Blades of Glory

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Blades of Glory
Official movie poster
Directed by	Josh Gordon Will Speck
Produced by	Ben Stiller Stuart Cornfeld John Jacobs
Written by	John Altschuler Craig Cox Jeff Cox Dave Krinsky Story by Busy Philipps
Starring	Will Ferrell Jon Heder Will Arnett Amy Poehler William Daniels Jenna Fischer William Fichtner Romany Malco Nick Swardson Rob Corddry Craig T. Nelson
Music by	Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography	Stefan Czapsky
Editing by	Richard Pearson Max Coyne
Distributed by	DreamWorks/Paramount
Release date(s)	March 30, 2007
Running time	93 mins.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$53 million^[1]
Gross revenue	$142,108,832 (worldwide)
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Blades of Glory is a 2007 American comedy film directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, and starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. The movie was released on March 30, 2007 by DreamWorks (through Paramount Pictures). It was rated PG-13 by the MPAA, and 12 by BBFC. It was released on DVD and on HD DVD on August 28, 2007 and released on Blu-ray Disc on May 20, 2008.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception and box office
5 Real skaters on set
6 Trivia
7 References to figure skating in the movie
8 Figure skating elements in the film
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Plot

At the 2003 World WinterSport Games, rival men's singles skaters Chazz Michael Michaels, a skilful skater but raunchy sex addict (Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy, a talented but slightly arrogant skater (Heder) tie for gold and an argument ensues on the awards podium. It quickly develops into a brawl. Having disgraced their sport, they both receive a lifetime ban from men's singles competition. Jimmy's billionaire adoptive father (William Fichtner) disowns him and leaves him on the side of the road.

Three and a half years later, Jimmy is working as a stock boy at a winter sporting goods store and gets demoted to sorting out the stock when he refuses to listen to a customer telling him her skating boot is too tight, and Chazz skates in the kiddie skating show 'Grublets on Ice' as the 'Evil Wizard,' has gained a lot of weight and gets fired from his job for being in a drunken stupor onstage. Jimmy's stalker Hector (Nick Swardson) tells him of a loophole in the ban: he is banned only from singles skating and can still compete in pair skating or ice dancing. Jimmy contacts his old coach (Craig T. Nelson) but is unable to find a female pairs partner. Jimmy's search for a partner leads him to Chazz, and his coach convinces the two of them to join up as same-sex pairs team, because of a loophole in the regulations that fail to state the genders of the pairs and dance team, found by Jimmy's stalker Hector.

Chazz and Jimmy compete at US Nationals.

The reigning U.S. national pairs champions, the brother-sister team of Stranz and Fairchild van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler), see the new pair as a threat to their dominance and begin to conspire against Chazz and Jimmy. The pair convince their sister Katie (Jenna Fischer) to spy on the new team. They always took advantage of her by reminding her of their parents' death which she was sort of responsible for. In the process, she becomes acquainted with Jimmy and they flirt. Although Chazz and Jimmy are initially disgusted by each other, they eventually develop a friendship. They compete at the United States Figure Skating Championships and earn a chance to compete at the WinterSport Games once again, this time as a pairs team.

Chazz and Jimmy’s coach informs them that, in order to win, they will need to perform a technique that has never before been performed successfully. The technique, called the Iron Lotus, is an extremely complicated maneuver that Coach developed years ago while he was still training pairs. However, it is also extremely dangerous: the only known attempt of the maneuver took place in North Korea and resulted in the man decapitating the woman with his skate blade. Nonetheless, they decide to attempt it as the coach is convinced that the shortcomings of the Korean attempt was that the physics were off - and two males would be better suited for the move. They then begin to train. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Katie begin a romantic relationship with some help from Chazz and Fairchild. Seeking to exploit this new friendship Fairchild commands Katie to disrupt the duo by having sex with Chazz, threatening to harm Jimmy physically if Katie does not comply. Katie invites Chazz to her room, where she tries to seduce him. Chazz refuses to have sex with Katie, citing his friendship with Jimmy as the reason, but cannot resist groping her chest. Jimmy witnesses this and is outraged at Chazz's and Katie's betrayals.

The next day, Chazz and Jimmy are both kidnapped and restrained, separately, by Stranz and Fairchild, who are determined to prevent the two from competing. Katie gets tired of her siblings and accepts that their parents weren't properly safe while driving. While handcuffing Jimmy in a bathroom, Fairchild reveals that she and Stranz had commanded Katie to have sex with Chazz yet she did not go through with it, to Jimmy's relief. Chazz escapes but is pursued by Stranz through the city: the pursuit is on ice (with skates) at first but is then continued through streets and stores. He tries to kill Chazz with a crossbow, but accidentally shoots the WinterSport Games Mascot. Jimmy, locked in a men's bathroom, also escapes.

