Movies To Get You Moving
If the story doesn’t get you going, the music will. Carissa Casey rounds up the best films to inspire some serious working out. And for some reason, all but one date back to the 80s.
CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981)
If you haven’t had the theme tune to Chariots of Fire playing in your head at the end of even the briefest semi-jog, you need to try it. Nothing is more motivating during a tough session than imagining yourself at the last lap, the Vangelis music soaring in your ears, tears in the eyes of the spectators, as you, the champion, bring home gold. The film’s not bad either. Based on the true story of two British athletes, Eric Liddle and Harold Abrahams, who ran in the 1924 Olympics, the cast features the greats of British acting including Ben Cross, Nigel Havers and John Gielgud. It was nominated for seven Oscars and won four.
ROCKY III (1982)
The pounding drum beat of the Survivor classic Eye of the Tiger is enough to get anyone pumped up for a workout. “Rising up, back on the street, did my time, took my chances. Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet, just a Woman’s Way reader and her will to survive.” (We might have taken a few liberties with the lyrics).
Rocky III, as the name suggests, is the third installment in the Sylvester Stallone boxing drama, and could be called straight outta the 80s. We have Mr T., Hulk Hogan and the late great Tony Burton, the boxer and actor who played the corner man in the franchise. Rocky, successful and rich, ignores challenges from an upstart until the upstart makes an outrageously suggestive remark about Rocky’s wife. Rocky must, of course, defend her honour.
FLASHDANCE (1983)
Take your passion and make it happen. Yet again it’s the theme song for this danceathon movie that is most memorable
- “What a feeling, Bein's believin', I can have it all, Now I'm dancing for my life”. If you lose heart listening to this, call the undertaker. Jennifer Beals works in a steel mill in Pittsburgh but dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. The movie owes a lot to the emergence of music videos in the 80s with some amazing dance sequences, which more than make up for a not that interesting plot line.
GREASE (1978)
There are so many foot-tapping songs in this iconic movie that watching it is a workout in itself. The best is probably Greased Lightning, although the lyrics are completely filthy. “Go, greased lightnin', you're coasting through the heat lap trials, Greased lightnin', go, greased lightnin',” is actually the cleanest but the beat is incredible. If you have been living on the moon for the last half century, Grease is a love story between good girl Sandy (Olivia Newton John) and bad boy Danny (John
Travolta). Stockard Channing steals scenes as bad girl Rizzo (There are worse things I could do).
FAME (1980)
“I’m gonna live forever, I’m gonna learn how to fly, high.” Fame, the movie and the TV series introduced a whole new level of New York cool to damp and dreary Ireland. Forget Grange Hill, the NYC High School of Performing Arts was where every school girl suddenly wanted to go.
As the dance teacher Lydia (Debbie Allen) explained during the opening sequence of the TV series, “You want fame and right here is where you start paying, in sweat.”
This was back in the quaint old days when wannabes were expected to develop some sort of talent in order to become famous. The movie was a runaway commercial, if not critical success.
WONDER WOMAN (2017)
We finally got a Wonder Woman movie a few years ago. Princess Diana (Gal Gadot) is happily living with her Amazonian tribe, when she is called upon to use her super powers to save humanity. It sounds like an average day in the life of many a busy woman, minus the drama and the cute costume. What makes this movie stand out among the plethora of other superhero movies is that we get the female perspective. Diana has never seen a man before, never mind been told what to do or say or think by one. Welcome to our world Diana.