Incredible Movie Plots That Are Based On Real Life Cool Runnings
The Movie
A disgraced Olympic bobsledder-turned-bookie, Irv Blitzer (John Candy) is prevailed upon by two would-be Olympic sprinters to form a bobsled team for them to join instead. The team initially take to the sport like ducks to Texas Hold Em, but soon they're ready for the Games.
Devon Harris was one of the members of the first Jamaican Bobsled Team
The Amazing True Story!
In 1988, Jamaica did indeed enter a team in the Winter Olympics bobsled, alongside all those cold-weather, high-level countries you expect to see, like Switzerland, Canada, Austria, Germany and the USA, with perhaps a token Brit in there ready to come last in the ski-jump (particularly in 1988, the year of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards).
The idea, however, came neither from the athletes themselves or any disgraced former bobsled champion, but from two American businessmen. George B. Fitch and William Maloney both worked on the island, and after seeing a Jamaican pushcart derby, they realised that, hey, the bit where people ran a bit and then jumped into a cart wasn't a million miles from bobsledding. The pair did try to recruit Olympic sprinters for their team, but were politely informed that the Olympic-standard sprinters on the island were too busy, er, sprinting to join any crazy-ass winter sledding team.
A quick visit to the Army, however, (yes, Jamaica has an army) proved more productive, and the team was soon formed. They qualified for the Olympics, and despite being in last place after their first run showed considerable improvement before crashing out, literally. Still, they'd won the respect of their competitors and have done better since.
The Differences
Aside from the fact that the formation of the team was completely different and there was no Irv Blitzer, the details of the Olympic competition were changed to make things more screen-friendly. While it's true that the Jamaicans really did walk their crashed sled across the line (while officials pushed it), they weren't on a world-record pace when they crashed and hadn't even qualified for the Finals. They did beat the US, France and Italy in 1996, however, and won the Gold at the World Push Bobsled Championships in 2000.
Have Your Say
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Your Comments
1
Aye.
Posted on Saturday December 5, 2009, 02:06 by captainamazing
It's about time someone mentioned it was the Spartans who were reknowned boy-lovers, not the Persians. And fighting in your keks? What's that about?? Read More
2
ahem!
Posted on Monday November 9, 2009, 18:13 by mdogg81
L: Kefka of Clubs
While there are hundreds more inaccurate things you could say about 300, something always ignored about the Battle of Thermopylae is the arguably more important naval battle going on at the same time at Artemisium at the same time, led by the Athenian general Themistocles. While it wasn't a victory, exactly, it did damage the Persian fleet enough that Salamis (where the war was really won) was a much easier victory for the Greek armies. Also, as Herodotus claims there were 2,500,000 soldiers, cutting off their supply train (their navy) was a much more important tactic than killing a few soldiers or holding them up for a bit.
Sorry for the rant, but I really feel Sparta gets far too much credit for winning the Persian Wars. Remember when you guys were too busy to fight at Marathon, eh? Who had to do the heavy lifting there?!
sp;
That're very interesting, however it would make for a godawful, dull piece of entertainment journalism, which is why Read More
4
RE: AYE!
Posted on Monday November 9, 2009, 10:21 by Helen OHara
NZ, I didn't forget it, but I was looking for incidences where the real story was more interesting than the movie, and in that one I felt they were about on a par.
Kefka, there's no doubt that Artemisium was important, or Salamis, but neither has quite as great a cool factor as Thermopylae.
Read More
5
AYE!
Posted on Saturday November 7, 2009, 09:39 by nz_louise
you forgot heavenly creatures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read More
6
300
Posted on Friday November 6, 2009, 15:16 by Kefka of Clubs
While there are hundreds more inaccurate things you could say about 300, something always ignored about the Battle of Thermopylae is the arguably more important naval battle going on at the same time at Artemisium at the same time, led by the Athenian general Themistocles. While it wasn't a victory, exactly, it did damage the Persian fleet enough that Salamis (where the war was really won) was a much easier victory for the Greek armies. Also, as Herodotus claims there were 2,500,000 soldiers, cutting off their supply train (their navy) was a much more important tactic than killing a few soldiers or holding them up for a bit.
Sorry for the rant, but I really feel Sparta gets far too much credit for winning the Persian Wars. Remember when you guys were too busy to fight at Marathon, eh? Who had to do the heavy lifting there?! Read More
7
Dead Ringers
Posted on Friday November 6, 2009, 12:21 by sonofjor-el
Where's Dead Ringers?! I don't think any writer could have come up with identical twin Gynaecologists, manipulating their patients. Class. Read More
