Without Limits (1998)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Robert Towne

Writers (WGA):

Robert Towne (written by) and
Kenny Moore (written by)

Release Date:

11 September 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Pre-The Way he Competed...The Way he Lives his Life

Plot:

The film follows the life of famous 1970s runner Steve Prefontaine from his youth days in Oregon to...

Plot Keywords:

Olympics | Running | Box Office Flop | Olympic Games | Athlete

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win

Cast

Billy Crudup	...	Steve Prefontaine
Donald Sutherland	...	Bill Bowerman
Monica Potter	...	Mary Marckx
Jeremy Sisto	...	Frank Shorter
Matthew Lillard	...	Roscoe Devine
Dean Norris	...	Bill Dellinger
Billy Burke	...	Kenny Moore
Gabriel Olds	...	Don Kardong
Judith Ivey	...	Barbara Bowerman
William Mapother	...	Bob Peters
Adam Setliff	...	Mac Wilkins
Nicholas R. Oleson	...	Russ Francis (as Nicholas Oleson)
Amy Jo Johnson	...	Iowa's Finest
Lisa Banes	...	Elfriede Prefontaine
Frank Shorter	...	Fred Long
Charlie Jones	...	Himself
William Friedkin	...	TV director
David Coleman	...	BBC commentator
Jamie Schwering	...	Pre at age 6
Garth Granholm	...	George Young
Karen Elliott	...	Molly Cox
Greg Foote	...	Walt McClure
Ryan Scott Warren	...	Finnish Offical
Ken Merckx	...	Eugene Register reporter
Katharine Towne	...	Coed #1
Cassandra A. Coogan	...	Coed #2
Amy Erenberger	...	Coed #3
Edwin L. Coleman II	...	Turn judge
Jay Thorson	...	Pole vaulter
John Roemer	...	German guard
Wendy Ray	...	Hayward Field announcer
Wade Bell	...	Starter
Coleman Dow	...	Bully
Kim Nickel	...	Flight attendant
Jeffrey Atkinson	...	Steve Bence
James Howarth	...	Arne Kvalhiem
Avi Haas	...	Technical directo
Dawn Aotani	...	Control Room assistant #1
Jim Sevin	...	Control Room assistant #2
Pat Porter	...	Lasse Viren
Steve Ave	...	Mohamed Gammoudi
Jonathan Pritchard	...	Dave Bedford
Tom Ansberry	...	Emiel Putterman
Sol Alexis Sallos	...	Harold Norpoth
Thomas DeBacker	...	Juha Vastinen
Ashley Johnson	...	Ian Stewart
Brad Hudson	...	Javier Alvarez
Todd D. Lewis	...	Frank Eisenberg
Tove Christensen	...	Per Hallie
Chris Caldwell	...	Nikolay Sviridor
Paul Michael Vincent	...	Ian McCaffrety (as Paul Vincent)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthew Brooks	...	Oregon running extra
Joseph Burke	...	Campbell
Michael Consoldane	...	Finnish official
Mark Fretta	...	Runner
Melissa Heilman	...	Party guest / Fan / Pretty redhead
Kalin Jensen	...	Extra in crowd (as Kalin Berry)
Todd Lewis	...	Irate driver
Minka Ludwig
Erich Anderson	...	Collin Pounder (uncredited)
Rod Richards	...	Man at fence in last race (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Towne

Writing credits (WGA)
Robert Towne		(written by) and
Kenny Moore		(written by)

Produced by
Tom Cruise	....	producer
Kenny Moore	....	executive producer
Jonathan Sanger	....	executive producer
Paula Wagner	....	producer

Original Music by
Randy Miller

Cinematography by
Conrad L. Hall

Film Editing by
Charles Ireland
Robert K. Lambert
Claire Simpson

Casting by
Richard Pagano		(as Rick Pagano)

Production Design by
William J. Creber		(as William Creber)

Art Direction by
William J. Durrell Jr.		(as William J. Durell)

Set Decoration by
Cloudia

Costume Design by
Grania Preston

Makeup Department
David Abbott	....	makeup artist
Bridget Cook	....	department head hair stylist
Dennis Liddiard	....	key makeup artist
JoJo Myers Proud	....	hair stylist
Joni Powell	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Lester Berman	....	production manager
Debbi Bossi	....	post-production supervisor
Todd Lewis	....	production supervisor
Bill Draper	....	executive in charge of production (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eric Fox Hays	....	second second assistant director
Alex Kramarchuk	....	second assistant director
Benjamin Rosenberg	....	first assistant director
Jonathan Sanger	....	second unit director
W. Scott Wolf	....	additional second assistant director

Art Department
Jason Bedig	....	leadman
Giovanni Bianchini	....	prop assistant
Larry Clark Bird	....	property master
Ken Erck	....	signwriter
Susan Torri	....	art department assistant
Nancy Yeo	....	painter foreman

