Admittedly, the films appeal is probably limited to those who are truly interested or inspired by the sport of running (or know someone who is). But athletes of all sports will enjoy Pres story of defiance and heart. If you watch one of the two films, Id see this one.

This movie falls into the classic problematic sport movie dichotomy...ok sport scenes and horrible everything else. The races in Munich is the one real exciting scene in the movie. You feel like you are there and the movie does a good job at getting into the little known strategy behind long distance running.

The problem with this movie is that it fails everywhere else. The main character is doubly flawed- the actual charater is a problem as is the actor who portrays him. Steve Prefontaine is a self centered prick who is cold and distant. Besides this he is also completely one dimensional and most of the dialogue is cliched and boring. We get no insight into why he is such a great runner and all the non-sport scenes center on his shallow boring relationships or where he is going to proove himself next but nothing about what makes him tick. I quickly grew tired of Pres continuing attempts to further himself in the sport becuase I cared little for his personal achievements since I didnt care for him. At the end when he turns down the big bucks for his dreams or racing the Finns we are supposed to feel empathy for him when his arch rival cancels, but by this time I was too bored to care. If you want to watch an uniteresting diluded ass for 2 hours than this is the movie for you.

The other problem dooming this movie is the poor cast. Jared Leto is a no talent hack who has no buisness attempting a leading role of this magnitude. Again he fails magnificently as his one tone delivery of dialogue is reminiscent of a bad high school theater production. He was awfull in My So Called Life, he stank in Requiem For a Dream and he somehow managed to be even worse in this (although his "performance" in Panic Room might take the cake) He has that "Im not that quite there" look in every movie and it drives me crazy. The rest of the cast is misplaced but tries their best. Amy Locane is underused and their relationship is so underdeveloped that it just takes up time in the movie for no purpose. The great Ed Oneil is misused here in a cliched performance. Lee Emery has parlayed a one role oddity of amazmement (Full Metal Jacket) into a movie career that shouldnt have been.

Bottom Line: By the end of this movie I found myself laughing at it out loud- not something you want to be doing with a serious biopic that is trying to take itself seriously. "Go Pre, Go Pre" - gimme a break.

Prefontaine:

Acting
I thought the acting in this movie could have been much better. The principle actors were decent, but it was a long drop off to the secondaries as far as acting talent. I felt Leto was more brash, cocky and arrogant. In comparison to Crudup, it made me feel Pre was this way on many occasions more out of fear or a need to be arrogant, as opposed to true belief in himself. More like a prima donna.

Facts
Given that these are movies and not documentaries, I really dont care about the small ones such as how close a race was, etc. But would like to get the truth on the the bigger issues such as personal relationships, how he hurt his foot (there either were witnesses, or there were not), and how directly he was involved in the fight against the AAU. I liked the added details in Munich and his life after Munich, showing his continued successes. These details were great from an informational perspective, but it certainly made the direction seem choppy. Without input from Pre himself, so many aspects of his friendship and love life are skewed by the perspective of the person that is recounting it, and can be questioned in both movies. To observe it is to change it, as they say. I would certainly say if you asked for the story of my uneventful life from 2 different ex-girlfriends, you would probably get 2 completely different stories.

Racing
This movie seemed a little shallow in this area. It seemed like all it did to teach the audience about strategy and Pres abilities was to say, "You are too slow to sprint, so you have to push the pace faster to make the kickers tired". Maybe that is as much detail as the common viewer wants, but I would have liked to have seen more. I thought the race sequences in both films were good.

The interviews mixed with tradional story telling might have worked better if the casting had been better. Production quality was not as good as WL.

Without Limits -

Acting
By FAR the superior movie. Crudup and Sutherlands relationship just felt so much more real. And a million times more mature. You have to question authenticity of course, but their philosophical conflicts truly drive this movie and make the overall product much more mature.

Facts
This is not meant to be a documentary, and I can understand having to summarize 3-4 events into 1 event to make an accurate point - whether you are talking about Pres love life or his races - for the sake of drama or time. I still would have liked to seen at least a few minutes talking about Pres races after Munich instead of leaving the new viewer to thinking that he only ran 1 meet after Munich, and he died later that night. To me this was a weakness in the film. It left a lot of places where you have to fill in the blanks - such as Bowermans appointment as Olympic coach, the Pre graduated and was no longer a student, etc. Now that Ive seen both films and have a stronger grip on the true facts, skipping these details arent as big of a deal as they are merely background to what is happening to Pre - as long as you are already aware of them.

Racing
In addition to focusing on Pres relationships, it spent more time on race strategy, introducing other athletes than just Viren, and seemed to engage the sport at a deeper level. As a former competitor, this interested me quite a bit. Prefontaince had more race sequences, but I thought the sound effects in WL were great to create the feel of the race. The tension felt of running in the pack was expertly done, and the acting of Crudup in these sequences was good. I would have liked to see a little more pain on their faces and a little less closed-mouth running. WL did a better job at showing exactly how fast a 63 second quarter is.

This movie went out of its way to focus on Pre, Mary, and Bowermans relationships. This just felt more authentic and mature. I think it is a shame they had to sum up so many of Pres races - before and after the Olympics - but this was a conscious decision made to embrace Pres story by showing fewer of his races - which can be felt as redundant in this medium, and humanizing him more. Prefontaine did a great job showing Pres drive and heart, but I thought WL was more rewarding by showing his struggles with himself and those close to him - which surely must have existed.

