Breaking Away (Widescreen Edition)

Breaking Away (Widescreen Edition)
by Peter Yates

Our Price: $9.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $5.01 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Barbara Barrie, Daniel Stern, Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Jackie Earle Haley
Director: Peter Yates
Cinematographer: Matthew F. Leonetti
Producer: Peter Yates
Editor: Cynthia Scheider
Producer: Art Levinson
Writer: Steve Tesich
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-01-29
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox

DVD Reviews of Breaking Away (Widescreen Edition)

DVD Review: More then a bike movie
Summary: 4 Stars

Bought this for the bike footage, but it is much more and really about coming of age and making those first big choices in life. A fun movie with a positive message

DVD Review: You see I'm what you call a cutter
Summary: 5 Stars

Barbara Barrie asks, "Aren't you glad to be alive?", Paul Dooley answers, "NO I'm glad I'm not dead, there's a difference." I can't expect everyone to understand the complexity of this movie so let's say its a good movie to see once, its just like the movie 'Rudy' but slower. But for the minority of cutters like myself that have read lots of Mark Twain, Steinbeck, and Vonnegut - this is an American existential classic. Superficially, a coming of age movie with bicycles but on a literary level the movie is about how American society can convince middle-class youth of a false mythos and of how directed talent, a little ambition and a shot of self-confidence can transform; its about the joy of being young; and foremost it is about the existential becoming of the real person able to boldly move into the future by fully understanding oneself, (if any of my former Arizona St. U. classmates happens to read this review, don't laugh too hard!).

DVD Review: Breaking away in a couple of ways
Summary: 5 Stars

Excellent movie: action/suspense, humor, and moral dilemma. Perfect demonstration of a kid trying to "break from the tribe" and of people learning to see past the imposed cultural stereotypes and portals, whether looking at themselves or others.

DVD Review: Breaking Away
Summary: 4 Stars

I enjoyed this movie greatly and it has been many years since I have seen it, it also gave me an incentive to get back on my bike and get back into shape.

DVD Review: inspirational script
Summary: 5 Stars

An odd assortment of high school friends take a year off, wasting their time together, before the call of peer pressure fades as careers and girlfriends beckon. Steve Tesich won a well-deserved Oscar for best original screenplay in 1979 and the story is still as fresh as it was then, although these days, instead of going to college, Dave Stollar would be riding his bike professionally in Europe and making millions for doing it.
It's a coming of age film, with the four friends exploring the nature of friendship, peer pressure, the demands of society and the antagonism between the town kids and the college kids who come in from outside for their few years at college.
If you are into cycling, there is a story about winning (and a slightly twee ending to the film), accompanied by some beautiful music as the companion to the cycle racing.
I am a teacher and I use this film as the catalyst for some healthy discussion about the nature of friendship, peer pressure, ambition and family life. Top entertainment and a bagful of discussion points, along with a witty script and lots of humor.

Description of Breaking Away (Widescreen Edition)

This charming, Academy Award winner (1979, Screenplay) cycles high on comedy as four friends come to terms with life after high school. When top-notch cyclist Dave (Dennis Christopher) learns that the world's bicycling champions are always Italian, he attempts to turn himself into an Italian, driving his parents (Barbara Barrie, Paul Dooley) crazy. But everything changes after he meets the Italian racing team-an encounter that ultimately leads him and his friends (Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley) to challenge the local college boys in the town's annual bike race.

Peter Yates's flag-waving film stands with To Kill a Mockingbird and American Graffiti as one of the best films about small-town Americana. Steve Tesich won an Oscar for his semi-biographical screenplay about four 19-year-olds who don't know what to do after high school. Dave Stohler (Dennis Christopher) and his three friends--ex-football star Mike (Dennis Quaid), wily comedian Cyril (Daniel Stern), and tough kid Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley)--are doomed to live in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana, where the local kids (nicknamed "Cutters"--a derogatory reference to quarry workers and their blue-collar families) are looked down on by the uppity students of nearby Indiana University.

Stohler escapes into a world of Italian bicycling, picking up the lingo, the accent, and a good share of the talent of his heroes. He is also the scourge of his father's life. The used-car salesman (Paul Dooley) doesn't understand his son's affection for bicycling or, for that matter, his pride in being a "Cutter."

Breaking Away rehabilitates the word heartwarming as Tesich's uncommonly intelligent script gives us well-rounded characters and a potent sense of place. The grandstanding finale--the real life "Little 500" bike race--gives the film a perfect, crowd-pleasing end. However, the film never sacrifices the development of characters for the action. Dooley is especially effective in one of those once-in-a-lifetime roles. The lifelong character actor's place in film history is established with this indispensable performance. --Doug Thomas

General DVDs

DVD Video

Bestsellers in General DVDs

Role Models
Universal; Release date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $12.98
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity
DUNHAM,JEFF; Release date: 2007-09-18; DVD
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops: ~~$14.99~~

Enchanted April
Release date: 2009-05-05; DVD
Best price: $19.98
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Last Chance Harvey
Release date: 2009-05-05; DVD
Best price: $10.93
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Hotel for Dogs (Widescreen Edition)
Paramount; Release date: 2009-04-28; DVD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Release date: 2009-03-03; DVD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Bedtime Stories
Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Bride Wars
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-04-28; DVD
Best price: $8.80
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Bolt (Single-Disc Edition)
Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Marley and Me (Single-Disc Edition)
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $10.55
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs

Field of Dreams (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
Team Marketing; Release date: 1998-04-29; DVD
Best price: $5.80
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Rudy (Special Edition)
Team Marketing; Release date: 2000-09-26; DVD
Best price: $2.77
Price in other shops: ~~$14.94~~

My Bodyguard (Widescreen Edition)
Release date: 2002-01-29; DVD
Best price: $4.72
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

The Paper Chase
HOUSEMAN/BOTTOMS/WAGNER; Release date: 2003-06-03; DVD
Best price: $4.68
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Quicksilver
Sony; Release date: 2002-12-10; DVD
Best price: $7.69
Price in other shops: ~~$14.94~~

Chariots of Fire (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $11.92
Price in other shops: ~~$26.99~~

Hell on Wheels
VAS; Release date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $18.71
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

Hoosiers
Team Marketing; Release date: 2000-02-29; DVD
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

The Flying Scotsman
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-09-18; Published: 2003; DVD
Best price: $5.38
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~