Gleaming the Cube (1989)

Director:

Graeme Clifford

Writer (WGA):

Michael Tolkin (written by)

Release Date:

13 January 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Skate or Die

Plot:

Brian's adopted brother is killed when he discovers that the shop he works in sends weapons to Vietnam instead of medications...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Police | Vietnamese American | Hanged Boy | Teenager

Cast

Christian Slater	...	Brian Kelly
Steven Bauer	...	Al Lucero
Richard Herd	...	Ed Lawndale
Le Tuan	...	Colonel Trac
Min Luong	...	Tina Trac
Art Chudabala	...	Vinh Kelly
Ed Lauter	...	Mr. Kelly
Micole Mercurio	...	Mrs. Kelly
Peter Kwong	...	Bobby Nguyen
Charles Cyphers	...	Harvey McGill
Max Perlich	...	Yabbo
Tony Hawk	...	Buddy
Tommy Guerrero	...	Sam
Christian Jacobs	...	Gremic
Joe Gosha	...	Nick Oliver

Also Known As:

A Brother's Justice
Skate or Die

Runtime:

100 min | USA:105 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Anaheim, California, USA

Company:

David Foster Productions

Trivia:

The high school scenes were filmed at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California in early 1987. Although Christian Slater and members of the cast are seen skateboarding on campus (by permission of Woodbridge High School principal Greg Cops), in actuality Woodbridge High School has a strict policy that bans skateboarding on campus.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the intense skate scene on the building site, Slater's skateboard miraculously changes from a regular skateboard to a freestyle board, which is less wide and differently shaped than the board he rides throughout the film.

Quotes:

[Brian comes to school with a new, clean-cut look]
Yabbo: Brian, Halloween's not 'til October.
Brian Kelly: So?
Yabbo: So? Where's your board?
Brian Kelly: I felt like walking today!
Yabbo: Why are you wearing those clothes?
Gremic: Oh, I know, his clothes are in the cleaners.
Buddy: I bet his mom put him up to it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Robot Chicken: Suck It (#2.1)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE

Cold War Skate Movie

I love Gleaming the Cube, with the exception of the coyingly senitmental dialogue going on and some of the forced grief by Slater. It's a pretty cool 80s action movie for skaters.

A kid mysteriously winds up dead after he goes poking his nose into questionable problems with shipping orders for the Vietnamese Relief. The cops say all signs point to suicide (or at least they're not conclusive of any other cause of death), but his skater brother is determined to prove that he was murdered. Gleaming the Cube, as Brian's (Slater) friend Yabbo (Perlich) explains, is about finding your place. A soul searching that is bound by no rules and standards, in other words. It's actually a pretty fun, if not different, story involving athletes, nevermind skaters. Although, I'm pretty sick of the super-patriotic themes. Plus, you have a few of the Bones Brigade cast in the main role (actually only Tony Hawk and Tommy Guerrero get lead parts) while the rest of the Bones Brigade took up stunt parts (Cabby and Rodney Mullen, most noteably). Plus, you have a pretty rad soundtrack, and Christian Slater and Max Perlich make believable teenagers, and entertaining ones at that (rather than obnoxious or totally stupid). Skaters saving the day? What could be better?

The music, the story, and the actors, it's a score! It's one of my favorite skating movies and certainly one of my favorite 80s movies.