Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Rick King

Writer (WGA):

W. Peter Iliff (written by)

Release Date:

21 March 1991 (Germany)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

In the 21st Century, it's gonna take one man and his blades to save the world from another man...and HIS blades.

Plot:

Some time in the future, USA has declined and become a country of violence and racial prejudice. Griffin...

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Inline Skating | Apocalypse | Rollerblading | Roller Skating

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Corey Haim	...	Griffin
Patricia Arquette	...	Casey
Christopher Collet	...	Gary Lee
Julius Harris	...	Speedbagger
Devin Clark	...	Miltie
Mark Pellegrino	...	Bango
Morgan Weisser	...	Bullwinkle
Jake Dengel	...	Tyler
G. Smokey Campbell	...	Watt
John P. Connolly	...	Pinky
J.C. Quinn	...	Jaworsky
Tim Eyster	...	Little Boy
Aron Eisenberg	...	Teen Boy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joel Bott	...	Rollerboys Extras
Doug Boyce	...	Rollerboys Extras
Chad Bruechart	...	Rollerboys Extras
Mike Colabella	...	Rollerboys Extras
Tim Dennis	...	Rollerboys Extras
Chris Edwards	...	Rollerboys Extras
Greg S. Fawley	...	Rollerboys Extras
Kent W. Landfield	...	Rollerboys Extras
Chris C. Mitchell	...	Rollerboys Extras
Arron M. Olivas	...	Rollerboys Extras
Pat Parnell	...	Rollerboys Extras
Casey Pieretti	...	Rollerboys Extras
Chris Pietrofesh	...	Rollerboys Extras
Chris Schaffer	...	Rollerboys Extras
Shon Tomlik	...	Rollerboys Extras
James Treat	...	Rollerboys Extras
Dylan Westall	...	Rollerboys Extras
Eric Wylie	...	Rollerboys Extras
Steven Zakki	...	Rollerboys Extras
Thomas G. Zeiss	...	Rollerboys Extras
Loren Lester	...	Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
Rick King

Writing credits (WGA)
W. Peter Iliff		(written by)

Produced by
Robert E. Baruc	....	executive producer (as Robert Baruc)
Tetsu Fujimura	....	executive producer
Martin F. Gold	....	executive producer
Richard Lorber	....	executive producer
Robert Mickelson	....	producer

Original Music by
Stacy Widelitz

Cinematography by
Phedon Papamichael

Film Editing by
Daniel Loewenthal

Production Design by
Thomas A. Walsh

Art Direction by
Jay Klein

Set Decoration by
Natalie Pope

Costume Design by
Merilyn Murray-Walsh

Makeup Department
Erin Brasfield	....	makeup artist
Carrey Gibbons	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Trisha Robinson	....	in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lucille Ouyang	....	key second assistant director
Jay Tobias	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Manuel Baca	....	set dresser
George Booker	....	storyboard artist
Chris Santini	....	carpenter
Chris Swenson	....	swing gang
Dawn Todd	....	set dresser
Tal Wallace	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Samuel H. Hinckley	....	sound effects editor
Donny Miele	....	sound designer (as Donny Blank)

Special Effects by
Brian Latt	....	special effects

Stunts
Sandy Berumen	....	stunts
Richard L. Blackwell	....	stunts (as Rick Blackwell)
Dan Bradley	....	stunt coordinator
Bobby Burns	....	stunts (as Bobby Andrew Burns)
Keith Campbell	....	stunts
Eric Chambers	....	stunts
Scott Alan Cook	....	stunts
Phil Culotta	....	stunts
Marcella Du Cheke	....	stunts
Danny Epper	....	stunts
John Escobar	....	stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunts
Al Goto	....	stunts (as Albert Goto)
Kevin Hudis	....	stunt driver
Brett A. Jones	....	stunts
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts
Frank Lloyd	....	stunts
Ray Lykins	....	stunts
Jean Malahni	....	stunts
Eddie Matthews	....	stunts (as Ed Matthews)
Tom Oldberg	....	stunts
Noon Orsatti	....	stunts
Jimmy Ortega	....	stunts
Denney Pierce	....	stunts
Erik Rondell	....	stunts
John Sherrod	....	stunts
Al Simon	....	stunts
Erik Stabenau	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
George A. Chase	....	grip
Rick Dexman	....	camera operator: bycicle camera
Chris Morris	....	camera operator: skate camera
Stephen Thorp	....	dolly grip

