9.79* [Review]

Genres:   Sport

Director: Daniel Gordon

Writers: Nick Packer, Daniel Gordon

Stars: Don Catlin, Linford Christie and Robson da Silva

Release Date: 9 October 2012 (USA)

 


DownLoad Link : Torrent - isohunt(MG/GB)  For Watching

Story of the Movie :   In the history of the Olympics, there's never been a controversy quite like what ensued over the 100 meter race at Seoul in 1988. The match brought together Carl Lewis (USA) and Ben Johnson (Canada) who had been fierce competitors. Lewis was known as a savvy careerist who became an American hero at the previous Los Angeles Olympics. Johnson was his chief rival, considered an underdog due to his recovery from a pulled hamstring. In less than 10 seconds, Johnson edged out in front of Lewis to win the Seoul race. But that wasn't the end. Three days later, in a reversal of fortune, the Olympic committee announced that Johnson had failed a drug test, losing his medal to Lewis in disgrace. A mystery still shrouds the race. Was Johnson exceptional in his drug usage or merely the fall guy for a widespread practice? Six of the eight finalists in the 1988 race have since been implicated for drugs -- although some still deny any wrongdoing..

Viewer's  Opinion :    Does a fair job of setting the stage of the track and field culture in the 80s and how pretty much everyone and everything was doing steroids. Bringing everyone together from the race that broke the camel's back was crucial and provided some of the most insightful commentary. The rest, about the origin of doping in the sport and who did what, was procedural at best and got pretty dry. I would have been interested in a little bit more of an exploration of doping in the sport, past and present, than the details of what doctor or agent supplied what or made someone do that or whatever for those particular athletes. Still, I came into the doc knowing nothing about the event in question, and the film did a decent job of impressing how pivotal it was.

TIFF Capsule: Your standard ESPN Talking Docs, with a pretty compelling subject. The good thing about 9.79* is that it has all 8 runners from the 100 meter race in the Seoul Olympics participating. This is familiar territory for most Canadians (I still remember the race and the aftermath vividly), but it did shed some insights and thinking process from these runners.