American Flyers

Last updated
American Flyers
American flyers.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Badham
Written by Steve Tesich
Produced by Paula Weinstein
Gareth Wigan
Starring
Cinematography Donald Peterman
Edited byJeff Jones
Frank Morriss
Dallas Puett
Music byGreg Mathieson
Lee Ritenour
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • August 16, 1985 (1985-08-16)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8.5 million
Box office$1,420,355

American Flyers is a 1985 American sports drama film about bicycle racing directed by John Badham and starring Kevin Costner, David Marshall Grant, Rae Dawn Chong, Alexandra Paul, Jennifer Grey, Luca Bercovici and Janice Rule.

Contents

It was written by Steve Tesich.

Plot

Sports physician Marcus Sommers visits his family in St. Louis, Missouri, after being away a long time. Marcus immediately gets into a fight with his mother over the way she handled the death of his father from a cerebral aneurysm. Marcus asks his brother David to come back to Madison with him to spend time together.

With the history of cerebral aneurysm in the Sommers family, their mother is concerned that the condition may now be affecting David as well. Marcus convinces David to undergo testing at his sports medicine center. Before the test starts David says that he just wants to go one second longer than Marcus. David breaks Marcus' record as Marcus begins cheering him on with everyone else in the room. David overhears a conversation in which Marcus says that he does not want to worry David about something. David assumes that he does have an aneurysm.

Marcus shows David and his girlfriend Sarah a "Hell of the West" video of a past race in which Marcus points out the moment he quit mid-race. Marcus tells them that he got so good at quitting that no one can tell anymore. Marcus convinces David to embark on a cross-country journey to the bicycle race "Hell of the West" in Colorado along with Sarah. They camp and David asks Marcus about a cure for an aneurysm and Marcus tells him surgery would destroy the brain's vital functions. Later, David runs into a hitchhiker named Becky at McDonald's and asks her to join them.

The brothers practice "shake and break" and how to trick cowboys in a bike v. horse race. Following a flat tire, Sarah and Becky get an unwelcome visit from Sarah's ex-husband Muzzin and his friend Jerome who are also Marcus's old cycling rivals. Muzzin crosses the line with Sarah and she picks up a large rock and threatens him with it. Impressed, Becky keeps the rock.

In the three-stage race in the Rockies, with mountain and prairie backdrops, the brothers compete against the world's top cyclists on dangerous roads at breakneck speeds. Marcus gets a flat tire which Sarah and Becky repair while riders flash by. Marcus heroically regains his place at the front of the race and wins the first stage against Muzzin and Belov the Russian Olympic winner. Following the race, Muzzin berates a female reporter for her part in pushing for the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. Struggling to make the cut David is crashed into by another rider and his bike is damaged. Marcus, watching from the finish line, tells David to pick up his bike and run with it. David crosses the finish line holding his bike and making the cut for the next stage.

Marcus shows David where the checkpoints are located on the race course. If David can cross all the checkpoints first he'll make up the time he's behind the leaders of the race after stage one. David breaks away during the second stage and crosses the first checkpoint to gain 30 seconds on his time. He then crosses the other checkpoints to gain 2 minutes on his time. Meanwhile, Marcus notices blood is coming out of his nose and ears. Marcus starts to wobble on his bike and realizes he's had an aneurysm. He signals for Sarah and Becky in the team van to help him as he struggles to stay on his bike on the winding road. Sarah grabs Marcus from his bike before his bike soars over the edge of the cliff. The pack of riders catches up to David and he finishes third in stage two. Becky finds David in the crowd and tells him what happened to Marcus.

Struggling, David and Marcus say they love each other. David faces a dilemma: to quit and look after his brother, or continue to defy the odds and win the race. David and Marcus decide to stay in the race. Becky comforts Sarah outside the hospital by showing Sarah the rock Becky saved. David and Marcus' mother shows up at the race and rides with Marcus in the team van.

David sprints to an early lead which the competitors put down to youthful exuberance. But after a few miles they realize that David is able to maintain the savage pace. As they enter the mountain stages Muzzin approaches David to throw the race and settle for second. When David decides to go for the win Muzzin tries to push David off the road. In response David punches Muzzin and races for the finish. David crosses the line first but has to wait to see when Muzzin finishes because of Muzzin's 11-second advantage from stage two. Muzzin struggles to the finish line and looks at the clock show 11 seconds as he crosses the line. The crowd erupts to celebrate David's victory. David celebrates with his mom, Sarah and Becky. David looks for Marcus in the crowd and sees him alone watching David. David walks over and hugs Marcus. Marcus sees his mother watching and he motions for her to come over to them finally forgiving her. Marcus, David and their mom hug and then smile for a photograph.

