American Flyers (1985)

Director:

John Badham

Writer:

Steve Tesich (writer)

Release Date:

16 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Two brothers challenge the road. And life itself. [Video]

Plot:

Sports physician Marcus persuades his unstable brother David to come with him and train for a bicycle race across the Rocky Mountains...

Plot Keywords:

Bicycle Race | Bicycle | Brother | Female Nudity | Cycling

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Marcus Sommers
David Marshall Grant	...	David (as David Grant)
Rae Dawn Chong	...	Sarah
Alexandra Paul	...	Becky
Janice Rule	...	Mrs. Sommers
Luca Bercovici	...	Muzzin
Robert Townsend	...	Jerome
John Amos	...	Dr. Conrad
Doi Johnson	...	Randolph
John Garber	...	Belov
Jennifer Grey	...	Leslie
James Terry	...	Hitchhiker
Jessica Nelson	...	Hitchhiker
Tom Lawrence	...	Timekeeper
Brian Drebber	...	Race Announcer

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Laclede's Landing, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Company:

WW Production

Trivia:

At the end of the 3rd stage of the Hell of the West race when David needs to beat the second rider by 11 seconds, Marcus stops his stopwatch at 11.34 seconds. If you read 11.34 upside-down, it reads hEll - the first word in the name of the race.

Goofs:

Continuity: David is in his room watching the Kung-Fu movie and has the remote in his right hand on his chest. When Marcus enters the room, David has the remote in his left hand by his side but in the next shot it is back on his chest in his right hand.

Quotes:

Muzzin: Enough of this Sunday stroll

Movie Connections:

References "Star Trek" (1966)

Soundtrack:

Gone Ridin'

Bickering Brothers Give This A Flat Tire

I thought maybe a movie about cyclists might be different, and entertaining, as many Kevin Costner movies are, but I didn't find much to like in this film. Constantly bickering brothers complaining about each other's past family sins, grew tiresome fast. I wanted to ground their "fliers" before they ever got airborne.

I didn't much of the cast nor their characters and the story was basically somewhat boring and very much clichéd with the illness angle. In the end, this was a lot more of "chick flick" than a sports film. The only redeeming quality was the wonderful Colorado mountainous scenery. Speaking of 'redeeming," thankfully Costner redeemed himself, sports story-wise, with the classic "Field Of Dreams" a few years after this.

This bike movie was like a flat tire: a pain in the butt to put up with.