50
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70Time OutTime OutBadham and scriptwriter Steve Tesich keep the syrup and scenery flowing along nicely.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertAmerican Flyers is shaky at the core, because it tries to tap-dance around its own central issues.
- 60EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasNot only do the pair have to prepare for the upcoming race, but, hey, they also have to deal with a hysterical mother, a dying father, and the knowledge that one brother is destined for the same fate as pops. Not quite as sickly as it sounds, with a fair few hints of the onscreen magnetism to come.
- 60NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenAmerican Flyers is too accomplished not to wring tears, but you may want to kick and scream before you succumb. [09 Sep 1985, p.90]
- 50TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineDisjointed and underdeveloped. John Badham's direction is equally uninspired, though the climactic race, shot on location during the Coors International Bicycle Classic, is filmed with an abundance of breathtaking helicopter shots that capture the beautiful scenery.
- 50Chicago TribuneRick KoganChicago TribuneRick KoganThough the racing action scenes are initially satisfying, one soon tires of the mountain scenery. And the obvious-from-the-start ending robs the race of whatever dramatic tension it ordinarily might have possessed.
- 50The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottPredictable and maudlin. [14 Oct 1985]
- 40The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyEven though American Flyers is a fatal disease movie involving a couple of bike-racing brothers, it's the film - and not any character - that dies as you watch it.