Movies about Winter Olympics a slippery lot

Although not nearly as spectacular as the Summer Games, the 2010 Winter Olympics kick off Saturday morning when athletes from 80 nations hit the ice and snow in Vancouver, Canada.

For 16 days, Olympians will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in 15 categories. Some of the events are well known to Americans, such as figure skating. American skaters including Dorothy Hamill, Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi and Peggy Fleming have brought home 44 medals since the first Winter Games in 1924.

The top event for Americans has been speed skating with 63 medals over the years. Eric Heiden won five gold medals in speed skating at the Lake Placid Games. Illinois native Bonnie Blair also has five gold medals, including medals won at three consecutive Winter Olympics.

Americans have not fared well in some events including cross-country skiing, curling and the ski jump. Americans have won only one medal in each of those events. The luge is another weak spot for Americans with only four medals over the years.

Americans have never won a medal in the biathlon (cross-country ski and shoot) nor the Nordic combined (ski jumping and cross-country skiing) though there is hope that this may be the year Americans finally win a medal in the latter.

Hollywood traditionally loves sports movies but has only smiled on the Winter Olympics a handful of times, mostly with movies about figure skating and hockey.

Norwegian skating sensation Sonja Henie won medals at three Winter Games and then made a dozen Hollywood movies that somehow always found a way for her to lace up the skates such as “Sun Valley Serenade.” American skater Lynn Holly-Johnson starred as an Olympic hopeful in “Ice Castles,” which was remade last year.

The surprising American hockey team of 1980 has been the focus of two miles: “Miracle on Ice” in 1981 and “Miracle” in 2004.

There have been occasional movies about other winter sports including “Men with Brooms” about curling, which involves throwing a stone down an icy path with teammates armed with brooms sweeping furiously in front of the stone. It looks even sillier, believe me.

Here are six films available on video and DVD that feature the Winter Olympics or its athletes.

“The Cutting Edge” (1992) – D.B. Sweeney is a former hockey player who partners with Moira Kelly in a last-ditch attempt to win the pairs figure skating gold medal. They start out hating each other but eventually … you get the idea. Other stars include Roy Dotrice and Terry O’Quinn.

“Downhill Racer” (1969) – Robert Redford is a cold, calculating skiing machine who doesn’t play nice with others including his Olympic coach (Gene Hackman) in director Michael Ritchie’s film debut. Other stars include Camilla Sparv as the woman who almost gets through to Redford.

“Cool Runnings” (1993) – John Candy stars as a disgraced Olympian hired to coach the first Jamaican bobsled team in this comedy based on a true story. Other stars include Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba and Rawle D. Davis.

“Miracle” (2004) – Kurt Russell stars as Herb Brooks, the unheralded coach who took a team of little known college hockey players and upset the Russian juggernaut en route to an unlikely gold medal at the 1980 games in Lake Placid. Other stars include Patricia Clarkson, Sean McCann and Noah Emmerich.

“Blades of Glory” (2007) – Will Ferrell and Jon Heder (pictured above) star as disgraced Olympic figure skaters who despite being banned from the Games find a loophole that allows them to compete as partners in this goofy sports comedy. Other stars include Will Arnett and Amy Poehler as ruthless rival skaters, Jenna Fischer and Craig T. Nelson.

These are the voyages of ...

"Star Trek" is back and better than ever with a new movie of the same name that introduces the characters from the original series that Trekkers love but also adds a few new wrinkles to the 40-year-old franchise.

Most of the "Star Trek" universe that has unfolded since the original series debuted in 1966 is the same in this movie. There is the Federation. Teens still attend Star Fleet Academy. Vulcans and humans are friends. Klingons are out there. So are Romulans. But there are some significant differences that you'll have to see for yourself.

"Star Trek" takes us back to the literal beginning of James T. Kirk and then introduces all of the old favorites from the original series. Kirk has a chip on his shoulder. Spock is torn between two worlds. Chekov is a young whiz kid. Sulu is a swashbuckler. Scottie works magic with his machines. Uhura is a hottie. And Bones McCoy is ... well ... Bones McCoy.

