5 To Watch: Ice skating movies that go for the gold
As the Olympics wind down, here are five films that celebrate the most graceful winter sport
Film Features Cheating in sports
So many of the events in the Winter Olympics just seem to be about falling, whether it’s traveling down a mountain on two sticks, lying on top of someone in the doubles luge, etc. But figure skating stands apart from the snow-based sports as something much more graceful, gliding across the ice and attempting to defy gravity, not succumb to it—in the case of recent Olympic gold medal winner Nathan Chen, with a quadruple axel, no less.
So it’s unsurprising that the magic of ice-skating has also made its way to movies. As these Olympics draw to a close, you may be longing for more pairs routines and gold medal ambitions. Why not check out these cinematic forays into the figure skating world—from Sonja Henie’s Busby Berkeley-inspired extravaganzas to Tonya Harding’s rebellious attempt at Olympic greatness. At the very least, some of these more in-depth looks at skating challenges might give you a bit more appreciation for the perfection of those routines as these athletes vie for a spot on that heralded podium.
15 Comments
Really, the only needed answer.
Meh. I never found this movie all that entertaining.
These are the only figure skating movies people talk about when the subject comes up.
Just saying, I was about 12 when I saw The Cutting Edge and can confirm I fell entirely in love with Moira Kelly in the process.
Watch the made for TV movie “Champions, A Love Story” if you can find it. Bring your hankie. You have been warned.
Oh, absolutely! I cried so hard over this movie as a kid my mom thought I had broken something. My Jimmy McNichol love was strong
I watched it in a bedroom while my parents were attending a bridge party. When I came out of the room sobbing, all of the (drunk as hell) adults were completely at a loss as to what to do.
If there’s room for Sonja Henie, there’s definitely room for Belita (skated for the UK in the ‘36 Olympics) and her weird, fun figure skating noir, Suspense. There’s murder and betrayal and the usual noir jazz, but she also does a really enjoyable “bad girl” skating routine in her nightclub/dinner theater, and a nice elegant one later in the film that actually looks like a recognizable ancestor of modern skating (no offense to Sonja, but she’s a dinosaur on blades). And looming over it all is the ring of swords she’ll be jumping through…. dum dum dum. There’s a pretty watchable copy up on YT.
What’s wrong with sparkly shirts?
“Far and away the funniest figure-skating movie ever made”
well, how many of those are there anyway?
I became quite fond of Moira Kelly at The Cutting Edge and Chapin. I saw her in some post-apocalyptic movie with Cuba Gooding, and then… not sure what happened after that (though I assume it was some variation of what happens to most attractive 20-something acresses).
She went to Mandyville. Actually a look at her IMDB page shows she’s been working steadily all these years.
She got super religious and a bit difficult to work with according a TV director I used to also be difficult to work with for.
Don’t forget With Honors.
I was genuinely surprised at how funny I, Tonya was– I’m talking uncontrollable guffaws. Hadn’t laughed that hard in years. But it was dark, tragic humor. Tonya and her beau just didn’t have the social skills to cope with a tough world.