While both movies showed some sides of Pre that arent always listed as good characteristics, only in WL did it truly feel like reality. The dialogue in Prefontaine certainly felt more like a Disney movie and combined with delivery, it was all a little contrived.

Once again, I felt that Without Limits was more the thinking-mans version of the movie, while Prefontaine did an excellent job with the facts of Pres racing career and had an emotionally high value throughout the movie. Both raw emotion and embracing a new philosophy can inspire someone, and they both succeed at this. I would probably choose Prefontaine to show to people that do not know Pres story, but for my own viewing, I would probably watch Without Limits repeatedly to get to the heart of the human story and struggles with philosophy, passion, and desire.

Thank you so very much.

Now, on to the actual review. It is an excellent movie about Steve Prefontaine. Jared Leto plays Pre with such emotion, that he seems to reach out and touch the viewer. He does an excelent job of telling the audience that Pre did not have the physique of an athlete, but he trained, and practiced, and had the determination to go against the odds and win. The film contains several clips of him running in real life, a great way of showing the viewer how he really ran.

This film is a must have for the aspiring runner. I also recommend the soudtrack, which contains music to make one want to get up off the couch and go run. Thumbs Up!

The actors were good and the cameos by actual characters were really good. The running was realistic and fast-paced. Even some of the true cross-country scenery was included, which is not often seen these days.

The movie keeps flowing, which might have been hard for a topic that is usually laid-back. I was glad that the movie focused on the topic and did not fall for the typical Hollywood glitz that tries to cover up reality. The emotionality (the triumph and the defeat made popular by ABC at that time) is brought into new light for viewers who may have considered running a dull sport. I know it certainly got my adrenaline flowing again. Go Pre, Go!

Steve Prefontaine was an amazing runner with an undeniable winning attitude. He loved to compete and, more importantly, he loved to win. This movie portrays that uncanny desire and his hard work ethic, right up until he was tragically taken in a car accident.

Jared Leto did a phenominal job of playing Prefontaine. He looked and played the part of a world class runner. R. Lee Ermey complimented him nicely as his track coach, Bill Bowerman, who later founded Nike. Ermeys timing was excellent, and his character was very well-rounded on the screen. Craig T. Nelson also played an excellent smaller role in the film as the college recruiter.

This good cast, and a very watchable screenplay made for an entertaining film. In a time of peace, love, and war, not to mention protests, this film gives you a nostalgic feel for the 70s. This is a good story, and an even better movie.

For first release, the battle of the PRE-bioflicks was won by this movie, and its release and luke warm reception shelved the Robert Towne-directed `Without Limits for more than a year.

Perhaps this story would have been better served as a Made-for-HBO film, where one-name titles like "Prefontaine" give stars like Matt Damon a chance for some good work, and media recognition.

This version, directed by Steve James of Hoop Dreams fame is very watchable, with strong support of Jared Leto (Prefontaine) by Lindsay Crouse, Ed ONeill, Amy Locane, and R.Lee Ermey-excellent in the role of Pres coach and mentor, Bill Bowerman, the man who subsequently founded Nike.

Maybe not an overly familiar story for the non-runners, this story needed to be told, once...and is told well here.

For first release, the battle of the PRE-bioflicks was won by this movie, and its release and luke warm reception shelved the Robert Towne-directed `Without Limits for more than a year.

Perhaps this story would have been better served as a Made-for-HBO film, where one-name titles like "Prefontaine" give stars like Matt Damon a chance for some good work, and media recognition.

This version, directed by Steve James of Hoop Dreams fame is very watchable, with strong support of Jared Leto (Prefontaine) by Lindsay Crouse, Ed ONeill, Amy Locane, and R.Lee Ermey-excellent in the role of Pres coach and mentor, Bill Bowerman, the man who subsequently founded Nike.

Maybe not an overly familiar story for the non-runners, this story needed to be told, once...and is told well here.

People who run long distance, who love Steve Prefontaine and/or what he stood for, are throwing stars at both of these movies for those reasons, I suspect, not for the movies as artworks. Since I attended Prefontaines high school a number of years later, I met him my first week of school, I ran long distance and even posted faster two-mile times then Pre as a freshman and sophomore, and I was in the Marshfield stadium when his running colleagues carried the coffin onto the field for a memorial service before the body was taken to its final resting place south of town, I fight to retain some objectivity myself.

"Prefontaine" was made by the people who made the marvelous high school basketball documentary "Hoop Dreams." It maintains a home movie/documentary style, with rough cuts, uneven video quality, and faces talking directly to the camera (but they are actors, not the real people from Pres life).

Leto does a magnificent job of appearing to be Pre, among shots of the actual man racing. Not much else is distinguished about this film, however. "Without Limits" is a much slicker movie, which has its advantages, but I find it hard to rate one over the other. Theyre just different ... and probably equally wrong in many of the details. They reflect different folks conceptions of the man they knew: Pres folks in "Prefontaine"; Bowerman, Kenny Moore, and a particular girlfriend in "Without Limits."

Im delighted that any film got made about this man, let alone two; Im gratified that either movie has served to inspire younger runners; but I think its ridiculous to argue that one or the other "really" captures the man. Just enjoy them for what they are, and cherish the memory of an incredible athlete.

To measure a movies success, I take note of my thoughts the following day. Anyone watching "Prefontaine" in 1972 run the 5000 could not help but be inspired. And now in the late 1990s, the movie "Prefontaine" refreshes that inspiration. A very well done dramatization and documentary.