Ancient Olympics: Let the Games Begin (2004)
• January 1st, 2004 • 0h 52min
Documentary, History
Overview
Come back with us to Ancient Greece, 2,500 Years ago to the original Olympic Games. The ancient Games, like our modern Olympics, included champions and cheaters, glory and scandals, bitter rivalries and contests of strength, speed and savage combat. Set in 448 BC when the pounding of horse's hooves and the brutal hand-to-hand combat could be heard and seen by the crowds that filled the Olympic stadium. This one-hour special event follows the glory and corruption of the arc of a single, five-day Olympiad. The competitions include chariot racing, running, jumping, discus, javelin and two man-to-man combat finals-boxing and pankration, a form of extreme fighting in which death was not uncommon. With the help of sports historians and great athletes such as George Chuvalo and Olympic medallists Donovan Bailey and Angela Schneider, viewers travel back to a very different life-in a very different world.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
Ben-Hur
Released on: 1959-11-18
History, Drama, Adventure
In 25 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accuse...
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
Released on: 1938-04-21
Documentary
Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greec...
Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty
Released on: 1938-06-02
Documentary
Part two of Leni Riefenstahl's monumental examination of the 1938 Olympic Games, the cameras leave t...
Munich
Released on: 2005-12-23
Drama, Action, History, Thriller
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a...
Sanggyedong Olympic
Released on: 1988-01-01
Documentary
When it was decided that the 88 Olympics would be held in Seoul, the residents of Sanggye-dong were ...
Cleopatra: Mother, Mistress, Murderer, Queen
Released on: 2016-04-07
Documentary
Cleopatra, the last Egyptian queen and one of the most legendary women in history. A beautiful seduc...
Chariots of Fire
Released on: 1981-05-15
Drama, History
In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners tr...
Operation Gamescan 76
Released on: 1977-01-01
Documentary
This short documentary profiles the Canadian military’s organization, logistical, and security opera...
Finding Satoshi
Released on: 2022-01-21
Documentary, Mystery
With only a photograph and a name, a group of passionate puzzle players have been trying without suc...
Helen Maroulis: Girls Can't Wrestle
Released on: 2017-04-12
Documentary
People have doubted Helen Maroulis her entire life. Many believed there was no room for her in the s...
The Race to Dope
Released on: 2016-06-15
Documentary
Russia is about to be banned from participating in the next Olympics. Six other countries are on the...
The Queen of Basketball
Released on: 2021-06-10
Documentary
Part of the Almost Famous series. She was arguably the greatest women's basketball player. She won t...
We Could Be Heroes
Released on: 2018-05-02
Documentary
Moroccan paralympic gold medalist Azzedine Nouiri is no longer looking for the longest throw, but to...
Spartacus
Released on: 1960-10-13
History, War, Drama, Adventure
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. A...
Cleopatra
Released on: 1963-06-12
Drama, History, Romance
Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar ...
White Rock
Released on: 1977-01-29
Documentary
British documentary filmmaker and producer Tony Maylam reinvigorated the sports documentary genre wi...
Trojan Horse: The New Evidence
Released on: 2014-01-01
Documentary
For centuries Troy was believed to be a mythical city. Now, a leading team of American archaeologist...
16 Days of Glory
Released on: 1985-10-23
Documentary
The definitive photographic record of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, told "from the inside" through ...
We Beat the Dream Team
Released on: 2025-02-17
Documentary
Discover the little-known story of a group of college basketball players who were tasked with prepar...