Sound Department
Benjamin Beardwood	....	dialogue editor
Patrick Bietz	....	sound editor
Bruce Bisenz	....	sound
Carmen Flores De Tanis	....	assistant sound editor
Joe Dorn	....	adr supervisor
Galen Goodpaster	....	assistant sound editor
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist
Scott Hecker	....	supervising sound editor
Michael Herbick	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kenneth L. Johnson	....	sound effects editor
Robert J. Litt	....	sound re-recording mixer
Myron Nettinga	....	sound effects editor
Marsha Sorce	....	sound recordist
Elliot Tyson	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Charles A. Carlsen	....	special effects
Josh Hakian	....	special effects coordinator
Bob Riggs	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Janek Sirrs	....	visual effects

Stunts
Jack Carpenter	....	stunts
Edward Conna	....	stunt double
Shawn Crowder	....	stunt driver
Birgit K. Schier	....	stunts
Harry Wowchuk	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Erik Bernstein	....	best boy electric
Linda R. Chen	....	still photographer
Michael K. Davis	....	rigger
Luke Freeborn	....	swing gang: Oregon
Conrad W. Hall	....	camera operator: second unit
Wes Houle	....	set grip
Michael Kenner	....	key grip
David R. Kohn	....	lighting technician
Wayne Kosky	....	grip
Jeff Pelton	....	camera loader
Sean Smith	....	electrician
Zoran Veselic	....	first assistant camera
Randy Woodside	....	chief lighting technician
Chuck Cohen	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Casting Department
Tina Kerr	....	extras casting
Kari G. Peyton	....	athletic casting
Deedra Ricketts	....	extras casting
Tana Roller	....	extras casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lynda Foote	....	costume supervisor
Lizz Wolf	....	assistant costume designer
Barbara Marko	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Sarah Flack	....	assistant editor
John Hendrickson	....	apprentice editor
Gary Lundgren	....	apprentice editor
David Orr	....	color timer
Stefanie Wiseman	....	first assistant editor
Bill Daly	....	post-production executive (uncredited)

Music Department
Danny Bramson	....	music supervisor
Scott Grusin	....	composer: additional music
Carlton Kaller	....	music editor
Stephanie Lowry	....	assistant music editor
Randy Miller	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Valary Bremier	....	driver
Monica Garris-Powell	....	driver: cast (as Monica Powell)
David Norris	....	transportation captain
Stanley Storc	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Brett Baker	....	stand-in: Billy Crudup
Steve Bence	....	consultant: track and field
Jesse Blanco	....	production assistant
Joanie Blum	....	script supervisor
Kristie Breslin	....	production assistant
Sara Burton	....	location manager
Patrice Donnelly	....	technical advisor
Patrice Donnelly	....	track and field trainer
Rebecca Feldman	....	production assistant
Janice Friedman	....	video archive supervisor
Thomas Garris	....	diver
Shaun Gavin	....	assistant location manager
Avi Haas	....	associate to producer
Shannon Hamed	....	assistant coordinator
Paul Haytas	....	stand-in: Dean Norris
Emilio Hurmuziou	....	production assistant
Tina Kerr	....	crowd promotions
Saveria T. Mazzola	....	production assistant
Darren Miller	....	studio executive
Tim Monich	....	dialect coach
Rick Roesch	....	payroll accountant
Sebastian Twardosz	....	assistant: Paula Wagner
Robert Warberg	....	accountant
Anna Waterhouse	....	project consultant

Production Companies

• Cruise/Wagner Productions

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Warner Bros. (Argentina)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Computer Film Company, The (CFC) (greenscreen compositing)

Other Companies

• Cablecam International  special camera equipment
• Sullivan Productions  The Making of Without Limits

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief sexual material and brief strong language.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Finnish | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | UK:12 | UK:15 (video rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Portugal:M/6 (video premiere) | USA:G (short version) | USA:PG-13 | Spain:7 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Citrus College - 1000 West Foothill Boulevard, Glendora, California, USA

Company:

Cruise/Wagner Productions

Trivia:

Robert Towne wanted Tommy Lee Jones to play Bill Bowerman, but he turned it down.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the athletes toe the line just prior to the start of the 5000 meter Olympic final you see several of the runners wearing modern running shoes, not the time period track spikes they are later shown to be wearing.

Quotes:

Bill Bowerman: Running, one might say, is basically an absurd past-time upon which to be exhausting ourselves. But if you can find meaning, in the kind of running you have to do to stay on this team, chances are you will be able to find meaning in another absurd past-time: Life.

Movie Connections:

Version of Prefontaine (1997)

Soundtrack:

Comin' Back to Me

Robert Towne+ Passion = Success

I've never been quite sure, whether it was Personal Best that strongly attracted Robert Towne to running, or that he was already a big fan when he began that project. Suffice it to say that when one of our greatest living screenwriters brings his personal passion to his work, the results will be exemplary.

"Without Limits' only became a movie, because Tom Cruise said so, and thankfully he did. Where as the other Prefontaine bio-pic ‘Prefontaine' provided an honest, technical look at Pre's life and the sport of running, `Without Limits' is more of a lyrical homage to the sport, the man, the zen of it all.

The performances seamlessly intermesh with the story-Donald Sutherland is good, as Coach Bill Bowerman, but Sutherland is always good..and I believe his performance here has gotten more recognition as a result of the way Towne has organized his version-the Bowerman role is centerpiece, in contrast to the more downplayed, subtler roles of the other principals.

Let Robert Towne do whatever he wants, I will come and watch.