Recently when I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts by our very own Matt B. Davis, the Obstacle Racing Media Podcast, I heard him interviewing Laz (Gary) about The Barkley Marathons Documentary. As someone who as been fascinated by this ultra race and by other mysterious events such as the Death Race I couldn’t wait to watch it. What I also learned while listening to the podcast was a bit of important side info in a way that you would almost expect Laz to say it. The documentary on dvd has hours more footage than you can see in a theatre screening or by streaming it by amazon. Be sure to check the two buying options at the top of this post – if you want to see more footage get the DVD – but if you just want to see it streamed fast and easy use the amazon link. Read on for a little about what makes this documentary interesting.
The Barkley Marathons Documentary Movie Plot
Seeing as how this is a documentary about a famous ultra marathon the plot is pretty straightforward. They start out with giving you a little background on how the race was formed and who is involved in the continuing tradition. Next up is the introduction of the runners for this years race (2012). They all came from such different backgrounds that it was fascinating to see the grit of what makes someone run the race. You can’t really put your finger on it either, but they all want to finish this race so badly.
After the early stages the movie starts to get really interesting with the race getting underway. With 5 loops and up to 60 hours of time this is the real core of the movie. It’s really fascinating to see how well the movie editors seamlessly integrated everyones experience no matter how different it was.
When the movie is ending I wanted so much more and I was glad I had gotten the extra footage. Amazing stories and feats of accomplishment like this can go on forever in my opinion. I don’t mean that they can drag on but that I would gladly watch this as a continuing series ever day of the week. And without giving too much away this movie ends with you on the edge of your seat.
The Barkley Marathons Documentary Movie Experience
What can I say but it was a spectacular documentary that gave me goose bumps at many moments. The Barkley Marathon documentary is full of highs and lows while this small group of athletes pushing it beyond all limits. There are runners from elite backgrounds and runners that almost appear unqualified to even run a regular marathon. But they all do it, and they do it with pride and determination.
Some of the failures are spectacular and really funny, but you like to see people have the opportunity to really find out that something about themselves. – Laz
Some of the failures are spectacular and really funny, but you like to see people have the opportunity to really find out that something about themselves. – LazWhen watching you start to get a sense as to what these people are in for. The tricky thing is that you don’t really know what they are in for and neither do they. You will get a sense for Laz and his twisted but refreshing sense of old fashion humor. It adds to the whole experience of the movie because your imagination gets to run wild as to what the course is and how many different ways the runners will try to traverse it.
The Barkley Marathons Documentary Movie Conclusion
If you have any interest in extreme feats that humans can pull off this documentary is for you – even if you don’t understand runners or ultra running. If you understand running at all this movie will suck you in even more. It might even make you start a little dream of your own to one day compete and complete this race. Wether you want the extra footage in the DVD or just want the standard footage of the streaming movie, I highly suggest you watch this.
Dario
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