Cast

In addition, multiple World Championships and Grand Tour winning cyclist Eddy Merckx has a cameo as himself.

The 7-Eleven team that is featured in the movie was a real life team that competed in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in the 1980s. The team was later sponsored by Motorola. Much of the race action was filmed at the Coors Classic, a now-defunct stage race that was one of the world's leading cycling events at the time of the film. Two stages in the film's featured race, the Morgul-Bismarck circuit race in Boulder and the "Tour of the Moon" at Colorado National Monument, were legendary Coors Classic stages.

Cyclist Eddy Merckx makes a brief appearance, starting stage 1. The character, Barry 'The Cannibal' Muzzin, played by Luca Bercovici was based on Eddy Merckx, who was also called 'The Cannibal'. Jennifer Grey made an appearance as a blind date, made hysterical by the brothers' arguing. John Amos has a supporting role running a training facility, and Robert Townsend has a minor role as a rival teammate.

ShaverSport, the company that sponsors Marcus and David in The Hell of the West, was an actual company. It was formed in 1980 by competitive cyclist Bob Shaver with its mission being to produce quality cycling wear. ShaverSport was asked by Warner Brothers to design the clothing for the film. During its existence, the company produced not only cycling gear, but ShaverSport and Hell of the West replica jerseys that were featured in the film. [1]

Marcus and David are seen riding 1985 Specialized Allez SE road bikes with red frames in the race scenes and most of the movie.

Reception

The film was released before Costner became a Hollywood superstar. It had a limited release on 16 August 1985 and grossed $1.4 million in the US. [2] As of April 2022, American Flyers had a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews, with an average score of 5.6/10. The site consensus reads: "American Flyers shifts between family drama and cycling action gears with enough strength to make this inspirational sports picture more than pedestrian". [3]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack of the film was released in 1985. The main theme "Hell of the West" was played as the introduction music of the title sequence when ABC Sports in the United States broadcast the International Race of Champions from 1987 to 1997 on tape-delay. Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac was approached to record a song for the soundtrack; "Slow Down" was recorded but ultimately not used in the film. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddy Merckx</span> Belgian cyclist (born 1945)

Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx, known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an unequalled eleven Grand Tours, all five Monuments, setting the hour record, three World Championships, every major one-day race other than Paris–Tours, and extensive victories on the track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mont Ventoux</span> Mountain in France

Mont Ventoux is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20 km northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At 1,910 m (6,270 ft), it is the highest mountain in the region and has been nicknamed the "Beast of Provence", the "Giant of Provence", or "The Bald Mountain". It has gained fame through its inclusion in the Tour de France cycling race; in 2009 it was the scene of the first penultimate-day mountain top finish in the Tour de France, with Alberto Contador sealing his yellow jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giro d'Italia</span> Cycling road race held in Italy

The Giro d'Italia is an annual multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, and the race is still run by a subsidiary of that paper's owner. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except during the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world. The Giro is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with some additional teams invited as 'wild cards'.

The Triple Crown of Cycling in road bicycle racing denotes the achievement of winning three major titles in the same season, usually the Giro d'Italia general classification, the Tour de France general classification and the UCI Road World Championships Road Race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Thévenet</span> French cyclist

Bernard Thévenet is a retired professional cyclist. His sporting career began with ACBB Paris. He is a two-time winner of the Tour de France and known for ending the reign of five-time Tour champion Eddy Merckx, though both feats are tarnished by Thévenet's later admission of steroids use during his career. He also won the Dauphiné Libéré in 1975 and 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axel Merckx</span> Belgian cyclist

Axel Eddy Lucien Jonkheer Merckx is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx. He is team director of UCI Continental team Hagens Berman Jayco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Simpson</span> British cyclist (1937–1967)

Thomas Simpson was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager before taking up track cycling, specialising in pursuit races. He won a bronze medal for track cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Boardman</span> British former racing cyclist

Christopher Miles Boardman, is an English former racing cyclist. A time trial and prologue specialist, Boardman won the inaugural men's World time trial championship in 1994, won the individual pursuit gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, broke the world hour record three times, and won three prologue stages at the Tour de France.

