American Flyers

Starring:Kevin Costner, David Marshall Grant, Rae Dawn Chong, Alexandra Paul, Janice Rule, Luca Bercovici, Robert Townsend, John Amos, Doi Johnson, John Garber, Jennifer Grey, James Terry, Jessica Nelson, Tom Lawrence, Brian Drebber, Judy Jordan, Katherine Kriss, Jan Speck, Greg Walker, Sig Frohlich
Director: John Badham
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

American Flyers could roughly be referred to as a cross between Breaking Away (also written by Steve Tesich) and Brian's Song. Sports physician Marcus (Kevin Costner, sporting a ludicrously big mustache) coaxes his flaky brother David (David Marshall Grant) into doing something with his life and training for a grueling bike race in the Colorado Rockies. The scenario is complicated, though, by family frictions and the fact that the brothers' dad died of a cerebral aneurysm that has been handed down to one of the brothers. The two train rigorously for the big event (part of their routine involves outrunning an angry pit bull every day), then pack the van and head West. Marcus's girlfriend is also the ex-wife of his main rival in the race circuit, providing a bit more intrigue. Veteran action director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, War Games) excels during the bike-race segments, capturing the breathtaking scenery and the demanding nature of the event nicely. The film is somewhat hobbled, though, by the screenplay and character development; the film plays a bit too much to the sports-movie cliché and the dysfunctional-family story seems like a lengthy prologue to the race. Also, try not to be too bothered by the annoyingly dated soundtrack, and this should be a fairly entertaining, unpretentious little film. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Reviews:

Do you know the two actual bike racers in this movie?.......2006-12-10

Eddy "the cannibal" Mercxx was the person who started the race. They used his nickname for the principle bad guy in the movie when they called him the "cannibal".
The other real bike racer is the hitch hiker, girl friend of David. Alexandra Paul. She is an ironman triathlete in real life, although that came later in her life than when the movie was made.

A cycling classic.......2006-11-10

If you love cycling this is a must have classic american cylcing film. This past summer riding up millcreek canyon in the greater salt lake area, one of my cycling buddies starts to slap his thigh and said "let's get them to run". I'm like what? So he recommeded the movie and I bought it. I'm glad I added it to my collection. If your willing to work hard at anything you will suceed. This film is a great example of this life lesson.

Solid.......2006-08-26

I thought this was a very solid movie and always have. A young Kevin Costner as Marcus Sommers, a doctor, has-been cyclist, senior member of the Shaversport team and soon to be vegetable. Not to mention, Costner sports one of the best mustaches of all-time in the movie. I give the first half of the movie about two stars, but everything starting with the Hell of the West race is a 5 star film. I personally think Muzzin (played by Luca Bercovici) should have gotten a best supporting actor nod in this one and not sure why his career didn't pan out better. I'm surprised they couldn't get a better actor to play the co-lead, David Sommers was a pretty weak choice for this role. Another plus to this movie is the comedian Robert Townsend was a rider on the 7/11 team. I think Townsend realized after his performance in this movie that he should stick with stand-up. If you can pick this movie up on the cheap, I buy.

loved this movie.......2005-05-29

I saw this movie on TV years ago and loved it. I thought the storyline was terrific. There's plenty of action, family situations, love interest, but, mostly, this movie engages you -- it forces you to care about the characters. It's a great movie. Three words: keep tissues handy!

Brings back the memories.......2005-04-19

This was one of those movies that I never intended to see as a kid. I was 13 at the time, and had seen the preview at the theater before watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure. I thought, "what a cheesy looking flick" and went about watching Pee Wee (ha ha, that's painting the kettle purple, or whatever they say). But what 80's flick was 'top of the line' besides Fast Times at Ridgmont High or Ghandi? Maybe ET, or Empire Strikes Back. OK, sorry about that, back to AF.

Anyways, being an HBO family, I got the opportunity to watch this movie, a several hundred times. What can I say. It's still cheesy, but brings about a family bonding. And honestly, there are families out there like this dysfunctional one. In fact, some are worse than the Sommers.

