On G List of Movie Reviews

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Gleaming the Cube (1989)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 10/11, 1/20

GleamCu
10/11: I fondly remember watching Gleaming the Cube constantly on HBO during the early 90's because of the skateboarding action along with the interesting plot.

Since then, it has become a forgotten cult classic. After recently seeing Gleaming the Cube again, I feel it stands the test of time based on different elements. Plenty of famous skateboarders including Tony Hawk and Stacy Peralta appear.

Of course, the skateboarding scenes look tame by now because vert skating gave way to street skating and the technical mastery of it has increased by a thousand-fold. Now, check out Airwalk shoes in the film. I used to wear them back in the 80's. Yep, those were the days.

Of the cast, Steven Bauer's character is annoying because he either doesn't listen or takes too much pride in wearing tight clothes. Although Christian Slater has an engaging personality which overshadows his limited acting range, he has the tendency to put his head down and play with his hair while speaking. Anyway, what exactly does "gleaming the cube" mean? Good question. Brian Kelly says it meant pushing yourself to the edge of your limits and staying near it.

All in all, Gleaming the Cube was an extraordinary film back then because it made skateboarding look cool; but now, it's a nice nostalgic cult classic.

1/20: Gleaming the Cube, which aired constantly on HBO back in the day, is probably the best skateboarding movie ever made.

I doubt there will be a film that skillfully combines murder mystery and skateboarding. There are many excellent skateboarding scenes, especially when Brian Kelly went after the bad guys. The most fun is he either going downhill or latching onto a car at a high speed.

Among early films as the leading actor, Christian Slater is a natural, and he's fun to watch. Back then, I knew who Tony Hawk was because of Gleaming the Cube. He was already famous before he became really famous. At any rate, it's interesting to see him so young.

All in all, Gleaming the Cube is the film to watch if you like skateboarding.