Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director :
Steve Boyum
Cast :
Steve Howey……….K.C. Carlyle
Mike Vogel……….Trip Carlyle
Cameron Richardson……….Piper Cole
Sophia Bush……….Zoe Lang
Aaron Carter……….Owen Cole
Channing Tatum……….Rowdy Sparks
Robert Patrick……….Earl Cole
Robert Carradine……….Clay Sparks
Carolina Garcia……….Starr
Ryan Locke……….Jeff Johnson
J.D. Pardo……….Chuy
David Castillo……….Jimmy Castillo
Erin Bates……….Herself
David Pingree……….Billy
Alana Austin……….Rider Girlfriend
The Movie
Sports underdogs were rather popular in 2005, as audiences were given plenty of them to root for. And coinciding with the beginning of the X-Games came an underdog story that was scene by few, the photogenic Supercross.
Supercross follows two brothers who are extreme sports athletes, K.C (Steve Howey) and Trip (Mike Vogel) Carlyle. They clean pools during the day and dream of being amongst the precious few that can make a living as professional Supercross competitors. K.C is offered to become a pro rider as the blocker for Rowdy Sparks (Channing Tatum) while Trip works out a deal with Earl Cole (Robert Patrick). Added to this are love interests for K.C and Trip in rich girl Zoe Lang (Sophia Bush) and Piper Cole (Cameron Richardson) respectively. Throw in some romance, dash in some danger and finish it all off with a Supercross event for $100,000 and you have the elements of the underdog sports movie for those who prefer non-traditional sports. Too bad about an hour or so of the movie has been cut out in exchange for impressive visuals of motorcycle racing.
And that’s the bulk of the movie, which barely makes it past the 70 minute mark. The visuals are very impressive, as Steve Boyum has a knack for taking a photogenic sport and crafting solid action sequences in between the impressive motorcycle jumps. When the movie focuses on the racing itself it does create a tense atmosphere; there is a lot of drama mixed in with the spectacle to create an illusion that there’s more to the movie than just race sequences. But sadly, that’s almost all of what comprises Supercross.
There’s just enough plot crammed in between motorcycle jump highlights to keep it from being an X-Games commercial; the movie focuses loosely on the Carlyle brothers attempt at becoming professional racers as his the highs and lows of being niche sports athletes struggling to make ends meet. And developed more, this could’ve been a pretty good movie as the elements are there for a quality story about two people pursuing a dream. But there isn’t enough of anything to establish any sort of characters, much less the main ones.
The whole cast is shortchanged due to any sort of meaningful character development. The Carlyle boys aren’t given enough character development to even be one-dimensional, as well as any sort of meaningful sub plots dropped early on, in favor of crowd shots and racing sequences. It’s not small things that can be inferred as happening, its large gaping holes in the story that are missing that could otherwise have developed a much more coherent story. One minute K.C is struggling to ask Zoe out on a date, the next they are in the midst of a burgeoning love affair between a rich girl and a not so rich biker. It’s the same with the other brother, as one minute Trip is competing against Piper and the next he’s taking her shirt off. There are major developments in there that are missing that could, at the least, fill in the sizable gaps of plot that are missing.
Score : 3.5 / 10
The Video
Presented in both widescreen and full screen formats, the film doesn’t look that good. It has a grainy, shoddy-looking transfer from the theatre to the small screen.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby 5.1 format, the film sounds good at least.
The Extras
Inside Look is a look at The Sentinel, coming Spring 2006.
The Stunts is a three minute EPK piece on the stuntmen behind the film.
The Stunt Doubles is another three minute EPK piece about how the stunt doubles worked with the actors in order to give the film an authentic look, as apparently it’s easy to look like you have no idea what you’re doing on a bike.
The Story follows in the tradition of the extras on this DVD as this is yet another three minute EPK piece about the film’s “plot.”
The Industry is a piece about the actors and there unique experiences on the bikes.
The Cast and Crew is another in a long line of EPK pieces about the film and the people behind it.
Casting Session: Supercross is a Fox Movie Channel look at the film. Lasting around 8 minutes, it’s your basic Electronic Press Kit type of material.
Commentary by Director Steve Boyum
Theatrical Trailer
Score : 3.5 / 10
