When your job is to drive circles around the racetrack at speeds that would make Autobahn drivers blush, even sixty-seconds can be an eternity. Fortunately for NASCAR fans, driver Jeff Gordon has allowed cameras to follow him for an entire twenty-four hours in order to show just how hectic and action-packed the life of a professional driver can be. Jeff Gordon has earned four
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24×24 Wide Open with Jeff Gordon
Pumping Iron
Arnold Schwarzenegger gained his first real notoriety outside body-building circles with this documentary about a group of men training for the Mr. Olympia contest. Arnold had already won the title six times before, and was training for his seventh victory before retiring to fully pursue his acting career (which began to catch fire with his likable turn in Stay Hungry, released
Step Into Liquid
Writer-director Dana Brown — whose dad, Bruce, helmed the classic surfing flick The Endless Summer — follows in his father’s footsteps and takes a 21st-century look at the sport, employing up-to-date cinematographic technology to bring the audience right into those monster waves. The film stars dedicated surfers Ken Skindog Collins, Laird Hamilton,
The Endless Summer
Before there was sunscreen, high-tech wet suits, and corporate-sponsored surfing competitions, there was Bruce Brown, the original beach bum and the director of the greatest surf movie ever made, The Endless Summer. This 1966 documentary spurred a generation of surfers to devote their lives to surfing and compelled people in places far away from
Riding Giants
The set piece of this hyperbolic ode to surfing is Laird Hamilton’s 2000 trip to Tahiti, where a monster wave provided the opportunity for what the movie portentously calls the most significant ride in surfing history. If you’re inclined to regard the sport as important and its practitioners as heroic, you’ll likely enjoy this beautifully photographed documentary, which
Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World
Muhammad Ali has been called the greatest athlete of his century, but he was much more than a great boxer; he was one of the most compelling figures of his time, a leader in the civil rights movement, a fiercely principled man who nearly traded in his career rather than violate his religious beliefs, and a figure of remarkable charm and charisma in a sport hardly known for
NASCAR: The IMAX Experience
Simon Wincer directs the 40-minute film NASCAR: The IMAX Experience. It includes interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, plenty of high-speed racing action, and multiple points-of-view created by remote control-operated IMAX 3D cameras mounted to the outside of race cars, as well as the helicopter-mounted SpaceCam. Also included are interviews with top racers, such as
Touching the Void
In 1985, two adventurous young mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, set off to climb the treacherous west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. They were experienced climbers, and climbed Alpine-style, climbing the mountain in one great push, without setting up ropes or base camps ahead of time. After dealing with a snowstorm and some dangerous
The Heart of the Game
This fascinating documentary, reportedly filmed over seven years, focuses on Bill Resler, a University of Washington economics professor whose abiding interest in sports compels him to moonlight as coach for a girls’ high school basketball team. Gradually, the energetic coach turns Roosevelt High’s perennially losing Roughriders into tournament contenders,
When We Were Kings
Believe the hype. This much-praised documentary about one of the most famous boxing matches in history deserves every one of its accolades. Blending sports drama and biography with a touch of political analysis, When We Were Kings relates the who, when, where, and most importantly the why of the 1974 George Foreman/Muhammad Ali world championship fight in