Rotten Tomatoes
Suggestions will appear as you start typing. Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App New News Showtimes

Downhill Racer

Play trailer 2:37 Poster for Downhill Racer PG,  1969,  1h 42m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Downhill Racer: Trailer 1 Downhill Racer: Trailer 1 Now Playing View more videos
Watchlist 81% 27 Reviews Tomatometer 58% 1,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
81% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 58% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A smug and overly self-assured downhill skier, David Chappellet (Robert Redford), joins the American ski team and quickly makes waves with his arrogant behavior and even flashier maneuvers on the slopes, falling into conflict with the team's coach (Gene Hackman). A rivalry also develops between David and Johnny Creech (Jim McMullan), the man who is considered the team's best skier, as both push themselves and each other in a race to the Olympic Games.
Downhill Racer

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Downhill Racer plunges the viewer thrillingly into the action of the sport -- and continues to hold the attention as a thoughtful drama.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
TIME Staff TIME Magazine May 30, 2018
A modest effort but a good one. It may be the first film in history that starts at the top, goes steadily downhill, and still stays interesting along the way. Go to Full Review
Chris Nashawaty Entertainment Weekly May 30, 2018
A
One of the great unheralded films of the late '60s. Go to Full Review
Keith Phipps AV Club May 30, 2018
B+
Downhill Racer doesn't always work... As a look at how [Robert] Redford's character and those orbiting him spend their time between runs, however, it's superb. Go to Full Review
Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap Mar 30, 2026
3/5
Highly praised for its stark, unromantic portrait of sports, the movie that helped make Robert Redford a star is unimpressive in both its skiing footage and emotional appeal. Go to Full Review
Sarah Boslaugh TheArtsStl Jan 24, 2026
7/10
[Downhill Racer] features lots of abrupt cuts spanning big jumps in time and place, with a minimum of connecting material, while interactions among characters are stripped down to their shortest possible length... Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Oct 20, 2020
4/5
Excitingly adept in its presentation of potentially ruinous ambition, Downhill Racer continues to exceed expectations of formula and tone. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Jan 31, 2019 The best sports movie ever made!
Harry R Dec 30, 2018 To Absorb Humility Over Art. Downhill Racer Ritchie's eerie camera work and sharp editing manages to keep the drama enthralling as much as the chills of the race does. And with stunning locations and clean rich production design, the film endorses the quality to its peak. Even though the entire script is directed towards the build up of the nail biting competition, personally, I feel the dramatic bits of the film oozes more energy. With stillness projected like never before, Redford charges you with his cold inhuman looks to fabricate his persona as more human. Frankly, his character isn't likeable. There is very little skin for Redford to sugar top the senses, but his conviction on his deep dark intuitions is something that we all connect to easily. The first act is undoubtedly one of the wittiest weaved out sequence by the writers in here. Without uttering much verbal sparring, the daily routine and the places our protagonist visits, is depicted with a smoothness of "documentary" in here, it does feel real. After such a boost, the film denses up with multiple complex equations of Redford with others and milks out the three dimensional aspect out of them. The film is way too mature for its genre, or it definitely is the "first" of all, for things never do go as anticipated, and armed with such intentions, Ritchie fiddles with his viewers subconsciously. There is no doubt on performance level, Redford on the front is a charming flawed ambitious boy that is sculpted as a man over this almost hundred minutes of journey. His persuasion on keeping the stats accurate is what attracts you even though the figures are misleading. And Hackman as the mentor, does not follow your usual arc of sweet and bitter relationship of his, his methods are effective, always. Downhill Racer is Redford surfing over eye popping locations and jaw dropping realizations of nature. See more
Luke L Nov 6, 2018 This film was almost good.
Read all reviews
Downhill Racer

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING
Separated at Birth 50% Separated at Birth Watchlist Live From Baghdad 78% 84% Live From Baghdad Watchlist Antisocial.app 15% Antisocial.app Watchlist The Charge of the Light Brigade 67% 59% The Charge of the Light Brigade Watchlist Raid on Entebbe 63% Raid on Entebbe Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A smug and overly self-assured downhill skier, David Chappellet (Robert Redford), joins the American ski team and quickly makes waves with his arrogant behavior and even flashier maneuvers on the slopes, falling into conflict with the team's coach (Gene Hackman). A rivalry also develops between David and Johnny Creech (Jim McMullan), the man who is considered the team's best skier, as both push themselves and each other in a race to the Olympic Games.
Director
Michael Ritchie
Producer
Richard Gregson
Screenwriter
James Salter
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Wildwood, Wildwood Enterprises
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 28, 1969, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2015
Runtime
1h 42m
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings