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Summary: On bicycle riding, speaking Italian, and making Dad grow up
Review: "Breaking Away" is a movie with an unusually wide scope of topics. Its plot is not confined to one theme (a seemingly-doomed romance or good versus evil, for example) but instead almost seems to tackle life itself; or at least, life as it is for bike-riding, Italy-emulating Dave and his three close friends.
Each of the four pals gets his fair share of attention, and almost without noticing the viewer comes to know'and like, for all their quirks'them all. They are united by an obvious life-long friendship, and (although they would never admit it) a thinly-veiled desire to somehow make their way into college, or at least get a job.
All except for Dave, who has multiple additional goals jockying for position in the forefront of his mind: to become a champion bike-racer, earn his father's respect (or at least un-earn his father's shame) and even win the heart of a certain college girl.
Unfortunately for him, he's going to learn a bit about reality along the way.
Every character in this film, no matter how minor, is fully developed and multi-faceted. Enjoyably poignant moments, realistic hilarity and quite a few exhilirating competitions make this film both amusing and wonderfully human. I very highly recommend this, to anyone at all.
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Summary: This movie will make you want to buy a bicycle
Review:
This is one of the most inspiring and best-told tales of growing up in small-town, USA. Solid acting, an incredibly entertaining and fun storyline, and great charaters. Though it's not just about biking, this movie is able to somehow capture the joy of biking - the thrill of self-propelling oneself over the concrete and through the air on a simple, silent machine you hard even know is there.
Definitely a must-see for any film fan. A real crowd-pleasure, too. Good for everyone in the family, maybe like one swear word and no violence to speak of.
-- JJ Timmins
Rating: 
Summary: Breaking Away From The Bunch
Review: A classic film about small town America, Breaking Away hits all the right notes in its portrayal of teenagers coming of age and coming to terms with growing up. Breaking Away manages to achieve what few films of recent years have done successfully - give the viewer characters that they can empathise with, root for and understand. Believable and honest in its approach, the film combines humor and truely bittersweet moments in a story about Dave Stohler and his twofold obsession with cycling and everything Italian - he is in fact almost convinced he IS Italian much to the despair of his father and the amusement of his friends. Dave and his friends are at a cross-road in their lives - with the big decisions facing them; what are they to do now that they're leaving school? For most of them there's only the prospect of taking up bad paying jobs or leaving town in search of a future, while the itinerant frat boys are always willing to keep them in their place. For Dave though, his refuge is in the romantic world of Italian bike racing that he has immersed himself in. His portrayal of the lovesick Italian exchange student is particularly endearing, while the awful truth that he faces about the heroes he's idolised for years is a sobering moment in the film. The characters, story line and charm of this little known movie makes it one of the classics that deserve a place in any collector's library. Brilliant.
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Summary: All American Movie
Review: A film for all ages and times. It is about the American dream, defined through despair, failure,perserverance, and ultimately, on a short circular track, redemption. This is a classic American tale masquerading as a bicycle racing movie. Bike racing? Yup, and you'll be riveted by every turn of the pedal because you will care for and form a bond with the characters riding on the bikes. They are all of us, on anyday, in good times and bad. This movie is America defined.
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Summary: mikeknox.com
Review: A poor kid from Indiana wants to be French and ride a bike but his dad wants him to sell cars. So he gets his drugged out friends to ride in a bike race with him to prove to the world that those rich kids from school ain't got nothing on cutters.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: A sleeper that made the grade and graduated into the realms of Classic Flicks, Breaking Away is one of those wonderfully uplifting and subtly patriotic movies that champions small-town America. Steve Tesich won the screenplay Oscar for this semi-biographical story about four 19yo kids who can't quite decide what to do with themselves after high school. They live in Bloomington, Indiana, where the guys from the university look down on the townies and make derogatory comments about their rock quarrying forebears. One of them drifts, then runs, into the world of Italian bicycling, much to his used-car-salesman father's dismay and embarrassment.
You'll feel yourself pulled into rising excitement as the marvelous finale hoves into view, and, though sorry to see the film end, you'll hit the rewind button with a big smile on your face.
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Summary: If you enjoy movies, you will love this one!!!
Review: A true classic movie. It it doesn't touch you, then you aren't a parent or a child. Children don't come with instructions, but then again, neither do parents. This movie reveals that if we pull on the same rope in the same direction at the same time, life can indeed be quite rewarding. When your family is together, everything else is just gravy. And if it isn't......NOTHING will ever fill the void.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: A wonderful movie about growing up. If you've ever felt torn between sticking childhood friends and moving on with your life, you will definately appreciate this movie ... Plus it has some cool biking scenes in it too.
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Summary: Italiano!
Review: Another wonderful feature about the DVD version of this outstanding film: in the subtitles, the DVD producers took the time to include the Italian phrases and lyrics that were so integral to the story. For example, when Dave is riding down a Bloomington street on his bike, singing an Italian opera, you can enable the subtitles and see the Italian words. When he's serenading "Kathy" outside her sorority house, the Italian lyrics are available. And when he's trying to converse with the wise-guy professional bicyclists from Team Cinzano, the Italian dialog is shown. It's great fun. Most DVDs don't include this feature. It was a nice touch!
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Summary: My Favorite Movie Of All Time!
Review: As a 14 Year Old watching this film for the first time, I was mesmerized.
Looking back 25 years later, it holds the same appeal.
Dennis Christopher, who was incredible in the film, never became a big-time movie star, but should have. Upon further review, his performance in this little movie that could will stand the test of time.
Its a shame the writer, Steve Tesich, passed away before he could leave his mark and record a commentary for this film. The fact that the dvd has little extras is one of the bigger disapointments for me in the dvd era. This should not affect your decision to see this film. It's my all-time favorite, and remains so, 25 years later.
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