The Dream Never Dies (1980) User Reviews

A documentary of A ski racer on a quest for his dream.

[ericlundy · 10/10 · 7 October 2000]

This documentary movie is about a Canadien Ski Racer in search of the overall World Cup Championship. I grew up watching this film with my racing team. Now it is a film I know by heart. It is very entertaining to those who like to A:Ski Race, or B:Make fun of Canadiens. If you can find this film, I would recommend it to all who have a dream and wish to follow it. In the words of Steve Podvorski "I'm just a racer eh."

Ken Read's assault on the World Cup Downhill title

[alexander-churchill · 4 December 2002]

First of all, making fun of CanadiEns would either be conducted in French, or directed at a Montreal-based hockey club - or most fittingly, both. If one wishes to make fun of CanadiAns, I can think of a number of movies that do the job much better than this one - anything involving William Shatner comes to mind. Now, this flick is a period piece of the highest order - the budget was $400,000 CAD - a sum that would be unimaginable to muster for this type of project in Canada today. That is just a small indication of the type of media presence, charisma and pull that Ken Read, Steve Podborski and the rest of the "Crazy Canucks" (Dave murray, Dave Irwin and "Jungle" Jim Hunter) had north of the 49th parallel. In addition to their success on the hill (Podborski later went on to win the World Cup Dowhill title that eluded Read during the course of the season that "The Dream Never Dies" chronicles and have his own, and by my recollection lesser, film made about it - "13 Minutes to Wait") they were well spoken in multiple languages (witness Read carrying on press conferences in German, English, French and Italian), bona fide sporting playboys (in an era where "sporting" and "playboy" were not mutually exclusive) and, as the group nickname implies - they skied with a reckless abondon not seen before or since in the staid, Euro-centric world of alpine racing. Read did everything that Billy D. Johnson did, but in complete sentences. Want an idea of what it takes to push hockey off the front of the sports pages in The Great White North? This film gives an detailed picture of one of the few times it's actually happened. Podborski may have "Just been a racer, eh?" but The Crazy Canucks together and Ken Read in particular were so much more.

Classic Period Piece w/Great Music

[kylebernhardt · 10/10 · 21 December 2004]

Funny that I just stumbled on this movie and the comments, I actually knew the person who made the previous comment. This movie is a classic documentary of the niche sport (in US minds) of downhill racing. At the time of the movie, Ken Read was an up and coming star looking for his breakout year. Following this athlete and his teammates through the season paints a lucid picture of the life of a world cup racer at the start of the 80s. While this movie is not earth shattering in its impact on the sport, it is fun to watch. The narration is great, with classic lines like "But it was not to be at Chamonix," it's tough not to like this one for its cheesy value. I would recommend this movie to anybody who grew up ski racing and can appreciate the culture and allure of Kitzbuhel. If I could find it, I would own it.