Welcome to the Radical 90s Edition of The Best Movie You Never Saw. We add to the niche of X-games-themed movies like the skateboarding film Gleaming the Cube or the BMX bike movie Rad. Today, we take a look at the 1993 rollerblading cult classic Airborne.
Airborne is essentially The Karate Kid with rollerblading. The twist is that our protagonist is already cool and confident about himself and is an expert at surfing. Mitchell Goosen is a true Californian. He’s got the surfer voice and vernacular, and he has one of the most laid-back attitudes you can ever have in a movie character. Goosen is played by Shane McDermott, who has mostly a handful of TV credits to his name, with the most being a few episodes of All My Children and Swans Crossing. Airborne would be McDermott’s only movie role and he gets to lead the film. However, he seems made to play Mitchell Goosen.
Mitchell’s parents are sent on a massive work trip to Australia, but they aren’t able to bring him with them, so instead, they send him to finish his high school year with his relatives in Cincinnati, Ohio. In Cincinnati, Mitchell sticks out like a sore thumb, but it isn’t all bad since all the girls develop crushes on him. Unfortunately, that includes the girlfriend and the sister of Jack — our resident bully, who is played by Chris Conrad (known for The Next Karate Kid and his brief appearance as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation).
The movie is a cult classic for a fair number of reasons. One of the reasons is that it showcases some fun early performances by Seth Green and Jack Black. As Mitchell gets sent to Cincinnati to live with his relatives, his immediate sidekick becomes his cousin Wiley, portrayed by Green. Cousin Wiley is everything Mitchell’s not, which is to say that he talks big and he has no real skills. He feels like a real cousin you’d have. He’s got goofy, but hilarious parents, but he’ll overlook all that to maintain an image of coolness. He tries really hard to impress Mitchell, but can never seem to back things up. The Wiley character is like a trial run for Green’s future comedic persona and he completely nails it.
Meanwhile, Jack Black plays against type as a high school bully, but don’t fret, he’s in full “Jack Black mode” here! Black plays Augie, who is Jack’s sidekick. Almost immediately, Black goes over the top with his comedic performance in a scene where he chastises Mitchell in front of the class (and even the teacher, which goes on without consequence) and screams in his face. Just like with Seth Green, it feels like a trial run for his comedic persona and every fan of Airborne would be prepared for the eventual madness and hilarity of Jack Black thanks to this film. The only thing that’s missing is that Black doesn’t get to sing.
Since this is essentially a Karate Kid-formula riff, what is the sport featured? Hockey and rollerblading. It turns out that not only is Mitchell an expert surfer, but he’s also a god at inline skating. I am not ashamed to admit that this movie inspired my own (but very brief) interest in rollerblading as a kid. Once Mitchell gets his rollerblades in Cincinnati, there is a sequence that, even to this day, is insanely fun to watch, thanks to the display of skills by McDermott and his double and the rockin’ score by Stewart Copeland. The scene is essentially Mitchell’s Rocky II montage moment, but instead of training, he’s brushing up on his skating and using the geography of the neighborhood as his playground. Then, by the montage’s end, he’s gathered a large group of admirers.
Jack and his clique are in a recreational hockey team and face their rivals, The Preps, a lot. And even as they pick on new kid Mitchell, they always end up playing beside him, setting him up for abuse from the Preps. The grand finale is an epic rollerblading race for respect as the rivals convene at a city path that doubles as their track, which is nicknamed “Devil’s Backbone.” Director Rob Bowman, who would eventually helm The X-Files movie and Reign of Fire, films this race like its the 90s X-game version of Ben-Hur or something. The series of hills in Devil’s Backbone takes out a number of racers due to its geography and hazards and the guys even try to take each other out. It’s no-holds-barred and cutthroat. And it’s completely amazing.
Airborne is a perfect snapshot of its time and a fun twist on the formula with a ton of fun sequences and humor. It feels niche, but I also feel like those nostalgic for retro 90s teen and family films will no doubt see the charm in this one. I loved revisiting the world of this movie so much that I actually watched it again the next day, which is something I used to do often when I was younger. So, this movie definitely brought me back to that age in more than just one way. Stay stylin’ bra.