy this movie- and it's family entertainment at its best.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY OF A GIRL WHO FIGHTS POLO AND GOES ON TO WIN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS.
ALSO IN THIS MOVIE IS DENZEL WASHINGTON, THIS WAS THE FIRST MOVIE HE WAS IN.

Good family movie. Entertaining movie with a few original clips from the Olympic games. Only one quick scene with kissing...everything else was "G" rated.

The DVD was a good price and the service was excellent. I have not yet watched the movie so cannot comment on its value.

Great movie. I learned alot about Wilma from watching this movie. This must have been one of Denzel's first movies. He was not cute at all with that big chipped tooth. Lol