5/5 Stein Eriksen / Alf Eugen
  by W. Theobald
From early days of skiing I always admired and copied Stein Eriksen's style and grace on skis. He dances with the mountain better than anyone else I have ever seen. The essence of this is captured in the Alpine style of the skiers in this movie. Their equipment is classic, everything is classic. I'm still skiing on my Volkl Reintigers and will continue to do so until ski manufactures rediscover the beauty and grace of skiing with ankles locked together in a waltz with the mountain. Stein if you read this review I'm sure you know what I mean.

4/5 Criterion Gives this Obscure Sports film their Deluxe Treatment
  by Cubist (United States)
"Redford and Salter" is an interview with Robert Redford and the film's screenwriter James Salter. They talk about the genesis of Downhill Racer. Redford wanted to make a trilogy of low-budget films about winning based on his experiences with sports. He chose skiing because he hadn't seen many films dealing with it. Redford liked that Salter approached the material in an abstract way. They also both wanted to explore the nature of winning.

"Coblenz, Harris and Jalbert" features interviews with production manager Walter Coblenz, editor Richard Harris and technical adviser/ski double Joe Jay Jalbert. They discuss their involvement in Downhill Racer. Jalbert point out that many of its dynamics ring true today. The film's cinema verite style is still popular with skiers of today. All three men tell several engaging filming anecdotes.

"Michael Ritchie at the AFI" includes audio excerpts from a 1977 seminar at the American Film Institute. Naturally, he talks about working on Downhill Racer and his career in T.V. He also speaks about getting involved in the project and the studio's resistance to the film.

Also included is the trailer.

Finally, there is "How Fast?" a promotional featurette done for the film's theatrical release. Narrated by Redford, it's not your usual press kit fluff, opting instead for a fascinating look at the sport of skiing before showing off some really good behind-the-scenes footage.

5/5 A Significant Piece of Film History
  by B. Carpenter (Bozeman, MT)
Given that this film has been taught and studied in film schools for almost three decades, it's arrival on Criterion seems egregiously late. Be that as it may.

Why is it an important piece of film history? This film represents creative successes and marketing failures.

Actors: Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Camilla Sparv, and Dabney Coleman all give restrained performances that are more intense for their economy. Well directed, these actors underplayed their roles and allowed personal and emotional tensions to build. It's a style of acting that is no longer in vogue, but this presents a classic example of it. There is a timelessness in the acting, too: despite the economy of portrayal, the complexity of every persona is clear. The audience knows each moment. The cafe scene between Hackman and Redford and the car scene between Redford and Sparv are some of the best in the film.

Director: Michael Ritchie has a strong creative vision, to be sure. He may be one of those artists who captured the aesthetic and ethos of a time at the expense of the rest of his career. In this movie and "The Candidate" Ritchie hit his peak. Like so many creative directors, he had to sacrifice his creative vision in order to continue his career on the strength of his technical skills. "Downhill Racer" and "The Candidate" are the early films in his career that still inspire young cinéastes studying the history of the medium, but they were influential in their own time, too. "Fletch Lives" and "The Golden Child," both Ritchie films, were made for box office marketability, as was pretty much everything he made after 1980. Perhaps Ritchie took that turn after the seed planted from the sting of "Downhill Racer." His own influences are clearly seen in "Downhill Racer" as his is place in the New Hollywood movement.

Writing: James Salter wrote the screenplay. Enough said. But, to say more: the common Salter themes are present, but also visible is his reading of Pindar. The victory odes of Pindar remain enduring examples of the psychology of victory, that apogee of mortality tangent to divinity on earth--a celebration of arêtê and the physical and mental discipline at any cost, in the ancient Greek mind, that is. The final scene and its seemingly early cut are as Pindaric as Olympian 1.

Marketing: The studio had no idea what to do with this film. The production staff, director, and actors all saw themselves as making an art house film. In an era long before Miramax, this was no easy task. The studio execs marketed it as an action film. Audiences, expecting one thing, saw another. "Downhill Racer" was a box office flop. Redford took this personally. This was the experience, actually the first of a string of studio "misunderstandings," that compelled him to found the Sundance Institute.

History: "Downhill Racer" is definitely a product of its time. As the New Hollywood movement was trying to make more "art house" movies, more inspired by French New Wave and less by "classical" Hollywood, these directors were trying to make creative and aesthetically edgy films on a shoestring budget, and they did. "Downhill Racer" and "Easy Rider" are some of the best examples of this moment in film history. (Cinema won't see that effort again until the Dogma movement.)

And if you happen to be a skier, especially a former racer, you'll see the soul of the sport. Sure, the equipment and technique is dated, but the attitudes and lifestyle are timeless.

Thank you, Criterion, for releasing this just in time for ski season!

5/5 Redford Was Never Better
  by michael patterson
Redford was never better than in this movie. He plays a self involved prima donna who never asks the audience to like him or forgive him. Very good acting by all: Gene Hackman, Dabney Coleman, Walter Stroud is relentless as the the father who gives his son nothing, and everyone else from the leads to the minor characters are perfect. Great film making. I hear it will finally be on sale, so it will go into my permanent collection very soon!

5/5 Worth seeing again
  by Josie (north central AZ)
Besides having some really good skiing scenes, there's a beautiful young Robert Redford. That's always worth a second, third and fourth look for we ladies.