The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of 7-Eleven through 1990 and then Motorola from 1990 through 1996. From 1989 to 1996 it rode on Eddy Merckx bikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1975 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 1975 Tour de France was the 62nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 26 June and 20 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4,000 km (2,485 mi). Eddy Merckx was attempting to win his sixth Tour de France, but became a victim of violence. Many French spectators were upset that a Belgian might beat the record of five wins set by France's Jacques Anquetil. During stage 14 a spectator leapt from the crowd and punched Merckx in the kidney. Frenchman Bernard Thévenet took over the lead. After Merckx subsequently fell and broke his cheekbone, he was unable to challenge Thévenet, who went on to win the Tour with Merckx second.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 1982 Tour de France was the 69th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 25 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over 3,507 km (2,179 mi). It was won by Bernard Hinault, his fourth victory so far.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 1977 Tour de France was the 64th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 30 June and 24 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over 4,096 km (2,545 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Battaglin</span> Italian cyclist (born 1951)

Giovanni Battaglin is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1981 Giro d'Italia. He also won the 1981 Vuelta a España.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 1970 Tour de France was the 57th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 27 June and 19 July, with 23 stages covering a distance of 4,254 km (2,643 mi). It was the second victory for Belgian Eddy Merckx, who also won the mountains classification, and nearly won every major jersey for a 2nd year in a row but finished second in the points classification behind Walter Godefroot by five points. The previous year only one rider was able to keep him within 20:00 and in 1970 a mere four other riders were within 20:00, with only debutant Joop Zoetemelk finishing inside 15:00 of Merckx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1969 Tour de France</span> Cycling race

The 1969 Tour de France was the 56th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 28 June and 20 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4,117 km (2,558 mi). The participant teams were no longer national teams, but were once more commercially sponsored. The race was won by Eddy Merckx who absolutely dominated the rest of the field. As an example in 1967 nine riders finished within 20:00 of the winner, in 1968 nineteen riders were within 20:00 but in 1969 the 10th place rider was +52:56, the 20th place rider was +1:17:36 and only Roger Pingeon finished inside 20:00 of Merckx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Giro d'Italia</span> Cycling race

The 1972 Giro d'Italia was the 55th running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Venice on 21 May, with a 5.2 km (3.2 mi) prologue and concluded with a 197 km (122 mi) mass-start stage, on 11 June. A total of 100 riders from ten teams entered the 20-stage race, that was won by Belgian Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team. The second and third places were taken by Spaniards José Manuel Fuente and Francisco Galdós, respectively.

The 1970 Giro d'Italia was the 53rd edition of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,292-kilometre (2,046 mi) race consisted of 20 stages, starting in San Pellegrino Terme on 18 May and finishing Bolzano on 7 June. There was one time trial stage and a single rest day. Eddy Merckx of the Faemino team won the overall general classification, his second victory. Italians Felice Gimondi (Salvarani) placed second, 3 min and 14 s slower than Merckx, and Martin Van Den Bossche (Molteni) was third, nearly five minutes behind Merckx.

The 1974 Giro d'Italia was the 57th running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Vatican City, on 16 May, with a 164 km (102 mi) stage and concluded in Milan, on 8 June, with 257 km (160 mi) leg. A total of 140 riders from fourteen teams entered the 22-stage race, that was won by Belgian Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team. The second and third places were taken by Italians Gianbattista Baronchelli (Scic) and Felice Gimondi (Bianchi), respectively.

The 1973 Giro d'Italia was the 56th running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Verviers, Belgium, on 18 May, with a 5.2 km (3.2 mi) prologue and concluded with a 197 km (122 mi) mass-start stage, on 9 June. A total of 140 riders from fourteen teams entered the 20-stage race, that was won by Belgian Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team. The second and third places were taken by Italians Felice Gimondi and Giovanni Battaglin, respectively.

The 1976 Giro d'Italia was the 59th running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Catania, on 21 May, with a set of split stages and concluded in Milan, on 12 June, with another split stage, consisting of an individual time trial and a mass-start stage. A total of 120 riders from twelve teams entered the 22-stage race, that was won by Italian Felice Gimondi of the Bianchi-Campagnolo team. The second and third places were taken by Belgian Johan De Muynck and Italian Fausto Bertoglio, respectively.

References

  1. ↑ "ShaverSport Cyclewear". Shaversport.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  2. ↑ American Flyers at Box Office Mojo
  3. ↑ rottentomatoes.com, "American Flyers (1985)". Accessed April 16, 2022.
  4. ↑ Sinclair, Paul (April 25, 2022). "Christine McVie / Songbird (A Solo Collection) – SuperDeluxeEdition" . Retrieved September 30, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.