Meanwhile, Stranz and Fairchild perform their routine, a dramatization of the "forbidden love" of JFK and Marilyn Monroe. Both Chazz and Jimmy arrive separately in the ice rink just in time to compete. Chazz and Jimmy reconcile quickly (Chazz telling Jimmy and the entire arena that "Katie is not a whore") and begin their routine, which has a science fiction theme. Fairchild, seeing the two doing extremely well, throws a pearl from her costume onto the ice. Chazz trips over the pearl and breaks his ankle, which renders him unable to perform his role in the Iron Lotus. Jimmy then offers to switch places with him. Although they have never practiced the other's roles (and it took hundreds of tries for Chazz to not decapitate a test dummy), they perform the Iron Lotus perfectly. Jimmy and Chazz win the competition, Jimmy reconciles with Katie, and Stranz and Fairchild are arrested due to the kidnappings as well as Stranz shooting the mascot. Stranz and Fairchild begin arguing, then kiss each other incestuously. Chazz and Jimmy then meet and fly off into the sky (literally, through some sort of rockets on their skates). While the credits are rolling, Hector is seen playing with dolls of himself, Jimmy and Chazz.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Will Ferrell	Chazz Michael Michaels
Jon Heder	Jimmy MacElroy
Will Arnett	Stranz Van Waldenberg
Jenna Fischer	Katie Van Waldenberg
Amy Poehler	Fairchild Van Waldenberg
Craig T. Nelson	Coach
Nick Swardson	Hector
Romany Malco	Jesse
Rob Corddry	Bryce
William Daniels	Commissioner Ebbers
William Fichtner	Darren MacElroy

[edit] Production

All of the scenes at the United States Figure Skating Championships and World Wintersport Games were shot at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The outdoor chase scenes were shot on-location in Montreal. The building used for athlete housing in Montreal was the unique Habitat 67, built for Expo 67.

The film was delayed for a small undetermined period of time when Jon Heder broke his ankle while doing a skating program for the movie.^[2] Ironically, it is Ferrell's character whose ankle was broken in the film.

At one point in the film, Jon Heder's character answers a reporter's question in Japanese. Heder actually does speak fluent Japanese, having spent two years in Japan as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[edit] Reception and box office

The film had favorable reviews, earning an 8.5 from its Movie Crab review, scoring 70% "Fresh" in Rotten Tomatoes, and the critics' consensus was that "Blades of Glory successfully milks its one-joke premise into a feature-length comedy".^[3]

The movie grossed $33,014,202 on its opening weekend in March 30- April 1 with 3,372 theaters, averaging $9,790 per screen, beating out Disney's Meet The Robinsons to be the #1 movie. It made $22.5 million in its second weekend, losing only 32% of its audience and retaining the #1 spot. As of December 3, 2007 the film has made $118,245,842 in America and $26,264,403 in the foreign market place. Its worldwide tally is $144,510,245.

[edit] Real skaters on set

Sarah Kawahara - Main Choreographer
Lisa Marie Allen - Asst. Choreographer
Sasha Cohen - Herself
Scott Hamilton - Himself/Commentator
Peggy Fleming - Herself/Skating Official
Brian Boitano - Himself/Skating Official
Dorothy Hamill - Herself/Skating Official
Nancy Kerrigan - Herself/Skating Official
Chad Brennan - Will Ferrell's skating double
Ethan Burgess - Jon Heder's skating double
Patrick Hancock - Will Arnett's skating double / Will Ferrell's skating double #2
Tiffany Scott - Amy Poehler's skating double
Todd Sand - Addl. skating/Jon Heder
Ryan Mckinnon - Stunt Skate Double
Scott Irvine - Stunt Skate Double
Armen Saakian - Stunt Skate Double
Akop Manoukian - Stunt Skate Double
John Zimmerman - Stunts/Himself
Kyoko Ina - Stunts/Herself
Yuka Sato - Stunts/Herself
Jamie Salé - Stunts/Herself
David Pelletier - Stunts/Himself
Benjamin C. Oberman - Skating Consultant
Jonathon DePaz - On-ice Camera Operator
Judy Blumberg - Amy Poehler's coach
Susan Austin - Will Ferrell's coach
Dawn Porter - Jon Heder's coach
Julie Brault - Skating Coach (Montreal)
Dan Fleury - Jonathan Kerr (skating squirrel) in children's ice show
Matt Evers - Skate Tree #1

1980 Olympian Lisa Marie Allen also appears in the film as the blond "Sweater Mom" who gets licked on the face by Will Ferrell's character during his Stockholm solo.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The first time that Jon Heder and Will Ferrell are skating together they perform a move where they each skate in a line and perform various dance moves. Jon Heder performs some of his dance moves from the famous dance scene in his earlier film Napoleon Dynamite.

