Airborne

1993 "Mitchell became the most popular guy on Earth...once he took to the sky!"
6.3| 1h31m| PG| en
Details

Good-natured teen surfer Mitchell Goosen finds himself staying with his aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio when his parents head to Australia for work. There he meets his cousin, Wiley, and together they try to navigate the perils of high school—avoid the bullies, get the girl, and win a little respect.

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Also starring Shane McDermott

Reviews

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Jason_VoorheesIMDb To be fair this isn't a bad movie if anything it's actually pretty good but I do think it's a little disappointing. Let me say a few flaws about the movie. 1. There are times where I feel like i'm watching a commerical. 2. Some of the characters are just jerks for no reason other than to be a jerk. 3. Nikki is completely shallow. 4. Seth Green is like a girl in this movie. His hair is girly, he was wearing a headband when Mitchell was telling about Friday, and the scene where he was trying on different clothes. Well watch that scene with that girls wanna have fun song. Now that I covered what I don't like with this movie allow to talk about why I like it. While Mitchell's personality is on par with a Disney prince he's still an enjoyable character for the most part. The skating stunts are very good. The writing can be funny at times. The race at the devil's backbone was a really good race. It was a really intense race and the crashes looked pretty realistic. Although I was wondering why the devil's backbone went everywhere. What, is the garage part of the Devil's Backbone? Is the stairway part of the Devil's Backbone? Even your GPS would give up at this point! Also when Mitchell jump over the car? Unless your wheels are encased with Flubber, you just jumped the shark. Oh, I'm sorry, "Peppy." But don't let my words get in the way of the movie. Also the soundtrack was good. Either way it's 91 minutes of your life you're not getting back. This is one of those films that should be placed in a time capsule. I'm not saying it totally sums up the '90s, but it sums up how the media saw the '90s, and it's just every '90s cliché that existed at the time. In that sense, it's sort of a wonder. I don't know, but if you're looking for good generic stupidity from the decade where the band Hanson were popular, this would probably be your best bet. Take it for what it's worth.
ss97-1 A typical fish out of water story.....The young hip SoCal surfer kid named Mitchell (Shane McDermott) gets moved, against his will of course to land locked Cincinnati, Ohio where his geeky cousin Wiley (Seth Green) lives. Wiley an outsider himself in a way tries to show his SoCal cousin the ropes at his hockey crazy high school.The set up of the movie is really lame. Somehow just a few days in town the Surfer kid ends up in a big Ice Hockey game (also against his will) and mistakenly scores a goal for the other team. So of course the hockey jocks of the school now want to make his life miserable and start a series of endless pranks. As a life-long hockey fan I was repulsed by what the movie called "hockey" ....It was a pathetic attempt at comedy I guess, but not really funny at all. I suppose it was sort of funny watching Jack Black play goal and fall down a few times but beyond that it was all pretty lame....The movie really changes as soon as a dejected Mitchell comes home from another miserable day a school, and gets a package in the mail. The package contain his beloved Roller Blades and soon Mitchell is out on the town doing tricks on the streets, making friends on BMX bikes, skateboards and roller blades.Once that switch is thrown on the movie the fun really starts. Mitchell starts to build a friendship with a local girl Nikki, played very well by the adorable Brittney Powell. And he starts to feel good about himself for the first time since leaving the beach.Shane McDermott has since retired from acting, but this was probably his best performance. And make no mistake he was quite good in the movie. He plays the cool SoCal surfer kid well, and he manages quite a few dynamic character swings with relative ease. It makes you wonder why he gave up the ghost so easily on his career, he is a talented actor. He holds his own in a movie filled with fun characters by such current superstars as Seth Green and Jack Black.This was the first movie I ever saw Jack Black in, and it was apparent right away that he was going to be a star. His natural character was just so apparent. And of course Seth Green is always good.Alanna Ubach is also in the film, and although she is not yet a household name, she will be eventually. She has been a secondary player in many great movies including Legally Blond. And she is a very good actor.Eventually the tough guys from the opposing hockey team pick a fight with Mitchell and his refusal to fight makes people think he is a wuss. But he tries to prove he is just peaceful. Then he learns that the girl he was courting, Nikki, is big jock hockey player's sister, who also wants to fight him. When Mitchell's pacifist ways make it look like he does not care, people pull away from him. Even his cousin Wiley is disappointed that he would not fight. But Mitchell is not a wimp, he is misunderstood, which is explained as a foreshadow story he tells Nikki at a hockey game when they first meet.Eventually a dream compels Mitchell to chase after Nikki in spite of the fact she tells him to leave her alone, and in spite of the fact her large brother wants to kill him. But Mitchell fights back with some great play in a roller hockey game, and series of pranks against the opposing hockey team. His school hockey players figure him out and invite him to skate in an dangerous roller blade race, in traffic down a series of hills...... Of course he does and helps them win the big race and all his happy in the end.While the hockey scenes are pretty lame as far as realism goes, the roller blade stunts are quite good. Nothing supernatural takes place, although some excellent stunts were pulled off. There is no CGI in this one, just old school stuntmen. The illegal street race that the entire movie leads up to is well done and accurately portrayed.Like a million movies before it, Airborne does nothing special, or even original. But it does have fun along the way, and the actors do pretty well with what limited story they had. It also sends a positive message that restraint can be cool. And that maybe fighting is not always the answer.The movie is just some fun mindless entertainment, with some good actors sprinkled through.
Tomas Billflipper Although certainly the writer of this film owes much of his inspiration to Steinbeck and Depression-era authors, it has more than enough substance to stand on its own. In hindsight, Airborne is more than just a high-flyin' roller-blading epic—it is a depiction of the culture wars that exist in our society today. Mitchell represents the coastal "corporate" American coming to the Midwest to pillage its' resources (in this case Cincinnati's finest ladies). Augie is the repressed commoner, perhaps a factory worker, who resents Mitchell at first because of his pedigree and obvious social graces. Wiley is the guy who is striving to make it out his internal strife anyway he can, and shrouds his blatant homosexuality in clever retorts and hooded sweatshirts. Jack is obviously the old farmer, who has seen it all in his day and now is bitter that time is no longer his friend.However, the "Preps" represent something far more imposing than anything Mitchell brings to the table. They obviously represent Communism. If the Cold War taught us anything, it is that Communism can only be contained by a roller-skating race through Cincinnati that ends at the birthplace of democracy, Riverfront Stadium. No wonder Jack Black jumped at the chance to make this ambitious film. The subtle nuances of this cultured classic cannot fully be appreciated in two or three sittings. Nay, the marrow of this film must be sucked dry before you can truly see the vision behind this movie. Step aside Shakespeare...
number1ts20 This is a very good family movie. I love this movie. Great story lines, lots of comedy. The scene " I'm too sexy", I laughed so hard, it was so funny, I had to rewind and watch it again, the whole movie was great. Great rollerblade scenes. This movie has real good rollerblade stunts. I love the actor Shane Mcdermott, he was very good, can't find anything else he has done. Seth Green was just to funny in this movie, all of his movies I have seen with him in it, have been great. I am going to rate this movie as a 9. I suggest if you have not watched it, you need too. It would be worth your wild. Jack Black plays a real good roll in this movie as well. Fun for the whole family.