American Flyers

Remember when Kevin Costner made you feel good? Remember when his excitement and energy woke you up? SILVERADO and BULL DURHAM, and this film, comes to mind, when the man had charisma. Something happened after his entertaining yet totally overrated DANCES WITH WOLVES (GOODFELLAS was robbed). Kevin gained weight and he became mellow thereafter. In every movie he seemed bored and tired and sluggish to me. Wisened or something. In TIN CUP he regains some of his earlier charm, but this is a review of American FLYERS. A feel-good movie, this film centers on a kid named David, who is a college aged slacker. But is he a slacker? He exercises a lot, that's for sure. But no matter, he has no purpose in life other than lying around dating models (who are trying to impress his casting agent mom) and watching KUNG FU (if you ask me his life was JUST FINE). Then Costner, his older brother with a fine mustache and a fine girlfriend (played by Rae Dawn Chong), comes in and takes him to a big bike race. I'm skipping a lot of stuff here, the main plot being about a certain illness that runs in the family. This is done nicely, and doesn't get in the way of the humor and action of the film, in fact it compliments it. Even a side story with John Amos and his overweight son helps things along. But all in all this movie runs smoothly. The only cast member who bugged me was Alexandra Paul, as David's hippie girlfriend. She was annoying and tried way too hard to steal scenes, in my opinion. But the rest of the film is quite entertaining, and in the vein of ROCKY and THE KARATE KID, this movie will make you guilty that you don't exercise, and if you do, that you don't do it enough.

David (David Marshall Grant) is ecstatic when his brother Marcus Sommers (Kevin Costner) visits home in St. Louis. Marcus is concerned about David failing at school. Their father died from a cerebral aneurysm and their mother is concerned that David also has it. There is family friction. Marcus works in sports medicine and convinces David to join him at Wisconsin State University. Marcus, his girlfriend Sarah (Rae Dawn Chong), and Leslie (Jennifer Grey) work for Dr. Conrad (John Amos). David gets a clean bill of health but he mistakenly assumes that he has the aneurysm. David, Marcus, and Sarah travel to Colorado for the bicycle race Hell of the West. Along the way, David picks up ex-hippie hitchhiker Becky (Alexandra Paul). Their biggest opponent is Sarah's ex Muzzin, friend Jerome, and the Soviet Belov. There are a couple of interesting new actors. Costner is pre-success and Jennifer Grey is pre-Dirty Dancing. The brotherly conflicted relationship is great. This has some family drama but the second half is where the bicycling sports fun exists. It explains the strategy rather well and the racing is done with drama. The racing looks great and the vista is beautiful. This is a solid bicycling movie.

..o.k., a three, maybe. Firstly, even given the age of this dog, this movie is so-o-o-o unrealistic when it comes to the subject of bike racing. Didn't anyone get it back then? I mean, no scenes of a tight peleton or any drafting. Folks taking flyers off the front with no coordinated breaks and no teamwork to speak of. Absolutely no depiction of legitimate racing tactics, no blocking, no pacelines, etc. But the real corker was the dialog. I mean, why pay rental bucks on this one (or even TIVO it on cable) just to watch over-the-top product placement. For example, the guy gets seduced by the girl who attributes their meeting to the fact that she had to wait for a quarter pounder at Mickey D's? C'mon. How could Rick Denman (of "Bikes, Camera, Action", who did the racing shots in Kansas) get sucked in so bad? Hollywood infects everyone! This one's off the back and dropped like a bad habit.

This movie is just a great film. It's about love, life, and family. It's also about being the best you can be. The two brothers in this movie, one who is very sick and one who is racing in a cycling race in the Rocky Mountains, and he has his brother in his heart the whole time. Both are cyclists, but Kevin Costner's character cannot race. The other character, who I don't think I have seen in any other movies, is just awesome, and the love for his brother made me cry. I remember this movie from the 80's when I was just a little kid, and I watch it everytime I see it on one of the premium movie channels. Rae Dawn Chong is also in the movie as Costner's wife or girlfriend, I forget which one, but she also gives a great performance here. The movie is mainly about racing in Colorado, but it's also a touching story about commitment to those you love, and it's a movie I will never forget.

