Some have criticized "Prefontaine" as too bland, colorless, akin to a tv movie. Those people probably hated Rocky, The Karate Kid, and The Natural too. No, this is a well-made film, inspirational, and also received two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert. Much of the story is told as flashbacks by the people in his life, long after his death--mother, father, girlfriends, and coaches. As opposed to the Warner Brothers bio of Steve Prefontaine “Without Limits,” this film makes more use of other people in “Pre’s” life, especially his parents and his high-school girlfriend.

No one could fault either actors’ performance as the iconic “Pre.” Both actors bear an uncanny resemblance to the real man, even his upright running style. Analyzing the Olympic scenes of both the real guy and the actor, its hard to distinguish the two. "Prefontaine" spends more time on the Olympic hostage crisis, a good lesson for those who may have forgotten or never knew what happened there.

One amusing difference between the two films is the explanation for how Pre hurt his foot (requiring stiches) on the eve of his first NCAA championship meet. In “Without Limits” it resulted from some acrobatic sex with a local girl, while it was a foolish swimming stunt in “Prefontaine.”

Any critic must recognize “Prefontaine” as an example of the great work Jared Leto has created since this film. His version of Pre is more combative, determined than Billy Crudup’s. He’s not trying to win any popularity contests, although both films stress Pre’s confrontational attitude with those governing amateur American athletics at the time. The film is about fighting the establishment and hypocrisy but even more about single-minded determination and not allowing any limitation to stand in the way of achievement.

Lesson for life both films drive home: While winning is important, giving every thing you have every second is more important. Pre was quoted prior to competing in the 5,000 meter race at the Munich Olympics: “if it’s a guts race, I’m the only one that can win.”

It is hard to imagine such a monumental cultural impact on sports and culture coming from a track athlete, but it really happened—Nike co-founder Phil Knight compared him to Mohammed Ali, and the obvious comparison is to actor James Dean. I highly recommend this film to track and field fans and also movie-lovers who cherish true-life inspirational stories.

I prefer Without Limits but Prefontaine is pretty good. This one has more the slant from Bill Dellinger and Bowerman is played with a harder edge by R. Lee Ermey. This is the Disney production and mild on Pre's extracurricular activities in contrast to Limits and may be more accurate, particular in reference to the lacerated foot before the NCAA championships. Like a previous reviewer, I always heard he lacerated his foot in a swimming accident. The race scenes are quite good and the Munich scenes somewhat better than Limits with more emphasis. You really cannot go wrong with watching both, there is a significant contrast but both have that Pre fire.

Very well done. I'm not sure why others have rated this so poorly. Without Limits is slightly better, but this is very, very good. And I am not a racing fan. Only slight negative is that despite a high bit rate, Mill Creek didn't have the best print to work from (surprise!)

This is a good film. It entertains totally. Jared Leto does a splendid job of maintaining the center of attention for almost the entire film. This is a sign of a considerable actor to hold our attention for two full hours as the figure almost always on screen.

It is an inspirational film but also a cautionary one. I say this because Prefontaine's ambitions and self assurance seem adolescent at first. Like many young high school seniors, he knows everything and no one can tell him anything. He just happens to be one of the most talented and determined high school seniors in the nation. The film takes Prefontaine through a series of events that begin to teach him his personal limits, his priorities, his commitment to others, and finally that he must adjust to events larger than himself. In a sentence, this film is about an extremely self-motivated and self-centered talented young man who becomes a better person as he adjusts to the hard knocks that come to all of us in life. The major hard knocks for Prefontaine are the terrible events in Munich and his performance which disappointed him. IN many ways this is the best part of the film for we get to see the terror of the events in Munich and we get to see Prefontaine's reactions to those events.

Jared Leto goes a good job playing this young man. I wish he had been able to reap the rewards of maturity.

A longtime runner, myself, who'd forgotten about this rising star in the runner's world, can testify to "Prefontaine" being the best athlete bio-pic of recent memory that surprises, informs and inspires in the best sense of the word.You'll lace up the running shoes after this film. The script was generous to all the supporting people who nurture greatness in the form of Steve Prefontaine. Special mention should go to the casting and artistic control of this looking back upon the start of the jogging era. Jared Leto plays Prefontaine like a glove, at first running on brashness to finish on unselfish awareness. Certainly, there are parallels to James Dean here, but when actual Munich footage enters effectively, Leto's portrayal ascends with the laurels Prefontaine earned. Next to "Jim Thorpe--All Merican" in inspiration, "Prefontaine" uplifts with its sad ending, while "Thorpe" falls away despairingly. When you watch this film unfold as much about a gifted athlete as a giving one, and you reflect upon the selfish ones today, you will want to learn more about this comet who blazed once brightly. And that makes this the exceptional film.

The difference about this movie is that is was NOT a sugar-coated, rose-colored nostalgic look back on this superb American runner/competitor. The glimpse back into history with Munich Olympics and Terrorist carnage was poignant. If you're looking for uplifting, feel-good entertainment, this is not it; but if you haven't heard of this fellow, then it's worth the history lesson. Mark in NY