Borg vs McEnroe

"Some stars shine forever"

2017 1h 48m SV

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 1,236

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Swedish Björn Borg and the American John McEnroe, the best tennis players in the world, maintain a legendary duel during the 1980 Wimbledon tournament.

“Some stars shine forever”

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Cast

Sverrir Gudnason
Björn Borg
Shia LaBeouf
John McEnroe
Stellan Skarsgård
Lennart Bergelin
Tuva Novotny
Mariana Simionescu
Leo Borg
Younger Björn Borg
Marcus Mossberg
Young Björn Borg
Jackson Gann
Young John McEnroe
Scott Arthur
Peter Fleming

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Janus Metz
Writers: Ronnie Sandahl
Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish
Countries: Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Janus Metz, shot by Niels Thastum. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Vladislav Delay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Per K. Kirkegaard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf and Stellan Skarsgård carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Some stars shine forever".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Janus Metz directs. Niels Thastum behind the camera. Vladislav Delay scores. Per K. Kirkegaard cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic. Dialogue in English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 9 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish.
3International production across 3 countries: Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic.
4Directed by Janus Metz, shot by Niels Thastum. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Vladislav Delay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Per K. Kirkegaard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf and Stellan Skarsgård carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Some stars shine forever".
9IMDB entry: tt5727282 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "london, england", "sports", "tennis", "sweden".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Niels Thastum
Original score: Vladislav Delay
Editing: Per K. Kirkegaard
Production design: Lina Nordqvist
Sound: Heikki Kossi
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $7,500,000
Box office: $16,657,800
Return: 222% of budget
Original language: SV
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Borg vs McEnroe (2017)

Awards

Film d'essai

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Janus Metz

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-03-28
★ 7/10
You can't be serious! Borg vs McEnroe is directed by Janus Metz and written by Ronnie Sandahl. It stars Sverrir Gudnason, Shia LaBeouf, Stellan Skarsgård and Tuva Novotny. The Swedish Björn Borg (Gudnason) and the American John McEnroe (LaBeouf), the best tennis players in the world, maintain a legendary duel during the 1980 Wimbledon tournament. Cut to the chase, this is one for tennis fans to gorge upon, but even then it's a bit too lop sided to fully delight. Being a Swedish production it's heavily loaded towards the personal worries that were plaguing Borg in the very early 1980s. Sadly this renders McEnroe - one of the games greatest and most colourful characters - as being a support player in what set out to be a biographical pic about sports rivalry. However, what does come across is that both men were driven and actually both were tits for varying reasons. There's unsurprisingly some parental pressures, while Borg feels the strain of breaking records (as his wife chain smokes) and McEnroe strives to get on the ladder to greatness. Sure the tennis sequences don't hold up to scrutiny but both Gudnason and LaBeouf (excellent and excellently cast) come out of the physicalities very well. Ultimately it's a character study that doesn't delve too deeply for equal parties, but come the 1980 Wimbledon final, with one of the greatest 4th sets ever played, you should be hard pressed not to rejoice. Not only in the sport of tennis played to the max, but in how two supposed rivals actually became the best of friends. 7/10

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