Cool Runnings (1993)

 ●  English ● 1 hr 38 mins

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Irving Blitzer disgraced himself when putting extra weights into his team's bob in the Olympics, resulting in his gold medal being taken away from him. Years later, Derice Bannock, son to a former friend of Irv, fails to qualify for the 100-yard sprint for the Olympics due to a stupid accident. But when he hears of Irving Blitzer living also on Jamaica, Derice decides to go to the Games anyway, if not as a sprinter, then as a bobsledder. After some starting problems, the first Jamaican bobsledding team is formed and heads for Calgary. In the freezing weather Derice, Sanka, Junior and Yul are only laughed at, since nobody can take a Jamaican bobsledding team led by a disgraced trainer seriously. But team spirit and a healthy self confidence may lead to a few surprises in the upcoming Winter Games.
See Storyline (May Contain Spoilers)

Cast: Doug E Doug, John Candy, Leon Robinson

Crew: Jon Turteltaub (Director), Phedon Papamichael (Director of Photography), Hans Zimmer (Music Director)

Rating: G (Australia)

Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Family, History, Sports

Release Dates: 01 Oct 1993 (India)

Tagline: Inspired by the true story of the first Jamaican Olympic bobsled team.

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Did you know? The crash scene at the end of the movie is actually real footage from the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Read More
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as Sanka Coffie
as Irv
as Derice Bannock
as Joy Bannock
as Registration Official
as Whitby Bevil
as Kroychzech
as Winston
as Larry
as Yul Brenner
as Roger
as Momma Coffie
as Josef Grool
as Junior Bevil
as Kurt Hemphill
as Coolidge

Direction

Director
First Assistant Director

Production

Assistant Producer

Camera and Electrical

Director of Photography

Music

Music Director

Sound

Sound Re-recording Mixer
Foley Artist
Foley Editor
Sound Editor
Boom Operator

Art

Art Director
Production Designer
Set Decorator

Casting

Costume and Wardrobe

Costume Designer

Editorial

Stunts

Stunt Coordinator
Film Type:
Feature
Language:
English
Spoken Languages:
German, Russian
Colour Info:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
1.85:1 (Flat)
Stereoscopy:
No
Taglines:
Inspired by the true story of the first Jamaican Olympic bobsled team.
Jamaican Bobsledders?
One dream. Four Jamaicans. Twenty below zero.
Goofs:
Miscellaneous
When Derice is stepping down from the run and shakes hands and speaks with the Swiss driver after the final run, it is clear the man behind them, centre screen, is actually fake clapping.

Miscellaneous
We see a shot of their feet in the Jamaican qualifying scene, when they are getting ready to go. In that shot the "new" Jamaican sled can be seen, yet they only have new costumes, not a new sled yet. In the next shot the sled is the "old" sled.

Miscellaneous
The montage puts all the executives in the same office behind the same desk while Derice is travelling to various businesses seeking funding for the team; only with different decorations.

Miscellaneous
Great Britain, not England should have been listed on the score board.

Factual Mistake
The sport is listed as "Bobsled" on the sign at the registration table. In reality, the sport is always listed as "Bobsleigh" by the International Olympic Committee. "Bobsled" is the American name.

Factual Mistake
There is Finland listed among the countries when the race starts and little boys in Jamaica start to draw timetable on blackboard, but in reality Finland has never participated in bobsleigh at the Olympics.

Factual Mistake
"Schweiz" is painted vertically down on the nose of the bob on the Swiss bobsleigh. However, Swiss bob teams have traditionally used the French name for Switzerland, i.e. "Suisse"

Factual Mistake
The Olympic 4-man bobsled competition is 4 runs over 2 days as opposed to 3 runs over 3 days depicted in the movie.

Continuity
Joy Bannock reacts with horror three seconds before the crash actually occurs when watching the final run on TV, even before the commentator warns it may happen by saying "I don't think he's going to be able to hold it."

Continuity
There are still 50 other athletes practising and warming up for other events when the announcer at the sprint finals says the 100 meters is the final event of the day.

Continuity
The labels on the Coke bottles change from the red labels to a different label when the team is toasting each other after they paint the sled. Also, Derice's level of soda is constantly changing.

Continuity
All full shots of the sled show sleds as grey and unpainted as the Jamaican team prepares to start their qualifying run, but close-ups show the sled painted with the patterns later used in the film.

Continuity
One wheel can be seen bouncing off the sled as the team makes their first downhill run in acceptable time. Yet when the sled comes to rest against the Police officer's vehicle all tires are on the sled.

Continuity
The right side of his face goes down to the track when Derice falls in the Summer tryouts. When they close in on him, the dirt from the track is on the left side of his face.

Continuity
The team get on a shuttle that says "Calgary Hotel" on it when the team walks out of the Calgary airport, but then in later shots they are shown staying at the "Relaxx Inn" and not the "Calgary Hotel".

Character Error
England is listed as a competing team in The board of results drawn up in the Jamaican village bar. England does not field separate teams in Olympic events; it only competes as part of a British team.

Audio/Video Mismatch
The lip sync is incorrect when Junior is looking in the mirror at the bar.

Miscellaneous
There is a shot of flags waving in the wind on the first day of the Olympic competition. The flag of the Russian Federation is shown next to the American flag. However, in 1988, Russia was a part of the Soviet Union and would have used the Soviet Flag.

Miscellaneous
1990s cars can be seen outside the Relaxx Inn in Calgary, Canada while the movie is actually set in 1988.

Miscellaneous
The man at the computer is using a computer that was first introduced in the early 1990s when Irv Blitzer is registering for bobsled tryouts, but the film is set in 1988.

Miscellaneous
There is a nighttime shot of the Calgary skyline after Jamaica's second tournament run. During this shot, you can see the Banker's Hall Building which wasn't completed until 1989, and the movie is set in 1988.
Trivia:
The Jamaican team was met with open arms by the international Bobsledding teams, in contrast to the story in movie, . One of the other teams even went so far as to lend the Jamaican team a back-up sled so they could qualify.

The crash scene at the end of the movie is actually real footage from the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.

Adding weight to the sled is perfectly legal in the sport of bobsledding. Both two and four-man sleds have minimum and maximum weights. The sled's weight is estimated as the total weight of the sled and its crew. It is perfectly legal to add weight and make up the difference if the fully loaded sled weighs less than the maximum.

The role of Derice was turned down by Denzel Washington and Eddie Murphy turned down the role of Sanka, baulking at the pay offered.

The only line in the film that he did not write was "Sanka, ya dead?", According to Tommy Swerdlow. That is the only line that came from the original version of the script.

The infamous crash wasn't due to a mechanical error, in contrast to the movie, but more or less losing control of the sled at such a high speed.

The film is based on a true story.

Blitzer is seen wearing a white Smithbilt cowboy hat during the opening ceremonies scene. The white Smithbilt is a trademark of the City of Calgary, where the XV Winter Olympics were held in 1988.

The Swiss bobsledders ("eins, zwei, drei"), have been re-dubbed with a strong Swiss accent ("ace, zwoo, droo") in the German dubbing of this movie. When the other characters imitate them, they also imitate the accent. In the original English version Hochdeutsch (standard German) is spoken.