chedarhead

Saw the movie for the first time tonight. I rented it from Amazon. Glad I didn't buy it but it was a good enough movie. I did like the Masi he rode as I have a soft spot for bikes of that vintage.

icyclist 

I love the movie. I've seen it several times. The first time was in a theater at 20th Century Fox studios, in West Los Angeles. I was invited to a sneak preview by a friend in the bike business. We both thought the film was terrific and so did everyone else in the theater, most of whom were in the bike business, too. But we thought the film would have limited appeal.

We were wrong. The film was very popular because it's about so much more than biking. The title alone has such a wonderful double meaning. What happens to people in Breaking Away are things that happen to everyone, but filmed in a way that made what is ordinary in life seem especially humorous and poignant. There was almost no violence, there were no sex scenes, and no villains with guns.

At the age of 31, I knew, on an emotional level that the film was a winner, but I couldn't yet put what I felt, and why I felt it, into words.

I think a lot of us can recognize ourselves in the characters in the film. I could see elements of myself in Dave, and I've known friends like Dave's friends. As the years have gone by, I've seen myself in Dave's dad, too, and in that way I came to appreciate the film more over time than when I first did so long ago.

By the way, American Flyers was written by the same person who wrote Breaking Away. That movie, to my mind, was superficial. I would have enjoyed it a lot more but the music drives me crazy. I do have a copy of the bike used by Kevin Costner in that film, the very nice Specialized Allez SE, on a long term loan from a friend while he lives in another city. I purchased the leader's jersey, worn in the imaginary "Hell of the West" race in the film, which is for sale from the company that made the original jersey for the film, so I can pretend I'm Kevin Costner chasing down the Soviet bad guy, Belov.

smoore

I saw it the year it came out, which means it seemed a bit more realistic at the time. After watching it at least 6-7 times I went out and bought the DVD. I now watch it every winter. To me, the best bike movie ever. I hope to go to Bloomington some year to do that ride with the local club there. Maybe this year?

I went out of my way to see American Flyers in a theater. I was on a business trip in LA and heavily into cycling by then and really pumped. To say the movie was disappointing is a huge understatement. I was expecting something twice as good as Breaking Away and instead is was half as good. Frankly, embarrassing.

klein7862

‘There’s no -Ini food on this menu, is there?’ Great movie Loved Paul Dooley

smoore

"I want American food! I want french fries"

FrozenBiker 

After following this thread, I just watched it for the first time. It didn't move me like it has for so many others here.
Not the worst movie ever watched, but it isn't something I'd ever need to see again. Oh well..

mercator

Well, to be fair, there aren't many movies from the 70's (or even later) that would be considered to have aged well by modern standards. The production values of todays films, just in terms of picture and sound quality make older ones look pretty dated. I imagine if I saw it today for the first time I would feel the same way.
If you watch movies for the story and characters, however, Breaking Away is quite satisfactory.

jwalther

Maybe 10 or 12 times. I graduated from IU in 85, so the movie had come out a couple of years before I was on campus. The Stoller house in the movie sits just off campus, and was student housing when I was there. Drank a few beers on that porch. . .

Biker395 

I've seen it at least 10 times, and it's one of my to 10 favorite movies.

The dialog is superb. How about the scene where David and his father are walking along at the University at night, having a heart to heart talk about his future?

"You're not a cutter. I'm a cutter."

Or Mike's dialog ... the high school quarterback who knows his best days are already behind him:

"These college kids out here - they're never gonna get old or out of shape 'cause new ones come along every year. And they're gonna keep calling us 'Cutters'. To them, it's just a dirty word. To me, it's just somethin' else I never got a chance to be."

Or Dave Stoller's epiphany:

"Everybody cheats. I just didn't know."

I love the film. It does a great job of catching that awkward stage where decisions have to be made that will affect the rest of your life. The humorous dialog and situations that arise from Stoller's desire to be Italian, and the cycling connection are just icing on the cake.

Check it out ... there is a bike lane in front of the old Stoller house:

DiabloScott

Factoid: The Cinzano guy does NOT stick his pump in the spokes of Dave's bike - he sticks it between the wheel and fork.




Sequence HERE

smoore

Thanks Biker 395, I gotta go ride there sometime. I'm told the family now there gets there door knocked on a lot.

And Diablo, Dave is in his small chainring while drafting the Semi. And thanks for your great blog about this! LOTS of factoids like that in a film that has been picked apart by thousands of cyclists.

So now we need to know where "Katerina" is these days.

qcpmsame 

She isn't acting anymore, last acting job was in '99. She didn't last very long as an actress, or didn't want to. Here is the link to her wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_Douglass

Bill

OldsCOOL

Those Campy small chainrings....some of them are 49t. Imagine that. Some of us duffers ride a large chainring 50.

supercycle62

I am watching again right now!

Shimagnolo

Don't tell us how it ends!

icyclist 

I suppose, if someone tried to put a pump into whirling spokes, it would be ripped out of his or her hand and both riders might very likely go down.

smoore

Some of the cast reunited in 2015 at Interbike.

Stars of 'Breaking Away' reunite at Interbike in Las Vegas | Las Vegas Review-Journal

'Breaking Away' Stars Reunite After 35 Years | Bicycling

SammyJ 

Awesome movie!

wsriii

Thanks for this, enjoyed reading the articles. I was at the University of Iowa when this came out. Almost the entire cycling community went to see it as one. Great times.

Miele Man

I really didn't like all the foul language so only watched it muted and fast forwarded to the bicycling scenes.

For me the foul language ruined what could have been an excellent movie. YMMV

Cheers

loky1179

I thought the foul language was very carefully crafted: "I'm not your papa, I'm your goddamned father . .. . and she's your goddamned mother!"

Crewchief911

I finally watched it a few weeks ago for the first time.

Terex

Watched it when it came out. Named a cat after the cat - Fellini. Our daughter went to IU law school, and we did a Breaking Away tour. Great movie. They used to have the Little Indy on TV every year and it was great viewing. My favorite was when a guy was coming across the finish line in the middle of the race and his bike went airborne - about 10 feet in the air. Lots of injuries each year.

Foul language?? Never knew there was any in the movie.

Oh, and the helmets that the frat guys wore...my wife and I rocked those back in the '70's on our Motobecane Grand Jubilees.