American Flyers (1985)

Costner dances with bikes

 

Marcus (Kevin Costner) and David Sommers (David Grant) compete in a race called the Hell of the West, taking place in Colorado (based on the former Coors Classic), the main cycling state in the United States. The big difference between the two is that Marcus has a hard time with what he calls the family motto, “the Sommers could have”, and his little brother seems to go along with this motto. Taking matters into your own hands is one the reasons why people do sports, so it isn’t a bad choice of theme. The problem is that the conversations regarding this life philosophy stay at the shallow level. So does pretty much everything else in this movie. The main opponent, Barry “the Cannibal” Muzzen, is a one dimensional bad guy. The fact that his nick name is the same as the greatest cycler ever, Belgian rider Eddy Merckx, would probably not have been so if it was a movie made in Europe. Calling yourself Jesus isn’t socially accepted either. Davids new girlfriend Becky reacts way to emotional when she drops him off at the hospital due to the fact that his brother crashed after losing control of his bike. Marcus suffers from Cerebral aneurysm, a condition that killed their father.

Main opponents: a Russian gorilla and a 1D bad guy

Cycling movies are very rare. So it's a surprise that one of the very few that are made was shot in the United States, a country that might have developed a pretty main stream cycling culture by now, but that does not go for 1985. Why the makers chose cycling as the sport to build their story around is a small mystery. A few simple details give away that the creators aren’t that familiar with the sport or aren’t interested in giving an accurate view as for the tactics of cycling. For instance: the way riders use their gear, before breaking away in stead of after speeding up while breaking away. The fact that a cycling race first timer actually gets away in a race with pro riders from all over the world isn’t very realistic any way. Especially since David, the younger of two brothers and one of the main characters, claims to ride “30 or 40 miles” a day, which is not much at all. Also one of the main candidates for winning the race is a Russian called Sergei Belov (it has be a Russian in the eighties) who looks like a gorilla. Especially since the race where the movie is situated, staged in the Rocky Mountains, there is no way someone with that figure would have any chance. Same thing goes for some of the other riders. Real cyclists, especially the ones who are good at mountain stages, are more likely to have an almost unhealthy Body Mass Index (BMI), for being too light. Then there are the crashes, that don’t look natural at all. Now all of this might be because The Coors Classic is a totally different races than cycling races in Europe. Footage and results of the actual race in Colorado do not give that impression, though.

American Flyers seems to be an attempt to present a cycling movie to a big American audience, rather than to introduce them into the actual workings of the sport. They have simplified the way cycling works. It’s an understandable way of creating a story around a sport that is not known to the wider audience. Making a race that consists of three stages mainly a battle between three or four riders makes it easier to follow. If the creators would have created it the way it probably would work it might become to complicated. In real cycling the main competitors wouldn’t do that much work, they would tell their teammates to do so, and start going in fully just a few miles before the finish line. The leaders do not chase themselves, unless there aren’t any helpers left. Also: riders can be divided in types, they have specialities, the movie presents riders who can everything and riders who hardly can do anything at all. In the real sport allrounders do exist, but they are pretty rare. The fact that you need a lot of inside knowledge when watching a cycling race – more than most sports, especially the ones who are popular in the United States - doesn’t make I easy to turn the sport into a movie that is still entertaining for everyone. The movie does show that Colorado has roads that deserve a cycling race at international level. It’s a good thing that next year the first Quiznos Pro Challenge (http://quiznosprochallenge.com/) will take place, the new Coors Classic. And it’s gotta be said: making a very mediocre movie about cycling might still be better than making a mediocre movie about more popular sports.

Watch only when you are (very) tired.

Selected Quote: “Bowling is not a sport. It’s just a big videogame.”

Trivia

Cycling legend Eddy Merckx showes his face in this movie.

Some of the footage is from the real Coors Classic

The 7-eleven Team from the movie actually existed, and later on became Motorola.

58/100