Gleaming the Cube (1989)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

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:

When Brian's friends see him on a bike instead of his skateboard, they joke about how he'll be riding around on a scooter next. In The Legend of Billie Jean (1985), Christian Slater played a character whose most prized possession was a scooter.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brian is sneaking into the WMS warehouse you can clearly see a number of times his skateboard he had throughout the first half of the movie. He then sacrifices the board to blow up the propane tank. A few scenes later when he is riding in the street with his backpack he has the same skateboard, then breaks the trucks on the police lights. Only then does he replace it for the new black board.

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:

STUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND

Thriller, tension and intrigue in this skateboarding movie

This movie deals about a skateboarding adolescent(Christian Slater) investigates his fostered brother's killing. His parents(Ed Lauter, Mercurio) are profoundly grieved. His brother from Vietnam origin is killed by an organization led by a nasty(Richard Herd) but he aware that the store he worked sends arms to Vietnam instead of medicament. Meanwhile a tough police inspector(Steven Bauer) track down the killers. The down-and-out teen has a skateboarding team(Max Perlich) and and he suddenly become involved in several risks, helped by the group skateboarding Trashers.

The film displays action, suspense, thrills and, of course, spectacular skateboarding. The stunts demonstrate their perfect craft in the empty swimming pools of unsuspecting urban homeowners, pioneering a stirring new sport. The picture impresses with its stunts footage with thrilling bounds and leaps. Noisy musical score made with synthesizer by Jay Ferguson. The motion picture is professionally directed by Graeme Clifford. He's a good director with his greatest success : ¨Frances¨ and Ruby Cairo, today directs for television only: Last Don I, II, among others. Another films about Skateboarding sub-genre are ¨Skateboard: The movie(78), Skateboard kid I(93) and II(95) and Skateboard madness¨, though the classic movie is ¨Lords of Dogtown¨ directed with Catherine Hardwicke and with Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger. For those with teen interest and skateboarding buffs.