Product Description

Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci is profiled in this heart-warming family film. Nadia began training competitively at the age of six, with the now world-famous coach, Bela Karolyi and his wife Marta. At fourteen, she became the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect 10 and walked away with five gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze at the 1976 Olympics. The petite gymnast from Romania was now an overnight media sensation, inspiring a whole new generation of future Nadias. But, fame came with a high price. As Nadia grew into a young woman she struggled with isolation, weight gain that threatened her career and the fear of exceeding increasingly high standards.

Nadia captures the hard work and determination of a young girl driven to success. The film stars Oscar® nominee Carrie Snodgrass (Diary of A Mad Housewife), Talia Balsam (Without A Trace), two-time Emmy® nominee Conchata Ferrell and Johann Carlo (Quiz Show).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6211 in DVD
• Brand: MPI HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2007-04-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Features

• Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci is profiled in this heart-warming family film. Nadia began training competitively at the age of six, with the now world-famous coach, Bela Karolyi and his wife Marta. At fourteen, she became the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect 10 and walked away with five gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze at the 1976 Olympics. The petite gymnast from Romania was

Amazon.com
The first gymnast to ever score a perfect 10 at the Olympics was Nadia Comaneci. From a small town in Romania, Nadia (Leslie Weiner, in her only feature film role) rose to international stardom. Under the coaching guidance of Bela Karoli, she pushed herself with the will of a champion. This movie does a wonderful job of showing how hard gymnasts must work as well as showing how much they must give up in their personal lives in order to achieve success. After winning three gold medals at the 1976 Olympics, her life spins out of control when Bela is removed as her coach. For the first time in her life she is on her own, she is the object of jealousy from her teammates, and her weight is out of control. She seeks out her former coach and asks for his help. Together they put Nadia back on the winning track. A family film with a lot to offer, Nadia shows in a credible way the highs and lows of celebrity. The gymnastics portions are terrific. A must if there's a budding gymnast or gymnastic enthusiast in your home. Made in 1984 for television. (Ages 5 to adult) --Peggy Maltby-Etra

Customer Reviews

Nadia: The Beinnings of an Olympic Champion
I loved this movie when I was a little girl, and have been trying to track it down since the neighbor who owned it moved away when I was 10 years old. This movie traces Nadia's career in gymnastics, starting from the moment she was discovered in the schoolyard by Bela Caroli when she was only 5 or 6 years old. We learn of the difficulties Nadia encounters, as her life is slowly taken over by the sport in many ways. However, we also witness all of her victories, starting with the competition where she was chosen to represent her country and first stole the spotlight from the other young gymnasts. The movie follows Nadia's life up to the Olympics, and the gymnastics scenes are all intercut with scenes from Nadia's real performances.I believe that anybody who loves gymnastics will really enjoy this movie. I really hope that it will be rereleased on VHS because I can't wait to buy a copy of my own!

Where's the rest of the movie?
I bought this VHS for my daughter, who is starting gymnastics lessons on the fall. While it was a good introduction to gymnastics for her, I can't help but feel really cheated. There is a LOT missing from this VHS version! There are scenes that abruptly cut off without explanation. There is a nice scene in the beginning where Nadia meets another little gymnast, they do an impromptu gymnastics routine together and lie on the mat and talk. That entire scene was cut out, so you're left not even knowing that they are friends. The was a lot more missing - more towards the end, that I realized after the film was over. I'm not sure why they didn't just release the film in its entirety, but it left the viewer with a feeling that character development was rather shallow, and it was more like a quick after-school special than a "bio", which is what the original version was. I would suggest waiting for this to eventually reappear on cable, rather than buying this version if you want something complete.

My Childhood Dream
This was my favorite movie when I was a little girl - my sister and I used to pretend we were Nadia and Teodoro and we would act out all the scenes... we knew all the words by heart, from "Do you think it's possible for a little girl to fly?" to "You ARE fat!" We were devastated when our house got broken in to and our VCR was stolen, along with this video, which was inside it.

I can still remember the gymnastics routines. All of them.

Great movie. I recommend it for anyone who had childhood dreams.