Will Ferrell made a cameo in Wedding Crashers as "Chazz Reinhold". His character in Blades of Glory is named "Chazz Michael Michaels".

Will Arnett and Amy Poehler (who play siblings in the film) are actually married.

The writers claim that "88.773% of Will Ferrell's dialogue is improvised or changed in some way to suit his persona."

Chazz Michael Michaels' skating style was inspired by the skating style of Elvis Stojko.

Ben Stiller was considered for the role of Chazz Michael Michaels but he decided the character was too much like other roles he had played.

The Iron Lotus is a parody of the Pamchenko from the film "The Cutting Edge".

Both Jon Heder and Will Ferrell learned how to ice skate for the movie. They trained extensively with Michele Kwan's coach Sarah Kawahara.

In a Scene right after the nationals, Will Ferrell's character is seen holding a bottle of Champagne with his left hand, in the next scene he's not holding it anymore and uses his left hand to grab the microphone of the TV announcer.

[edit] References to figure skating in the movie

Weir as the Swan. Note the colored glove.

Blades of Glory is filled with allusions to famous and iconic moments in figure skating, as well as other figure skating films.

Due to problems with the 6.0 system, Chazz and Jimmy are forced to share a gold medal (see 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal). As well, the next time those Games are contested, the ISU Judging System is used.

Chazz and Jimmy are given a life-time ban from singles skating, as Tonya Harding was.

At the beginning of their Nationals "Fire and Ice" program, Chazz and Jimmy kneel on the ice facing each other and writhe backwards and forwards. This is taken from the beginning of Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean's iconic Bolero free dance from the 1983/1984 season. Their free dance at the 1984 Winter Olympics received straight 6.0s for artistic impression.

Stranz and Fairchild plot to injure Jimmy "below the knee and above the ankle", referencing the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

Jimmy's peacock costume is modelled on Johnny Weir's iconic The Swan costume from the 2005-2006 season, complete with glove.^[4] Weir says he is flattered by the parody^[5].

The Iron Lotus is a parody of the Pamchenko from The Cutting Edge.^[6] Both moves are physically impossible to perform.

During the World Wintersport Games, the standings briefly flash across the screen. Many of the names refer to famous skaters, most of whom are not pairs skaters, and in many cases, the male name is in the position of the female name (female is always first). The standings (presumably after the short program, although all scores are higher than any score ever posted in the short program) are as follows:

Pairs Figure Skating
Rank	Name	Nation	Score
1	Stranz/Fairchild	United States	158.33
2	Michaels/MacElroy	United States	154.28
3	Sokolova/Plushenko	Russia	127.59
4	Zhang/Li	China	120.13
5	Abulhanov/Roman	Russia	116.63
6	Lambiel/Stoechli	Switzerland	112.88
7	Suguri/Tomita	Japan	106.67
8	Concharov/Grushina	Ukraine	104.99

[edit] Figure skating elements in the film

A curve lift (squatting position) similar to the one Chazz and Jimmy perform.

A few of the lifts Chazz and Jimmy perform are dance lifts, not pairs lifts. These are not illegal in pairs competition, and have been performed by many skaters in international competition, and therefore would not be something Scott Hamilton had never seen before. Despite what Coach claims, there is no specific lift named a "dance lift". Rather, the term refers to a variety of lifts performed in ice dancing.

The Iron Lotus is made up of the following elements:^[6]

A headbanger lift (illegal to perform in eligible competition)
A backflip by the released partner (illegal to perform in eligible competition)
A butterfly by the releasing partner

In the movie, the move is performed by Chad Brennan in the place of Will Ferrell, and Ethan Burgess and Todd Sand for Jon Heder.^[6]

The so-called "loophole" does not exist. International Skating Union regulations state that a pair team on the senior (Olympic) level is made up of a man and a lady (note that "lady" is the official terminology for a female skater).^[6] While there are "similar pairs" (pairs made up of two men or two women), such pairs do not compete in ISU competitions. However, Chazz and Jimmy could have competed together in a synchronized skating team, or at a non-ISU event such as the Gay Games that includes similar pairs.