Sans limites

I wish I knew more about Pre's background. As it stands, it doesn't seem there was much to his character other than sleeping with girls and running.

I personally thought this movie would have had integrity and strength throughout from beginning to end. Sports films show the battles young people have to face to live up to not only others expectations of them but their own expectations of themselves. Some tasks are harder than others and its normally because either you don't feel your good enough or you don't feel others see you as good enough. If you give up you never find out if you really did have it in you to succeed. This movie did a good job of representing that. The runners in the movie were excellent, the acting was top notch. The fact that they did film the movie in Oregon and still made it into a wonderful experience is amazing. I would love to see more movies just like this to show to my own kids. It shows them to never give up on your dreams. That is why I like this movie despite the backstory flaws.

Billy Crudup totally loses himself in the lead role and Sutherland does some of his best work as Coach Bowerman. I can see why many in the public stayed away from the film itself - not too many moviegoers are interested in track & field, let alone track & field in the 1970's. I always knew who Prefontaine was because I ran track and cross country in high school in the late 1970's and remember hearing of his untimely death. The film is done in a very straight forward kind of way and that's why I like it. It doesnt waste too much time with side stories or sub plots. One HAS to have a love story and many of the elements of the romance are some of the weakest moments but what can one do? You have to take SOME of the studios notes (besides - even though I think the actress playing the lead is beautiful, I have seen her in other films and I find her work very one-dimensional). But Crudup is amazing as the obsessed runner and the scenes of the actual races are stunningly photographed and edited. Well done.

This is definitely one of the best sports movies ever made as well as one of the most unnoticed movies of 1998. Strange really, because "Without Limits" is an amazing story about Steve Prefontaine. I didn't know it was a biographical movie up until it showed the Olympics. So when I realized that the main character really ran like the wind and had no physical obstacles he couldn't overcome I instantly became an admirer of Steve Prefontaine.

Billy Crudup, who truly stole every scene "even" in "Almost Famous" is brilliant as Steve Prefontaine. His amazing transformation into the role of America's fastest runner was absolutely amazing, and I had no idea who the actor was, I only vaguely remembered his name. Donald Sutherland delivers his performance of the decade and the very beautiful Monica Potter does a great job as well.

The subtle manner in which the director chose to display Pre's life is admirable and very touching. He truly was a role model. He's a role model to me now, more than 30 years later. When he was explaining his running logic to his coach I really understood his look on life. He wasn't planning on being disappointed, he went the distance.

There's one more thing this movie deserves immense credit for. It made me want to run. AND ACTUALLY ENJOY IT!!!!!!!

A brilliant movie that made me think about my life. 8/10

Although a contemporary of Steve Prefontaine I had never heard of him, not being a fan of track and field. Nonetheless, Without Limits, a biographical film of Prefontaine, made middle-distance running interesting, even exciting. The racing scenes are not the reason to see this movie though, it is the acting, especially Donald Sutherland who plays Bill Bowerman his coach at the University of Oregon. The film follows Prefontaine (Crudup) from his admission to college in 1969 through the '72 Munich Olympics to his death in 1975 as he trained for Montreal. The axis around which the movie revolves is the relationship between wizened coach and impetuous youth, and Crudup and Sutherland do an excellent job of it. As a Baby Boomer it's always a treat to see those late '60s-early '70s years recreated. What memories. You even get to glimpse the founding of the Nike shoe empire in Bowerman's kitchen.

Jaded by Hollywood's usually pathetic efforts to portray the real world of sports, I was prepared to be disappointed by this movie. I grew up in Oregon, attended U of O (the setting for much of the movie), and witnessed some of the events portrayed. So it was with a surge of satisfaction that I watched this movie that got it right at each point along the way. The attention to detail was astounding, and the recreation of races was uncanny - I compared it to actual news photos later, and the actors playing competing runners were chosen so well that their bodies and running styles actually match the original men. When a movie cares this much about being faithful to details, you can be sure it will take a quality approach overall. Billy Crudup's portrayal of Pre is full of inner fire and consistent with the real man; Donald Sutherland is marvelously powerful and yet understated as Bill Bowerman; the examination of the real reasons athletes compete is thorough and moving. Innovative use of music and camera work brings the race scenes to life, and if this movie doesn't make you want to immediately go out for "a quick ten," you're a completely hopeless sedentarian-- in heart and body. This is among the five finest movies about athletics ever made.