Ein Mann kämpft allein

I've never given a movie a ten out of ten before but this is the closest I have ever come (I gave it a 9). There are very few movies that I truly love, this however is one of them. With it's gritty realism, fantastic on-site locationing, and it's great soundtrack it literally blew my young mind when I first saw it in 1979. At that point I didn't know about prisons, violence, racial tensions, or the struggle to survive & live free. I doubt that anyone who is an adult, or for that matter anyone who is growing up in todays world could be impacted by this film in the same way I was all those years ago, but I will say this: "if you haven't seen this movie I envy you"; this is because you have the chance to see this great film for the frist time. For each of us they're different, but here's to the rarest movies of them all: the ones we actually love...

This movie was exceptional. It tells the story of a man who, after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his father-in-law when he found him raping his sister, sets out to become a world-class runner. It not only gave a realistic portrayal of prison life, but also deftly portrays the mentality of someone who is serving such a sentence. Peter Strauss played the role perfectly. Along with "Rich Man, Poor Man", this movie was probably the best performance of his career.

Probably the best scene in this movie was when Murphy was before the civilian board trying to get permission to run in the race and he sees right through the man's preconceptions and bigotry concerning convicts. This man did not see Murphy as a person but rather as something other than what he was. Very rarely has such passion and intelligence come from a made-for-TV movie.

I watched the this the other night on a local station because I didn't feel like watching tripe like 'American Idol'. Peter Strauss gives a great performance as a convict named 'Rain' Murphy who keeps to himself. He admits to his crime and makes no bones that he feels no shame for it. His cell is bare of any comforts that other inmates have like books and pictures. The only time he feels in another zone is in running. He does it often and can run a mile in under four minutes. When a college coach hears about this, he wants to prime him for a shot at the Olympics. At first, 'Rain' wants no part of this, but when his best friend is killed, he shows interest.

This is a good movie, period. Strauss is very good (What did you expect, anything less?) and Michael Mann shows hints of greatness that would come full bloom years later. This movie had that bit of realism (probably because it was filmed among convicts). It almost feels like this was a true story. The additional casting is good. There is a lot of notable names like Brian Dennehy, Roger E. Mosley, and Richard Moll as well.

My heart sank when some pompous board of directors wouldn't let him run because he didn't feel bad for his crime. His final act made me stand up and cheer. When they took his dreams away, he took them back hard. This was back when TV movies were actually good. 'The Jericho Mile' is a gem of a film. ESPN Classic, PLEASE SHOW THIS FILM!!!

You know, all the copyright holder for this flick would need to do is put this on a DVD with some documentary/behind the scenes stuff, or a copy of the original story, and i'd shell out money.

Good movies get bought, period.

This is another reason why people pirate flicks, most of the films we see are filler and fluff and hype, and nothing more.

We need more movies like THIS available

Made for tv movies usually get a bad rap. The only bad rap I can give this movie is it's VHS only release.

Ben Affleck may have been "the bomb in Phantoms", but Straus was the bomb in THIS flick.

An interesting and involved film about a "lifer" just trying to live out his days peacefully. Elements of the main character appear in Michael Mann's later films, like Thief (1981), Heat (1995), and so on. You can see this one at the UCLA Instructional Media Laboratory-- one of the only places in the country that has copies readily available to the public. It's a great one!