When the movie started i was amazed how flashy, fast and impressive the photography was. I thought I was in for a great ride. How could I have missed such an important picture with Gene Hackman and Robert Redford starring in it? I thought I had overlooked a precious movie for many years. But I was wrong. My first thoughts were right on the money: how can a picture about skiing be interesting other then for sport fans? It cant. Not this one. I wont reveal the story to avoid spoilers, although there is not much to get spoiled because the story is going nowhere. That is just the main and only true fault of this movie: an utterly boring story. Unless you are into skiing...What is really good about this movie is the photography. Mind you, this picture was shot in 1969, for those days the speeding downhill camera shots were really revolutionary. Even to this day, the camera work is really enticing. Gorgeous shots. Acting is good too. How couldnt it be, with young upcoming stars like Hackman and Redford. The soundtrack fails miserably though, more suited for a war movie. But hey, they experimented with lots of modern classical stuff, so I praise them for trying to do something out of the ordinary. All the techniques used in this picture are truly up there with the best. But the story is NOT.All this experimental soundtrack stuff, the truly mind blowing camerawork and the great acting still cant hide the obvious fact that the story is dead boring. Still wanna know what the story is about? A new young ski talent goes to the Olympics and becomes successful. Wow. If you think that is a thrilling story, then this is the movie for you. I thought it was going nowhere beyond what one can already see on t,v. during any other sports tournament.

Finally saw this forgotten gem.A small character study/sports film about downhill skiing, with Robert Redford, Gene Hackman and a fine looking actress named Camilla Sparv. I was also pleased to spot Dabney Coleman in minor role.I was surprised to read all negative comments at IMDb...how this movie was plain and boring and who wants to watch skiing anyway...I disagree.For me it was exactly the authentic feeling this movie had on downhill scenes and the rarely depicted environment of downhill competition that made this film stand out from the mass. Have to admit that I was blown away by some of the skiing scenes, they were brilliantly done, imo. I agree that pacing was a bit slow at times and the storyline somewhat minimalistic. But as I saw it, this was exactly what the director had attempted...creating a true to life realistic experience, which should have been obvious from the documentary style of the picture.Even the character of Redford's, or his relationship with the female, wasn't stripped down, but the viewer was left to draw one's own conclusions about his motives and what made him tic.Really liked this one because it was different. And the ending was perfect: Reflecting the eternal cycle of life/competition and how small the difference between winning and losing can be.8/10 Definitely worth watching

Director Michael Ritchie's minimalist cinema verite approach to this story about an Olympic hopeful that's a heel is an interesting an mostly successful attempt to capture the sport in the Wide World of Sports documentary style. Robert Redford's (David Cappellett) cocksure good looks and self absorbed mannerisms are deftly utilized in reaction shots to what's going on around him enabling him to convey much of his character with a minimum of dialog. It is the same documentary style that also hinders the film since the camera never remains steady long enough for characters to enunciate at length their feelings and relationships are explored at a distance. Gene Hackman is his no nonsense coach trying to instill some team values in him while capricious jet setter girlfriend Camilla Sparv shows Chappellet that she can be every bit as shallow as he is. The best exchanges in the film come from his uncomfortable relationship with his father (Dabney Coleman).The ski scenes are filled with well edited montages to give the film a healthy pace and adding suspense to the film's final minute as Chappellet success hangs in the balance. It may not medal but Ritchie's novel style and Redford's golden boy arrogance make Downhill Racer more than competitive.

Old-fashioned sports drama given very modern look and feel, mixing 16mm footage with 35mm for an exhilarating visual effect. Robert Redford is quite good portraying an extremely self-assured skier from Idaho Springs, Colorado who is picked as a substitute member on an American team competing in Europe; after a humiliating wipe-out fails to derail his ego, he returns to the States for training with the Winter Olympics just two years away. "Downhill Racer", directed by the debuting Michael Ritchie, is a low-keyed character study masquerading as a sports film--and yet the skiing action is what most viewers end up remembering. The two halves are blended together thanks to punchy editing and the handsome presentation (and by the personalities brought forth by Redford and Gene Hackman as the team's coach), though the macho-subdued screenplay is rather verbose. Once we understand that Redford's David is a self-centered bastard, there's nothing much else to him except his good looks, and the women characters on the scene (there are no female athletes) are sex-objects or uninformed targets for ridicule. A few terrific moments, though the opening credits sequence is really cheesy and Kenyon Hopkins' score is occasionally overwrought. ** from ****