Champions

Champions could and should have been a superb film had it been true to its story and not rushed and aimed towards having US audience appeal. It would have appealed to everyone - horse-racing fans or just average movie audiences alike but it was too quick and keen to make the most of the success story whilst it was still in everyone's mind but then again it is was made by Ladbrokes.

As a horse-mad kid I loved this film for its opening shot and music and the dramatic climax being the 1981 Grand National even feeling genuine flutters of nerves as Bob (John Hurt) was weighing in and gearing up to ride the race of his life.

Didn't care for much in-between other than seeing Bob's harrowing but touching transformation as he battles cancer which takes him from resignation and almost bitter resentment to finding strength, courage and determination after children make him realise he either fights for himself and Aldaniti or gives up on them both.

As an adult I have even less time and respect for anything other than its respectful tribute to the strength, courage and determination of those with cancer, the fact John Hurt actually rode Aldaniti (aged 44 over fences as an amateur which is no easy task) and for its beautiful score.

Aldaniti and Bob Champion had been a successful paring until leg injury put Aldaniti out and off the track for over a year which for most horses would have been the end to his racing career if not his life given the difficulties in treating that level of injury. However the owner's promise to keep persevering and treating Aldaniti was more to help motivate Bob who was at this time undergoing gruelling chemotherapy with the end goal "If you recover - you can ride him in the National" being something of a carrot on a stick nobody realistically expected either to see.

The Grand National is run over four miles with 30 fences to jump some of which have since been modified for safety but in the 70's and 80's they were notorious and often fatal. I was a competitive rider for years and would hurtle around XC courses and steam over fences in open team chase events like a lunatic but even I knew then the madness in going that distance, over so many fences with so many horses going over with you so tightly bunched in together during the National.

The year before Bob and Aldaniti won, only four horses managed to finish the race which gives some idea as to how difficult and gruelling it is.

I understand Ladbrokes and Embassy must have almost peed their pants when given the rights to this movie especially as one about "Red Rum" was still off the cards but it shows. A sultry Kirstie Alley is thrown in briefly for the "Wit-Woo" factor wearing tight top, jhods, shiny riding boots and her hair and make up done beautifully.

It feels generic and cliché and some real and genuine reflection, explanation and focus could have been on emphasising exactly what the Grand National is and what is involved in just getting to and completing the most gruelling steeplechase in British racing let alone winning.

I'm giving this a 6/10 because it does have some superb shots, because John Hurt actually rode Aldaniti in his 40's, because it's a true story and a brilliant one and because of the beautiful score by Carl Davis.

Would love to see this remade at some point but with time, care, patience and full due respect given to this legendary team both of whom have since been lost.

Just don't give it to Randox or Disney...

Whilst this film sticks mostly to the 'disease of the week' formulae of American TV-movies, it does contain, for me, one of the most moving scenes in cinema history. Check out the scene at the children's ward and make sure you have a box of tissues handy.

I've been to Aintree every year since 1977. I've seen Red Rum score an unbelievable third win, I've seen a National declared void after two false starts, a bomb scare stop the race and a pile up that left just two horses in the race. I've seen champion jockies try year after year to win and never even complete the course while a fifty-six year old grandmother gets round to finish fifth. This though is THE story. Bob Champion was finished as a jockey. His only fight should have been for his life. Aldaniti was finished as a race horse. Yet these two combined to make the impossible happen. John Hurt was perfect as Champion. I'm privileged to say that I was there to see this amazing climax to an amazing story.

Cinema audiences have always enjoyed sporting dramas in which the underdog triumphs against the odds. Champions goes one step further in that it takes its plot from the true story of Bob Champion, an English jockey whose quest to win the Grand National was jeopardised by health problems to himself and his horse. The film is very conventional and workmanlike in its approach, but it tells such a remarkable story (if it wasn't a true story, you'd accuse it of being too far-fetched) that it's hard not to find it alternately absorbing, moving and inspiring.

Bob Champion (John Hurt) is a successful jockey who learns that a swollen bruise picked up in a horse fall has turned cancerous. Initially believing that he will be treated quickly and painlessly and back in the saddle in next to no time, Champion soon finds his plans in tatters as the illness is diagnosed as much more serious than originally thought. After months of chemotherapy and drugs, he emerges from hospital a thin, weak, pale, aged shell of his former self. He can barely walk, barely ride a pony around a patch of garden, barely feel a thing. Against the odds, Champion pushes himself to the limit to restore his health. However, during his illness his favourite horse, Aldaniti - aboard which he dreams of having a crack at the Grand National - suffers a severe injury. Can both man and horse get fit in time for the most gruelling race of them all? And even if they recover in time to enter, do they have a chance in hell of winning?

Hurt is excellent as Champion, a not-always likable man who often upset those around him in his stubborn yet determined journey to the Grand National. The scenes of Champion's treatment are quite punishing and vividly show a man on the brink of despair. Just as effective is the exciting climax in which Champion's fairy-tale comeback becomes a reality. There are some overly-stylised slow motion scenes of horses galloping across the horizon which don't feel quite right in this film, and some of the subsidiary characters are under-developed, but these are the only significant flaws in an otherwise well-made film. If you don't find yourself emotionally stirred when Champion races his way into everyones' hearts - as well as the history books - check your pulse... you may be dead!!!

Comparing it to "Rocky" is demeaning the movie and insulting the hero ,because it's based on a true story.Directing is just okay and rises to the occasion only for the final race,but John Hurt's performance is just perfect and the reason for which you should watch it.It's also a message of hope for people suffering from cancer.