The movie brought into play the Soviet Boycott, a vegan follower resorting back to McD's, things going on with our nation. David and Marcus Sommers, racing for the last time against each other.....well, for the first also. And I'll never view the National Anthem the same after seeing Alexandra Paul getting naked for the romp with David. Totally unacceptable, yet so taboo and intriguing.

The soundtrack, unfortunately, is next to impossible to find. I have been looking for years, to no avail. So, I have to keep watching (which I will) the movie over and over.

Average customer rating:

A HIPAA disaster
2 Ways To Enjoy This Riotous Musical Classic!

American Flyers/Victory
Starring: Action Double Feature
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Breaking Away
Assassins/The Specialist

ASIN: B0002V8OAA
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Description

Before he stepped to the plate in Bull Durham or teed off in Tin Cup, Kevin Costner leaned into the curve and rode like the wind in American Flyers, an exciting tale set in the competitive world of elite bicycle racing. John Badham (Saturday Night Fever) directs from a script by Steven Tesich (Breaking Away). And a ragtag team of World War II Allied POWs takes on German all-stars in a soccer match intended to prove Aryan superiority in Victory. Legendary John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen) directs Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, real-life soccer greats (including Pele) and others. Go-o-o-o-oal!

Customer Reviews:

A HIPAA disaster.......2007-05-07

I remembered this movie as being good when I was a kid - it inspired me to cycle. Then I ordered it & watched it again...OMG...HIPAA!!! His brother the doctor gives him an MRI & all these medical tests but doesn't tell him why...then he wakes up from a medical procedure & stumbles around the hospital till he encounters his medical record laying there unattended & he can hear them in the next room talking about how he has a life-threatening brain tumor but they're not going to tell him until after the big race. Then everyone pretends he's ok, and he humors them by pretending he doesn't know, and still races his best, anyway.
They could use this movie to make an instructional film about what NOT to do with confidential medical information. They could throw popcorn at the screen every time there's a HIPAA violation.
What's chilling is that Lance Armstrong got a brain tumor & this movie was made way before Lance Armstrong's time.

2 Ways To Enjoy This Riotous Musical Classic!.......2005-03-06

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is the story of Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel), the eldest of a rough and tumble breed of backwoodsmen living in Oregon. When Adam returns to his dilapidated cabin with Milly (Jane Powell) as his wife, he sets his brother's minds and hearts awhirl with convoluted notions of doing the same. There's just one problem: the troupe is about as couth and gentile as that proverbial bull in the china shop. So Milly sets to work on molding gentlemen out of these ruffians. MGM, the most lavish purveyors of musical entertainment quashed director, Stanley Donen's desire to film on anything beyond a soundstage, resulting in some pretty obvious looking sets and very claustrophobic staging. Regardless, the film abounds with riotous exuberance and rollicking charm. The outstanding sequence remains the "Barn-Raising Ballet" - a fifteen minute tour de force in which the brothers - newly polished up - take on the cultured town's men for the affections of the town's women and come up the undisputed winners.

So too is Warner Brothers newly minted two disc special edition of this classic musical a winner. Featuring both the Cinemascope original (this time anamorphically enhanced for 16:9 displays) and a recently discovered 1:85:1 print, we get to see twice as much as before. There are differences in both clarity and saturation. The lesser seen 1:85:1 print exhibits colors that are more rich, vibrant and bold than the Cinemascope original. This is partly due to the 1:85:1's lesser screenings - hence, better preservation of the original camera negative; but more to the point, because the 1:85:1's color was processed by Technicolor while the Cinemascope version has been struck from prints made by rival color process - Ansco. In both cases, contrast levels are bang on. Black levels are deep and solid. There's only the slightest amount of age related artifacts and minor edge enhancement. The Cinemascope version appears slightly less stable, with subtle flickering during darker scenes. Neither presentation will distract. The audio is dated by features a newly cleaned up and aggressive 5.1 mix. Extras include a new audio commentary track, the previously released documentary on the making of the film and the film's theatrical trailer. Bless your beautiful hide! This is one humdinger of a good show!

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