American Flyers

[rpm]

At the moment I'm watching American Flyers on ESPN Classic. During the break, they had some trivia about the film:

--One of the main protagonists not only had to lose a lot of weight but also give up smoking.

--The guy who played the Italian bad guy did a Tyler--he broke his collarbone during filming but went on anyway.

--They couldn't get rid of all the Coors Classic banners in the film, so if you watch carefully, you can spot them.

Would this movie have been better if somebody besides Kevin Costner played the lead? If so, who?

[Serpico]

Costner sucks, imo

Jeff Bridges would've been great

[Bill Bove]

Never mind Costner, Bella Luggosi should have played the coach.

[csm]

stallone.

[toaster]

There's nothing wrong with Costner in the movie, my problem with the film is the Russian dude. The guy is typecast and looks more like a weightlifter with a beard. Cyclists don't have beards, typically.

[Fixed]

bro i like the fat kid who wanted to be bowler cheers :beer:

[Jeff Weir]

Originally they wanted Carl Malden, but he had just started filming Streets of San Francisco, so they chose Kevin Costner instead.

[rpm]

I agree that the Russian was an absolutely awful stereotype. He looks like a hairy sausage. As luck would have it on this night of mindless channel surfing, I'm now watching Miracle on Encore. Their Russians are much better. And how about Kurt Russell for the Costner role? He'd have been good, along with Sean Penn, who was turned down for the younger brother role.

[toaster]

I liked Rae Dawn Chong in her role as well as the other girl. The movie did not have enough nudity, IMHO.

[Larry]

I always hoped Davey would have got it on with Jennifer Grey.
"I think Jennifer is taking her torture test tonight." ......Davey

Then again, Patrick Swayze had his romp in the hay with Jennifer in
Dirty Dancing.

[djg]

Two words: Rae Dawn Chong

Plus, there's Randolph, the big hairy Russian cyclist (a refugee from their power lifting program, apparently), and you get to see a Kevin Costner character die.

So what's not to like?

[Bud]

Great film, but I agree about the big hairy Russian dude. The kid who wants to bowl was sweet too, especially when he worked out for like 2 minutes and drenched himself with water: "Man, that workout was a bi*ch" or something like that.

I'll have to get the DVD and watch it again- it's been years.

[Elefantino]

We watched it too, last night, but a DVD that we got at WM.

My 14-year-old daughter thought the cycling was cool, although she correctly noted that the "Russian" character's form looked like he'd never been on a bike in his life. Either that or his stem was too short.

My wife said, "Ah, now I know why that actress (Alexandra Paul) was doing those OLN intros last year."

Costner and Grant did a creditable job as cyclists. They did climb and descend and make it look good.

But ... how do you die slowly from a brain aneurism?

[kestrel]

...................

But ... how do you die slowly from a brain aneurism?

One drop at a time, it was just a "snake bite" aneurism.

[ClutchCargo]

Two words: Rae Dawn Chong

Plus, there's Randolph, the big hairy Russian cyclist (a refugee from their power lifting program, apparently), and you get to see a Kevin Costner character die.

So what's not to like?

What's not to like ? How 'bout this: where was the scene with Rae Dawn AND Jennifer Grey?
(not that there would've been anything wrong with that!") :banana:





p.s. dude, Kevin Costner has died in many of his movies. :D