"Star Trek" could easily be a one-time deal but given it raked in almost $150 million in its first two weekends and these stars are all young and beautiful (except Simon Pegg as Scottie) I'd say another film is in our future.

Nobody except maybe series creator Gene Roddenberry knew what was possible when "Star Trek" made its debut in 1966. The series bounced around and was unceremoniously cancelled after only three seasons.

Then reruns surfaced in syndication and the show took off. After years of debate, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" opened in 1979. And even though it is considered by many Trekkers to be the worst of the bunch it did well enough to inspire a second film, "The Wrath of Khan," which revisited an episode from the original series about super-humans that Kirk maroons on a planet. It was a hit.

That was followed in short order by a third movie, "The Search for Spock," and a new television series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and suddenly "Star Trek" was hotter than a supernova.

Seven more movies followed and along the way the original cast turned over the film reins to the cast from "The Next Generation." Four more television series also came along.

Critics said the franchise was in trouble after the 10th movie, "Nemesis," fared poorly at the box office in 2002. An attempt was made with the fifth television series, "Enterprise," to find a new approach by going back to the founding of the Federation. The series stumbled along for a couple of seasons. Then tried something radical by devoting season three to a single storyline about a race called the Xindi trying to wipe out humanity. The show seemed to finally find itself in season four but was still cancelled.

Now director J.J. Abrams has a hit movie with "Star Trek" and all is right with the world.

Trekkers have their favorite episodes and movies, but if you are new to the game and want to catch up on the "Star Trek" universe, here are my choices for the best episodes from the five "Star Trek" series as well as what is considered the best of the movies. Live long and prosper!

"The City on the Edge of Forever" (1967) -- Joan Collins guest stars in Episode 28 of the original series' first season. Kirk and Spock land in 1930s New York while chasing Dr. McCoy, who has gone mad from an accidental drug overdose and jumped through a time portal. Kirk gets the girl as usual, but must let her go or else change Earth's history. Stars include William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan and Robbins' own Nichelle Nichols. Probably the best of the time travel episodes.

"Q Who?" (1989) -- John de Lancie guest stars in "The Next Generation's" Season 2, Episode 16 as omnipotent prankster Q, who tosses the Enterprise 7,000 light years away into the Federation's first encounter with the Borg. Stars include Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Whoopi Goldberg and Wil Wheaton. This episode introduced the Borg, who went on to become one of the franchise's baddest villains.

"Badda-Bing, Badda-Bing" (1999) -- Episode 15 of the final season of "Deep Space Nine" finds the command staff acting like the cast of "Ocean's Eleven" as they try to save the holosuite casino from a hostile mob takeover. Stars include Avery Brooks, Nicole de Boer, Michael Dorn, Nana Visitor, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman and James Darren as nightclub crooner Vic Fontaine. A nice change of pace from the Dominion War that dominated the last two seasons of this series.

"Year of Hell" (1997) -- Capt. Janeway's starship Voyager is falling apart and its crew dying off as it attempts to fight off a Krenim time ship that is attempting to recreate a better past for its people in this two-part episode from Season 4. Stars include Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Robert Picardo, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill and Kurtwood Smith as the Krenim captain. I loved the toll the battle was taking on poor Voyager.

"In a Mirror, Darkly" (2005) -- This two-part episode from the final season of "Enterprise" is a delightfully evil twist as the Federation of the Mirror Universe is a lot different from the peace-loving bunch in our universe. All the characters are here but they are nasty counterparts who scheme against one another and plot to take over the Terran Empire when they discover a Federation ship from the future. Stars include Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock, Linda Park and Connor Trinneer.

"Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986) -- Kirk and company rescue the Earth yet again when they go back in time to fetch some whales to repopulate the species and stop a ship from destroying the planet. There are plenty of laughs in this entry. Stars include William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley and Catherine Hicks as a whale expert.