Rollerblades - Sulle ali del vento

This movie is hilariously funny. Shane McDermott's monologues, meant to be serious at the time (When you see that perfect wave.. .) have aged into top notch hilarity, and Seth Green's scenes are pure gold, showing the then-young actor at his comedic best, year before Austin Powers. Throw in a then-unknown Jack Black and a bunch of funny little high school types, and then Edie McClurg on top of it all, and you have one of those perfect 1980s-early 90s films, with the perfection and classicness of which that can't seem to be replicated today. This is truely one of the littlest known, but funniest movies of all time. Those who fancy themselves amateur critics would call it a period piece, a comment on the culture clash that can exist within our own country, and a farce on rollerblades. I say the only disappointment in watching it is the realization that more modern movies are nothing like it.

Is it just me, or has everyone seen this movie about a hundred times on cable? Call it a guilty pleasure, but every time it came on, I just had to watch. I think it must be Seth Green's "Wiley Man" (Which I'm sure had a throwaway line homage in Austin Powers during the counseling scene). I'm glad to see him make it in the business.

The movie itself? A California surfer pretty boy tries to fit in at a new school and wins everyone over (including the school hottie) by skating. Tres deep.

6 out of 10, but you just gotta watch it again and again.

I enjoyed this movie as a kid, but have only recently re-watched it. Present impressions are not as favorable, but at least one aspect was impressive. Granted, the storyline was nothing new and at times corny, but there was a bit of vocabulary and a few good lines. What most impressed me was the novelty of the street skating scenes. These moves were being done by a few people at the time, but most kids like me had never seen such things. As I just watched now, I was surprised at things like the flip on the half pipe and riding walls and jumping cars and grinding rails. For 93, that's just plain amazing. For a lot of my friends this movie became a sort of street skating manual. We even painted dragons on our skates like the main character. Some of us even went on to be sponsored and I think it all started with this movie. Considered from this perspective, Airborne is definitely innovative and classic.

Airborne is mostly a teen movie marketed back in the early 90's when the rollerblade craze was starting to catch on. It's like the rollerblade companies needed some more exposure, so they gave these guys a bunch of money and said "hey, make the kids crave rollerblades". With all that aside, it is a rather enjoyable movie. Shane McDermott plays Mitchel, a surfer from California who must move to Ohio for a couple months. His performance reminds me of a teenage version of Keanu Reeves in Point Break. Seth Green plays the comic relief hapless friend, and Seth's parents are played by Edie McClurg(secretary from Ferris Buehlers) and Patrick O'Brien. The parents in this are hilarious and they work very well with the rest of the cast. The moviesfollows Mitchel as he tries to adjust to the very different Cincinatti atmosphere. He quickly becomes a heartthrob thus alienating him from every guy in town. So he pretty much spends the next hour trying to avoid trouble, but at every turn it seems to find him. In the course of this he ends up playing ice hockey/roller hockey and then rollerblading. The major flaw of this movie is the motive and identity of the villains. You see very little of them throughout the movie, and their dialogue is terrible. There is also a huge disparity in the look of the males and the females in this movie. Most of the male cast looks and are well into their 20's (with the exception of the Shane and Seth).. The girls in this movie look like a bunch of 12 year olds... But since there isn't a lot of interaction between the two, it doesn't detract from the movie too much. All in all, I enjoy this movie. I really like the approach they have taken with the Mitchel character.. He's just a young surfer dude who is a vehement pacifist. He is very cool and very not violent (hero's always breed violence in modern movies).. He also makes a couple of Zen-like observations which are fun to watch. The movie ends with a rollerblade race through downtown Cincinatti with the hero's facing the "Preps". The rollerblade race is the best part of the movie, and it is very well played out. This movie isn't oscar material, but it is much better then any other "roller-skating" movie, sport genre movie, and many disney-teen movies.. Jack Black also play's a small role in this, and is fun to watch. I give this 7 out of 10 stars.

If you don't go into this movie with overly high expectations, but just go with the flow, this movie can be very enjoyable. So it isn't Academy Awards material. How many movies are? Anyway, for a teen high-school love story, this isn't bad. I enjoyed the skating, even though I have been to Pittsburgh enough times to recognize most of the streets, and certainly the skyline. I am more bugged by the movies made in Canada that try to pass themselves as U.S. locations (that tax credit must be a real biggie!)

If you like fish-out-of-water movies or H.S. love interests, give Airborne a look.

I hope Mitchell eventually made his way here to O'ahu and surfed our waves! Now there is Airborne! (especially the latest thing, Kite surfing!)

Laters brah