Supercross: O Filme

I actually left about halfway through this movie. Because neither the plot and relationships, nor the racing footage, were enough to hold my interest.

When I think about it, I guess the natural movies for comparison might be The Lords of Dogtown, and The Fast and Furious, and whatever that racing movie was that was the contemporary of Fast & Furious, that starred Sly Stallone. All three were far better movies. All three featured lots of racing action and racetrack energy and the like. And all three included some engaging off-track personal dynamics for the racers.

This movie seemed VERY short on plain old race footage and racetrack footage, and seemed to concentrate more on off-track personal relationships. Yet none of these relationships seemed to me to really appeal. "Tight but competitive" is the opening formula: but almost all I saw and heard was competition with little sense of connection. Competition without that connection is frankly very, very unappealing to my taste. I wanted to like these folks, but just couldn't.

Bummer ...

This film is about two brothers who are talented in motorcycle racing. They enter the world of professional Supercross racing, unleashing a new chapter in their lives.

"Supercross" may be an entertaining film, with plentiful of youthful actors and actresses, much speed and engine noises. However, I think it is limited by the fact that the plot is weak and poorly developed. There are a lot of motorcycle scenes, but it lacks the intensity and energy found in other racing films such as "The Fast and the Furious".

"Supercross" is likely to appeal exclusively to fans of this sport. Other people are unlikely to find it engaging or thrilling.

Supercross: Coming from a past Motocross racer, whose sons are grossly interested and active in the sport. I took my 2 boys to see this movie. After watching past with them, days/weeks/who knows how much footage or MB of digital images of just racers and riders, with no intended story line on our home TV with them, I did not know what to expect. I figured I would get much of the same, and hopefully a story to boot. I have to say when compared to some of the other full-length films related to the sport of Motocross/Supercross they made a noble effort at putting together actual film sequences, mixed with some acting abilities to present a story line even though it was somewhat weak. As a true race fan you will pick out some inconsistencies in the splicing of the actual "Clear Channel" ® footage that was used to enhance the film. It is hard to take the racing sequences to seriously when the characters are beating some of the best-known racers in the industry. It might have been a little more realistic if they could have used cameos from professional racers in more than just a passing glance. But give them a break it is a movie. However, for a dramatic effect race footage served its purpose. It allowed them to mix reality racing with drama in a manor where it did not obviously appear dubbed in. Even with the track switches and split screen viewing it gives you the impression that you are watching a broad-casted race.

Yea it has some of the most predictable film clichés in film industry, but I do not think it was directed to earn any awards. It is a story of a very common ideal in the sport. It is the struggle of two brothers K.C. and Trip that are dreaming of making it to the big show in a sport they love. From an amateur level there is a lot of effort and motivation that goes into trying to become one of the chosen few that gets the opportunity to earn a high level sponsor or a professional contract. It also shows you the different methods used to grab the necessary attention. Both methods are demonstrated slow and steady working little by little and on or over the edge going for broke. It also tries to show the kids watching that the ethics of trust, loyalty and perseverance do pay off.

If your a race fan, you should enjoy it just for the fact that our sport has climbed one more rung on the latter, to more public recognition. Hopefully we will get the attention that the sport deserves. As a parent, it is a movie that you can stand to sit through with you kids and spend a little time with them. Trust me the kid's will like it and more than likely you will be buying a copy when it is released for home theater.

Brothers K. C. (Steve Howey) and Trip Carlyle (Mike Vogel) are brothers working menial jobs as pool cleaners while also competing in motocross races. While K. C. is serious minded about supporting himself and his brother, Trip is prone to brash impulsiveness and bad decisions that K. C. often has to deal with. Following a motocross race wherein Trip slides into K. C., the duo attract the attention of the head of motorcycle manufacturer Clay Sparks (Robert Carradine) who hires K. C. to run as a blocker for his son and star racer Rowdy Sparks (Channing Tatum). This ends up putting a wedge in K. C. and Trip's relationship.

First announced in December 2002, Supercross was one of the first projects announced from Tag Studios, a joint venture between Backstreet Boys and N'Sync producer (and convicted fraudster) Lou Peralman and producer of third rate children's media Steven Austin. The movie when announced while American popular culture was still running high on the "extreme" fad brought about by various extreme sports with Motocross no exception. Eventually released in August 2005, the movie was released during a lull in consumer interest in extreme culture with failures such as Torque and Biker Boyz derailing momentum caused by The Fast and the Furious and xXx and the movie was given the minimum amount of theaters for a wide release and opening far outside the top 10 and going largely ignored by moviegoers. What critics bothered to watch the movie complemented the bike stunts but were unimpressed by the thin characters and plot. Supercross is best viewed as a relic of the mid 2000s because as a movie its an anorexically thin exercise with thin characters and plot.

While the movie tries to establish K. C. and Trip as a broken family struggling to survive in the absence of a deadbeat biker father, don't expect too much development on that front because the movie doesn't really care about that and is more interested in the "extreme" parts of motocross at the expense of any real reason to care. Both Steve Howey and Mike Vogel are good actors and have shown it, but here there's very little for either of them to dig into with barely developed love interests for both of them and a wedge issue that doesn't carry the weight it should. The one actor who tries to elevate this material is Robert Patrick who functions as something of a surrogate father figure for Trip and while it's slightly better development than most of the other characters it also feels like it isn't given the breathing room it needs. Per the film's title, the movie features wall to wall motocross footage but even at only 75 minutes total runtime the novelty of these races wears out fast especially when there's no real character, investment, or stakes. The best sports movies are stories that use the sport as a backdrop for overcoming the odds or going through some personal development and you never really feel engaged in the same way you would from other sports movies. As hokey as the Hal Needham film Rad was back in the 80s, it was a more memorable and passionate filmmaking experience than Supercross which feels like a Mountain Dew ad crossed with a motocross promo. It's not the worst relic from this time as there's the bare bones of something that might work unlike Extreme Ops, but you still need actual meat on those bones.

Supercross might appeal to the hardcore motocross faithful, but for anyone else there's really not all that much here unless you're looking for a clunky time capsule of mid 2000s excess.

I think that this movie is a good one for motor cross fans and kids. It's something that's not worth paying 10 dollars for at the movies, but it is enjoyable if you are into XXX sports. I am into it and I thought the stunts were pretty cool, but there was no real plot to it. There was but it wasn't like fast and the furious where there's mystery and suspense. However, if you want to see steve howey in a different light than definitely see it. He was great, and I think he has a lot of potential as an actor. He was completely different than his van character on Reba. He was serious about what he was doing and you can tell that he loved what he was doing. I hope to see more of him in other movies because he's really talented. Overall I give it a 3 out of 10 stars.