This film has been reviewed by many a film and cycle enthusiast alike both highlighting the cycling inaccuracies or weaknesses in the acting or the plot etc etc.The simple facts are films of this nature are there to entertain and excite you. American Flyers does that with bells on, not only is the soundtrack typically 80's genius, but the landscapes are stunning and the storyline is simple. So all you need do is flick off your shoes, lie back with a bag of popcorn and enjoy!In addition, you get to see Costners Mo in full 80's glory, some classic old school road bikes, and a treadmill scene that would rival any Rocky training montage.Any 80's movie fan would and should love this film, and if you don't then I am afraid to say then you have lost sight of what a film is there to do!

American Flyers is one of those films which - sadly - has fallen victim of the great triad of cinematic failures: poor acting, illiterate script writer and a soap-opera editor.Arguably the plot-line and directing is pretty good. The last half hour or so is almost great. Good cycling. The directing carries the excitement of the action, and the goal of the film is almost reached.Kevin Costner has never been known for his acting abilities, and frustratingly the rest of the cast follows suit with panto-style delivery which is cringe-worthy at best. Coupled with this, is the sloppy editing reminds me of soap-operas, where delivery is followed by an infinite pause, stunting the suspension of disbelief (of a natural conversation). The dialogue is often so bad that it is not even funny. Anger is expressed by Thriller style glary eyes and raising your voice. Remember this, young actors.

I thought maybe a movie about cyclists might be different, and entertaining, as many Kevin Costner movies are, but I didn't find much to like in this film. Constantly bickering brothers complaining about each other's past family sins, grew tiresome fast. I wanted to ground their "fliers" before they ever got airborne.I didn't much of the cast nor their characters and the story was basically somewhat boring and very much clichéd with the illness angle. In the end, this was a lot more of "chick flick" than a sports film. The only redeeming quality was the wonderful Colorado mountainous scenery. Speaking of 'redeeming," thankfully Costner redeemed himself, sports story-wise, with the classic "Field Of Dreams" a few years after this.This bike movie was like a flat tire: a pain in the butt to put up with.

ever done it? way beyond the absolute, crotch-numbing, mind-blowing hilt?? You may just get a taste of it in this classic Costner film (yes, classic, forget the purist nay-sayers).Before "Water World", "Dances With Wolves","For Love Of The Game" and "Message In A Bottle", there was "AMERICAN FLYERS." You can guage (or wager) the distance in time, maturity or credibility of Costner's films any way you want, but this little gem will not disappoint you in subject-matter interest. Let's skip all that and get to the point: this is a movie-goer's film.You don't have to be Fausto Coppi, Louison Bobet, Jacques Anquetil, Eddie Merckx (in the film), Laurent Fignon, Bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond or even Lance Armstrong to appreciate the deep rigors of bicycle-racing in this wonderfully entertaining 1985 Steve Tesich effort. It brims with interest on several levels. Throw out the 'corny' phrases if you want, even the obligatory and patriotic PG sex scenes with David Grant and Alexandra Paul with all the phallic symbols attached - even then, I enjoyed 'em, don't care what you say.Though the film is powerfully underscored by hard-core bicycle racing (this one is way more technical than "Breaking Away"), it's basically about competition, strategy, the preparation thereof and the humanity involved in it's surrounding cornucopia of personal involvements; the trainers, the girlfriends, the family, a twisty tragedy…and the competitors, mostly embodied by the very diverse actor, director, writer and Ted Danson be-alike, Luca Bercovici – well cast.RES FIRMA NITESCERE NESCIT – ["a firm resolve never weakens", or in the film, "Once you've got it up, keep it up"] boldly emprinted on the front of David Marshall Grant's new t-shirt, once he best's his brother's (Costner) clinical and physically-challenging endurance test at the Wisconsin sports training complex (administered by the much-underrated John Amos) – will definitely make you either shrivel from the exhaustion of all-out effort or totally embrace it as a sportsman/woman. For me, from birth, recipient of 'bi-lateral dysplasia' (hips out of joint – corrected by bloodless surgery via casts from Shriner's Children's Hospital), the film Sirened me off the couch in my 12 year old, listless, childless marriage and challenged me to prove I could be once again - this time on a legitimate racing bicycle - somehow, the athlete in my decrepit and lethargic '40s' that I was in high school as a record-setting swimmer in my late 'teens. It worked. Twenty years after the film's debut, I still owe K.C. for the life-saving change. Not only is the film workable but my life as well, thanks to that happen-stance viewing. You may want to give it a try yourself. Bicycling or not, you'll truly enjoy this 20-year-old sports-classic, family movie."9" for entertainment...