It might be sad to sit back nowadays and reflect on the decline of Kevin Costner's career, but back in the '80s and even the early '90s he was a personable leading man whose films were generally enjoyable. Take this sporting drama from John (WarGames) Badham, for instance. American Flyers is an enjoyable cycling drama from the pen of Steve Teisch, in which the gruelling hardships of professional cycle-racing is combined with a story about two brothers rediscovering each other. There's also a key plot point about a hereditary disease which may or may not affect one of the brothers. The story is never hugely engrossing, but it serves its purpose insofar that it gets the audience interested in the relationship between the two siblings, and provides a fairly exciting climax in which one of them has the chance to win a gruelling race. Lazy David Sommers (David Marshall Grant) lives in St. Louis and spends his days watching kung fu movies, dating girls, and riding his bike. His brother Marcus (Kevin Costner) is a more successful and motivated type, who works in a high-tech gym as a sports physician. The brothers lost their father to a hereditary illness, and Marcus is quite worried that David may have the same problem. Marcus persuades David to come into the gym and undergo some medical and physical tests. The results seem OK, and a relieved Marcus invites David to join him in competing in a gruelling bike race in the Rocky Mountains, aptly named "Hell Of The West". The guys are joined by their respective girlfriends, in Marcus's case Sarah (Rae Dawn Chong) and in David's case Becky (Alexandra Paul). After a road trip to the Rockies, during which they bond quite closely, the Sommers brothers enter the cycle race. They're up against the likes of fiercely competitive Muzzin (Luca Bercovici) and Russian powerhouse Belov (John Garber). Then, halfway through the race, Marcus is unexpectedly struck by a haemorrhage – it turns out that he, not David as originally feared, is the one who has inherited the illness that killed their father…. Costner gives a perfectly likable performance in this movie, but it is actually Grant who has both the stronger role and the more interesting character. It seems very strange indeed that Grant never became a big name, and spent the rest of his career as a supporting player in largely forgotten films. On this evidence, he has the looks, the personality and the acting ability to have been more successful. The story moves at a decent pace, the first third dealing with the medical tests carried out on David, the second third showing their road trip to the big event, and the final third dealing with the race itself. The last section of the film is probably the best, with a genuinely absorbing race sequence that undeniably ends on a predictable note, but manages some real excitement along the way. The cycling footage seems quite well done too (I'm a non-cyclist, but it looks convincing to me). All in all, American Flyers is an enjoyable sports drama about a sport rarely touched upon in the movies. It's no classic, but it passes the time very pleasantly indeed.

One of a few 80s movies that really touched me. The storyline is talented, deep, rich and really has me thinking about the most important things in life. Its one of my favorite DVD collection to date. American flyers is top-notch!

An absolute waste of everything; bad acting, extremely bad story. Even the cycling scenes were not convincing (like the -redundant- one with the Russian biker). I can't imagine the director ever saw a biking race. The (oversentimental) final was nothing less than a major disappointment. I still wonder how someone can write a non-story like this, let alone make a movie of it. BUH!

This movie certainly deserved more accolades than its rated. Frankly, I was teary eyed and it really struck a chord for delivering a quality (rare in movies today) rich storyline. It was cool that a DVD version was out already in the initial introduction of the DVD! Definitely a winner in the 80s and started Kevin Costner's career and gave him credibility. I totally recommend this movie for the whole family!

So, after maaaaaaaany years, I decided to finally see this movie, because I am now living in Colorado, and actually rode the Morgul-Bismark circuit today. Eddy Merckx must have been ashamed of himself to see his sport portrayed this way. What did I not like? Let me count the ways: so over-simplified, so not about the sport, cheesy LETS GO music, A guy out training with his cowboy hat. Man, must that thing stink! But wait, there's more: a dude with a brain aneurysm doesn't go ride in a bike race. And you don't just sit on a fitness machine and then just qualify to ride against the national teams when you have no bike racing experience. It makes the sport look like a joke. A rider at this level rides on average 16-20 hrs per week. This made it look like you just needed to go out to the ballpark and hit a few balls around and poof, you're world class. And why couldn't they get a cyclist to play the Russian dude? That guy looks like he got on a bike the day before they started filming. I mean, its not like he said much. Some day I hope they make a proper movie out of cycling. Im sure there are some good story lines that are actually believable. People who cant stop racing after they have passed their prime. The loneliness of riding for hours and hours by yourself, in all weather conditions. The incredible torture of the hills. Make a bigger story, but at least get the details right. Now the American population should be ready to graduate out of bike kindergarten. An American won the Tour de France 7 times in a row! Can please someone make a real moving about the sport?

Not a frequently shown film, but a highly recommended one. A good chance to see Kevin Costner early in his career; you see the spark that made him into one of Hollywood's most prominent actors. Also an early chance to see an odd type of performance from Jennifer Grey, before "Dirty Dancing." You don't have to be a cycling fan to enjoy this poignant movie.