Downhill Racer with Robert Redford: DVD Cover
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Downhill Racer Director: Michael Ritchie Cast: Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Camilla Sparv, Karl Michael Vogler

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  • DVD Release Date: 11/17/2009
  • Original Release: 1969
  • Rating: Rated PG
  • Sales Rank: 1,149

Viewer Rating: (3 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
  • Cast & Crew
  • Full Product Details

Features

New video interviews with Robert Redford, screenwriter James Salter, film editor Richard Harris, production manager Walter Coblenz, and former downhill skier Joe Jay Jalbert, who served as a technical adviser, ski double, and cameraman; Audio excerpts from a 1977 American Film Institute seminar with director Michael Ritchie; How Fast?, a rare 12-minute promotional featurette; Theatrical trailer; A booklet featuring an essay by critic Todd McCarthy

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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Downhill Racer
1. Opening Sequence [6:05]
2. The Team [10:38]
3. First Race [8:29]
4. "Way of Life" [6:38]
5. Home [9:38]
6. "Try a Pair" [11:19]
7. Self-Denial [8:06]
8. A Good Season [6:05]
9. A Week Off [8:26]
10. "Quite a Stunt" [5:29]
11. "This Is It" [3:45]
12. "Very Fast" [13:12]
13. Color Bars [3:47]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

Director Michael Ritchie's ongoing satirical spin on the American Dream is dressed up in quasi-documentary fashion in Downhill Racer. Robert Redford stars as an Olympic-grade skier, whose talent is matched only by his aloof self-involvement. As the cocksure Redford rises to the top of his class, he discards any emotional attachments that might impede his progress, ranging from girlfriends to his own father. When Redford finally attains his goal in life, the thrill of victory is an empty one indeed. The cold-bloodedness of Redford's character may have worked against Downhill Racer at the box office; on the other hand, Ritchie's similarly structured political satire The Candidate offered a "warmer" Redford -- but it, too, was a box-office disappointment. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

Downhill Racerby Anonymous

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August 16, 2004: An unbelievably young Robert Redford (oh hell, he always looks young!) and Gene Hackman bring to the big screen the first dose of what it's like in the Men's World Cup Downhill. If you can get past the lace boots, cable bindings, wooden skiis, and music of the late 1960's, this film will grip you with its adept capture of mood of the fans, the mountains, the weather, the tension and thrills of the Downhill. A movie with a cult following to rival 'Easy Rider', it's hard to believe no one has yet had the sense to convert this to a DVD. Super flick!

This review was written about the VHS edition.

Downhill Racerby Anonymous

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December 21, 2003: This is a movie only skiiers and ski-movie lovers could enjoy. The scene changes are odd, the music is bizarre, and it's so old Gene Hackman (even) looks only middle-aged. Dabney Coleman is unrecognizable even though he's in most of the film! The movie can almost be taken as a camp comedy satire on the 60s, with the names, the clothes, the distached distance everyone maintains from one another; Jesus this movie is a trip. I remember my much older sister and her friends looking, dressing and acting like these characters and believe me, they looked hokey even to a six-year old. There is some good ski action, but you've gotta turn off the sound because the god-awful background music spoils it. Check out the 'vintage' 911 that was only about a fourth-year model when the film was made. Dig the wooden skis! Cringe at the nylon and acrylic ski-togs! One of the truly odd sensations comes when you realize that most Autrian skilodges still look the same and offer the same entertainment shown in many background shots.

This review was written about the VHS edition.


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