Thrashin'

aka Skate Gang

Director - David Winters (The Last Horror Film)

Starring - Josh Brolin (The Goonies, Gangster Squad), Robert Rusler (Vamp, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge), and Pamela Gidley (The Little Vampire)

Release Date - 1986

Genre - Action/Drama

Tagline - "It's not a kid's game anymore"

Format - BluRay (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The 80s will always hold my heart and 80s cinema will always be my favorite decade of films passing all others.  I was born in 86 and raised in the 90s but I always caught myself renting flicks from the 80s regardless of the genre.  Well, that was until I was in 4th grade when Goosebumps threw me head first into the horror genre.  Anyway, I always loved the films of the 80s and still try to collect and review as many as possible.  Recently, Olive Films released the teen action drama Thrashin' on blu.  The film starred Josh Brolin who was known at the time for The Goonies.  The film, which is also known as Skate Gang, involved a group of friends obsessed with skating who fight a skateboard gang.  This really interested me so I reached out to Olive and they were kind enough to hook me up with a review copy.  Thanks for allowing me to check this one out!
     The film follows teenager Corey Webster (Brolin) who heads out to L.A. to spend some time with his friends so he can practice skateboarding.  He plans on entering several competitions in hope of making his way up to the L.A. Massacre competition.  He has to watch himself because a skateboard gang, known as the Daggers, has it out for him and his friends.  They try to keep a low profile but that soon backfires when Corey falls for a young girl who just happens to be the sister of the leader of the Daggers.  This leads to several altercations resulting in Corey breaking his arm but this does not stop him from entering the biggest skateboarding competition in L.A., the L.A. Massacre.  He enters the competition even though he is injured and is hellbent on winning even if it means facing the Daggers again.
     When I was in middle school I was friends with a few guys that were big into skateboarding and the sub-culture associated with that.  It was during this time I picked up a lot of the lingo and stuff like that.  It actually grew on me and I became of fan of watching professional skateboarding.  That was one of the few reasons I wanted to check this flicks out.  That, and it was a teenage drama made in the 80s and starred Josh Brolin.  The acting in this one is fantastic for different reasons and we really have a great cast to thank for that.  Josh Brolin, the film's star, does an amazing job at pulling the viewer in.  His role is genuine and his character is so easy to like.  Robert Rusler, who is known in the horror community for his roles in the vampire comedy Vamp and the controversial installment for A Nightmare on Elm St 2 in which it is argued that the film has homosexual undertones (who the fuck cares?  This is still a great installment in the ANoES series).  He is known for portraying likable characters with a lot of personality.  However, he switches it up in this flick and portrays someone that we can easily hate.  This says something about how much talent he has.  The story for this one is just another underdog sports flick but the stars are not playing a popular sport.  With that being said, this sport flick has so much fucking action that the viewer has a hard time taking their eyes off the screen.  The film also has a pretty character driven story which is something that I fucking love.  I love when the story takes the time to give the viewer some great characters.  Also, those of you looking for blood and gore will be very disappointed.  However, those of you looking for an action flick that combines elements of a teen drama then this one is for you.  Finally, the film is another great looking blu from Olive.  The film looks great but this release, once again, lacks special features.  Fans of this film may be a little disappointed with the release lacking supplemental material.  With that being said, owning this awesome flick on blu is good enough.  Overall, the Olive release of Thrashin' is fucking fantastic.  The film is an absolute blast and truly deserves a shot.  Check it out and add it to your collection.