Radio Flyer (1992) April 28, 2020

[rocknblues81]

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26647

[Jlouisbarrett]

I've been waiting for this for ages... it scarred me as a child, but these Sony MOD releases are priced so high for what they are. It's a completely barebones standard Blu-ray for $24. Tough sell.

[meremortal]

This is one of those movies you need to be really careful who you watch it with with since it'll be triggering. For example, Fatal Attraction is a movie I could never watch with my spouse. I'd also try to not to watch this around her.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by meremortal

This is one of those movies you need to be really careful who you watch it with with since it'll be triggering. For example, Fatal Attraction is a movie I could never watch with my spouse. I'd also try to not to watch this around her.

I love the early 90’s coming of age movies.

Yeah, this one can be a tough watch at times, but it’s an underrated film.

[NeMo_ET]

Never heard of this before, but doesn't sound like something I'd want in my collection at this point. With these types of movies I think watching it once is usually enough. I don't mind getting the quick reality check but no need to depress myself with the evils of the world over and over.

Agree with the comment on these MOD discs being too expensive. It's the same with Universal though. When they started announcing these I thought great! We finally get these movies on disc, bare bones and at will likely be cheaper. Guess I was wrong...

[Ruemorgue10]

I'll go off of what meremortal said, the child abuse depicted in the film is very intense and could be traumatic for some viewers. I wouldn't show it to young children.

[paulfootball]

I liked the movie as a kid kind of sad though. Check out the Wikipedia on RF it was originally much darker but the director was fired and Richard Donner was hired to make it more lighthearted. The original director was also the writer who got to stay on the picture but had to keep rewritng it for Donner. There is even a deleted ending with Tom Hanks and his brother all grown up taking a tour of a gallery that has a Radio Flyer on display but test audiences found the scene confusing. How stupid to cut that out it really would have been a nice ending to the brothers journey. I always wondered if the brothers reconnected.

Did anybody think he was committing suicide by flying away? I sure didn't but some speculated on that when the movie came out that this would be better than being abused. The reviews really crucified this movie.

[HipsterTrash]

Ebert's review of this was spot on.

[Scahom1]

One of my all time favorites as a kid. The dark themes never really had much of an effect on me...looking forward to revisiting this again on Blu.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

Ebert's review of this was spot on.

Eh. I thought his review was kind of whiny. Sorta like when he whined about a lot of horror movies.

[paulfootball]

Ebert said it was like the movie was saying you can escape abuse by flying away in a wagon which he thought wrong. I think it's just important that the kid got away. It's not Cannibal Holocaust.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by paulfootball

Ebert said it was like the movie was saying you can escape abuse by flying away in a wagon which he thought wrong. I think it's just important that the kid got away. It's not Cannibal Holocaust.

Yeah, I was 11 years old when I first saw this. It didn’t occur to me then that flying in a red wagon would work to escape abuse in the real world.

[Ruemorgue10]

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

Yeah, I was 11 years old when I first saw this. It didn’t occur to me then that flying in a red wagon would work to escape abuse in the real world.

Donner said the ending is supposed to be literal, but I have difficulty accepting that.

[TwinCitiesBluFan]

I'm pretty certain I saw this at some point in my younger years, but I honestly have no memories of it. I did pick it up in the current Target B2G1 sale though, so I'm looking forward to (re)visiting it when it comes out.

[paulfootball]

Yeah I was 12. I like revisiting 80s and 90s movies they were done really well and it was right before CGI dominated everything. Today there'd be a 30-minute CGI scene at the end where he's flying around in the Radio Flyer avoiding explosions and missiles that the King fired at him.

[GuruAskew]

I love Richard Donner. I’ve seen most (all?) of his movies. He’s a very hit-or-miss director and Radio Flyer is one of his biggest misses. Most formulaic CGI explode-a-thons are better than Radio Flyer.

[HipsterTrash]

Originally Posted by paulfootball

Ebert said it was like the movie was saying you can escape abuse by flying away in a wagon which he thought wrong. I think it's just important that the kid got away. It's not Cannibal Holocaust.

It still feels ignorant when presenting the choices kids can have to child abuse.

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

Eh. I thought his review was kind of whiny. Sorta like when he whined about a lot of horror movies.

Agree to disagree. As for his takes on horror movies, I can see why people would dislike his take on that (myself included) but in some cases/reviews I'm not opposed to what he saying.

[Kamdan]

Ebert must have been taking a piss or getting fatter with popcorn when the 7 Wonders and Possibilities scene played. That’s the core to why the Radio Flyer flew.

[orrman]

Right, don't let your kids watch this movie because it implies child abuse and could be disturbing to them. Yet, let them play mature rated video games and watch grotesquely violent action movies all they want. Definitely please shelter these innocent souls from this artfully shot, poignant movie because it could scar them for life. Good job.

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by orrman

Right, don't let your kids watch this movie because it implies child abuse and could be disturbing to them. Yet, let them play mature rated video games and watch grotesquely violent action movies all they want. Definitely please shelter these innocent souls from this artfully shot, poignant movie because it could scar them for life. Good job.

It's a very serious topic for people who have experienced abuse during childhood. Many of them grow up to have lifelong disorders like bpd and my spouse is one of them. Bpd in particular is a very chaotic mood disorder resulting from childhood trauma that affects not just the person with the disorder but loved ones as well since they can become destructive rather easily and any time they're upset, they'll probably take it out on you with a victim mentality. To the average person watching this or a similar movie who has not significantly been impacted by abuse, it likely wouldn't resonate as personally.