Is this anything like Breaking Away?
Well is it? It's of course not as critically aclaimed or famous. My friend who is an avid cylcer thinks it is, though. What does everyone think?
shareIt's quite a bit like "Breaking Away" in that it was written by the same screenwriter (Steven Tesich) and features a bike race at the end with rather predictable results. I'm probably in the minority, but I preferred this movie because I cared more about the characters.
shareI agree. The kid in "Breaking Away" bugs me. Family is a big theme in both movies.
shareNo it's not really the same, other than the cycling aspect of each movie.
This movie follows the brothers, et al, as they race in various stages (think of Le Tour), with the suspense to the final stage and finish. Of course it has the developement of relationships and some plot there, some plot.
Breaking away, which I prefer, is more of a race for glory. Though there are 2 races in the movie, each is irrespective of each other. I kind of see it as a west side story meets bike racing meets the underdogs type movie.
I like them both, but prefer breaking away.
Enjoy.
Very different movies other than the cycling aspect however I personally prefer American Flyers. I actually got into cycling after I saw this movie. I mostly did a lot of touring with Bike groups but it was great.
American Flyers is more instructional in that it educates the public in the little inside stuff about how the sport and its rules work which is what I found interesting. Ironically I did not see this movie until 1986 2 years after it played at the movie and the same year that cycling took off with Greg Lemond winning the Tour de France.
I do agree with another writer hear that family is a common theme in both films.
Breaking Away is more of a coming-of-age film than a racing film and also seems to have a lot less of a "Hollywood" feel to it. Listen to all the 80's synth music "telling you how to feel" in American Flyers; the Italian music in Breaking Away gives a less cheesy feel, and the character Dave is one-of-a-kind in his town and seems far less generic than anyone in Flyers.
Breaking Away has one town as its setting (Bloomington) and therefore feels more 'grounded' as well as addressing some class issues that were usually not handled well in American film later during the Reagan years. For these reasons, i much prefer Breaking Away, even though I know they were both written by the same screenwriter. For me, the screenplay of Breaking Away feels "complete" and American Flyers seems more forced (notice the two times the plot is advanced in Flyers by seeing another person's car on a highway and then stopping, including one on a VERY busy multilane freeway). Not to take anything away from Kevin Costner, et al., but it is my two cents that the real star in American Flyers is the bee-yu-ti-ful Rocky Mountains!