Editorial Department
Sherril Schlesinger	....	assistant editor
Sherril Schlesinger	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Seth Kaplan	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Mitchell Bergman	....	transportation captain
Roger Bojarski Jr.	....	driver: honeywagon
Kevin Hudis	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Rachel Atkinson	....	script supervisor
Steve Beeson	....	production accountant
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic
Chris Edwards	....	specialty skating
Bruce Jackson	....	skating advisor
Jill Osmon Modabber	....	production coordinator
Chris Morris	....	skating advisor
Chris Morris	....	specialty skating
Ken Schneider	....	skating coordinator
Jill Schulz	....	skating advisor (as Jill Schultz)

Production Companies

• Academy Entertainment
• Fox Lorber Features
• GAGA Communications
• JVC Entertainment
• TV Tokyo

Distributors

• United American Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Academy Entertainment (VHS)
• Castle Hill Productions
• Globo Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Saul Zaentz Film Center  sound re-recording

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Academy Entertainment

Quotes:

Gary Lee: [at a Rollerboy office-building, he explains to Griffin why the Rollerboys don't use their own designer-drugs] I am very strict on this: We have to remain pure. Let the others indulge their weaknesses.
Griffin: Why sell it, then?
Gary Lee: Because we have to, for now; It's just a phase. Besides, some people just aren't worth saving... Do you remember when we were kids? Blood Brothers? Penknife and a couple drops of blood?
Griffin: Yeah... We're lucky we didn't get tetanus, huh?
Gary Lee: It's more serious now. Once in, never out. That's how we live. But you ought to know, I have this thing about betrayers... They tick me off.
[...]

Soundtrack:

Blown Away

Ahhh...c'mon on, guys...it wasn't *that* bad!

I gave this flick a shame faced 7 (a baseline 6 + 1 because I've thoroughly enjoyed it...twice!) I saw it first in 1991, a full 5 years before I learned to roller blade myself (at the ripe old age of 44) and again last night. I think the mistake made by those rating it so lowly was in taking it seriously. It certainly didn't take itself seriously. Not with lines like (paraphrase) [after a criminal is shot by a cop] "thank God we could take care of him here. I hate court". Or with newspaper headlines that read "Germany buys Poland". Or with a radio newscast describing Mexican INS agents rounding up and deporting American fruit pickers who had illegally entered their country to find work. Any sense of reality exited my mind as I watched them do everything in those skates, I, myself, having gotten hopelessly bogged down in the neutral ground trying to cross the street in my blades at City Park in New Orleans. The movie also had a refreshingly original take on the "doomed future" theme. Instead of the grim setting being a post nuclear apocalypse, we have a wasteland created, instead, by the crash of the American stock market. And this well explains the sad state of affairs (no money for police, a greatly weakened government, extensive homelessness, etc.) that is the backdrop for the film. The rollerboys seemed to be a blurry composite of all the evils of mankind since the beginning of time...racial hatred, greed megalomania, anti-semitism...you name it. The visage of the rollerboy gang materializing from the end of a dark tunnel, gliding effortlessly in white trench coats and black rollerblades, their arms swinging mightily in unison immediately called to mind goose stepping Nazis. The two undercover cops, who seemed to literally dwell in their van, making off the cuff quips about the rollerboys were a hoot. True, the acting was, at best mediocre but had it been excellent it would have spoiled the film. Occasional lapses into the melodramatic only added savor to the stew. Much of the dialog was so bad it was not only good but great. I guess this movie will remain one of my guilty pleasures. If it comes on again...I'll watch it again. I only wish Corey Haim hadn't grown up so they could make Rollerboys 2.