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Is This the Most 90s Movie of All the 90s?
One man's quest to identify the "Most 90s Film of All Time" continues with this frightening installment on Airborne. Directed by the exec producer of "Castle," who is also the director of Elektra and Reign of Fire—no lie, not the best movies ever made, God bless!—Airborne is about a California high school surf-dude who is forced to move to Cincinnati, where is he is mocked and then proves his awesomeness in a rollerblading race. It includes Jack Black in his second film role, and it sounds terrible and delightful. It's a real standout in the genre.
And you can stream it on Netflix! I know what I'm doing at work this afternoon…
In an unrelated note, my wife and I are moving to NYC sometime next month, and have had crap luck with brokers thus far. Any recommendations on someone to help me find a rental on the UWS?
Try putting up a craigslist ad challenging the entire city to a roller blade race. If the city wins, you will give everybody a massage. If you win, you get an apartment.
I had a joke ready about a different rollerblading movie with Seth Green, but IMDB tells me it's the same film. I have seen this movie, possibly more than once. It is everything you expect.
I kind of prefer this to there being MULTIPLE rollerblading movies from the 90s.
Well, there's Brink! starring the unforgettable Erik Von Detton. So there are at least two, I guess.
Also Prayer of the Rollerboys…
I think Rumble in the Bronx could win with the hovercraft vs. lamborghini countach scene alone.
Oh, Shane McDermott. If you weren't Paul Le Mat's illegitimate son, you sure looked and acted like it.
"Okay. Ready? It's the Karate Kid, but with rollerblades."
"I'm listening."
"Because like, nobody cares about karate anymore, but it's a timeless story of the outcast proving himself to get the girl, and find acceptance in the community. It's basically symbolic of the entire civil rights struggle, an essential part of the cultural fabric of this great nation. But instead of karate, instead of the Selma to Montgomery march –we use rollerblades."
"So what's his hair going to be like?"
"Think Joey Lawrence with a dash of Vanilla Ice."
"How many zeroes did you want on your check?"
Hey, Reign of Fire was at LEAST OK.
Also, his second film 'roll?' Niiiiice.
Au contraire, Reign of Fire wasn't just OK; it was awesome. Matthew McConaughey's finest hour.
1995's "Fair Game." That is all.
I'm about 2 pages deep, but if I don't see Singles I'm going to call bullshit on the whole effort.
This was the first thing I thought, also. Imma gonna go play the soundtrack, now. On CD.
The list begins with Singles and ends with Reality Bites.
Johnny Mnemonic is clearlyy the most 90s movie of the 90s — Keanu Reeves uses the PowerGlove to access the internet plus it's got Henry Rollins, Ice T, and Dolph mudderfuckin' Lundgren! Top it off with a little Helmet on the OST and you got yourself some seriously Clintonian shit right there…I WANT ROOM SERVICE!!!
It's often hard to pick a winning comment in a thread about 90's movies, but this one is the clear front runner today. Just to add onto this pile of straight 90's elements:
* based on a William Gibson story
* the main villain is a pharmaceutical corporation
* The Internet saves the world with released confidential information, particularly through large outdoor display screens in the middle of cities.
* Keanu Reeves is running from something, attempting to act
* Future fashion is represented as 80's wear in shades of metallic grey
* Dina Meyer
* Encryption as a plot device
* A dolphin saves the day
* Evil Japanese people practicing martial arts
* Somehow there is a "boy meets girl" plot shoehorned into all this
* Even if you accept all of this as reasonable, the movie is STILL insufferably nonsensical, but still utterly mesmerizing.
Really, if this is not "The Room" of the 1990's, I don't know what is. Really, the only competition is "Point Break", "The Net", "The Matrix", and "Disclosure". As much as I admire those movies, none of them include the following line of dialogue by a homeless cyborg:
"It's Jesus time."
#giddy
I believe the proper terminology is "Dina Fucking Meyer".
Dina Meyer! Remember DragonHeart, with her and Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery as the most Sean Connery-ish dragon ever? No?
(Come to think of it, the theater was pretty empty…)
SLICING UDO KIER LIKE A LOG OF BALONEY WITH A FINGERNAIL-LASER-GAROTTE-WIRE THINGY.
Virtual Light.
I grew up in Cincinnati and remember when they were filming this movie. All of my friends were trying to get parts as extras or just find the filming locations. Very few movies are filmed here, so it was big excitement. Of course, now we've had Clooney invade our city and whip everyone into a frenzy, so I'm sure it'll happen more often.
Same here. A ginger kid in my theater class got to be the Cha-Ching Guy's lighting stand in.
Wasn't there a scene with a supposed hockey game at West High? I knew the whole movie was bullshit right then and there.
#22 in a series of Recycled Awl Comments: I have Opinions about movies:
#35 in a series of recycled Awl Comments: I too share your opinions but they slightly vary making me appear the superior cultural critic.
Jack Black's first screen appearance
Also, Devil's Backbone, where the final race is supposed to have started, is a real street and it's really steep and twisty. In an unrealistic twist, it's about 30 miles from where the end of the race is.Some enterprising extreme sportsters should get a Devil's Backbone downhill race together.
Airborne is a great flick however, I believe it has more of an 80's movie feel than 90's given the "fish out of water" theme. It also important that it marks the first time of many where Jack Black will annoy us via "film".
I'd also argue that Rollerblading is the most 90's recreational pastime.
I saw this movie. In the theater. I remember for some reason they didn't dim the lights until 3/4 of the way in. True story.
How have we made it this far without a discussion of Aspen Extreme (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106315/)?
- Outcast has to prove himself through skiing
- Friend injured and "outcast" has to prove himself
- Getting better at something montage!