1986.Skatebordin' is blooming and almost booming...... What could have been another piece of crap is actually and surprisingly quite good. The plot shows now and then some usual clichés amongst skaters, but the cast plays very good; i cannot say it is the most engrossing movie of the 80's, but you'll get your amount of fun, love, music and skating scenes.As in many teen flicks(remember Tuff Turf),the plot is simple:Valleyboy meets the girl, but the girl belongs to the opponent's team,a competition will take place.....guess the ending..... If you're a Red Hot Chilli Peppers fan,don't miss their performance live, singing a song from their first album.
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kastagne24 July 2006
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BandSAboutMovies5 June 2021For all the love that people have for Rad, let me tell you, Trashin' was just as big in the video rental stores of my youth. Maybe it's because I skated and so much of my culture came from Thrasher Magazine, but this movie is just as good to me, if not as celebrated today. I mean, Vinegar Syndrome isn't rushing out a 4K of this one.
Corey Webster (Josh Brolin!) is an amateur skateboarder new to L. A. who wants to win a downhill competition when he meets Chrissy (Pamela Gidley, Cherry 2000 herself!), a girl who knocks him for a loop. She just happens to be the sister of Hook (Robert Rusler, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge), the leader of The Daggers, a punk rock skateboard gang who now wants to knock out our hero.
Sure, it all works out, but along the way, some of the greatest skaters of the 80s show up, like Tony Alva, Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero. There are also appearances by Brooke McCarter (Paul of The Lost Boys), Brett Marx (Jimmy Feldman from The Bad News Bears movies) and Josh Richman, who directed several Guns 'n Roses videos. Oh yeah - Sherilyn Fenn plays Velvet, one of the Daggers' girls.
The soundtrack to this is kinda all over the place, with a theme song by Meat Loaf, of all people, yet there are plenty of scene correct punk and metal shirts, as well as Fear and the Circle Jerks songs. Perhaps the best music part of this film is an appearance by the Freaky Styley-era Red Hot Chili Peppers, back before anyone cared who they were and they'd show up in movies like this and Tough Guys.
Director David Winters started his career as an actor, showing up on Broadway in West Side Story and Gypsy before becoming a choreographer - he was the first to choreograph the Watusi, originated the Freddie and helped Elvis and Ann-Margaret dance in Viva Las Vegas. His first directorial effort was the Alice Cooper film Welcome to my Nightmare and he also was behind the Joe Spinell movie The Last Horror Film. His producing credits are insane, with everything from Linda Lovelace for President* to Young Lady Chatterley, Killer Workout and owned Action International Pictures, where David Prior made all manner of films.
So yeah. Thrashin'. Go find it.
*Lovelace dated Winters after divorcing Chuck Traynor. She credited him for introducing her to culture. -
parkerbcn6 June 2021Another very 80s sports movie released the same year as the wonderful "Rad", but not nearly as good. If that one was about BMX races, here we have skateboarding, but instead of an underdog story, we have the also traditional "Romeo and Juliet" love story. With a post-Goonies Josh Brolin as a not very engaging main character and a lot of stunts by famous skaters of the era, it's good 80s entertainment, but not memorable.
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cwbellor31 August 2012Corey is the golden boy of skating. But when he drops in on Captain Hook's family half pipe, road rash and gnarly pavement are the least of his worries. Corey's got the hots for Hooky's bodacious babe sister, Chrissy. But Corey is blinded by valley vision and he's not familiar with one of Daggertown's truisms – if you hang out here, you hang out with Daggers! Hook doesn't appreciate Corey ruining his show and anyone who knows Hook knows that Hook's show never stops. With the help of Monk the Punk and the other dirty Daggers, Hook is determined to keep Corey from playing kissy with Chrissy. But Corey is in over his head and he's about to find out that there are some games he just doesn't know how to play. When Hook challenges him to a game of joust, the odds are against him. It could be because, unlike Hook, he doesn't have a lock of his girlfriend's hair attached to an earing as a good luck charm. Hook won't be happy until Corey is just like break dancing, a memory! If Hook has to burn a ramp, get medieval in a half pipe or race the guy down a hill at sixty miles an hour to make that happen then he'll do it. Oh and by the way, that wild Indian picture happens to be stylin'!
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murphaa22 September 2021Great skateboarding movie for it's time but Rad and Gleaming the Cube were soooooo much better! Just can't give it more than a 7 ....
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FlashCallahan7 January 2012Thrashin' is the age old story about a boy who falls in love with the rival gang leaders sister, with skateboards, and bodacious haircuts and clothing.
Plotwise, it's really nothing new, a sort of West Side story struggle, with the conclusion ultimating in a race called the LA Massacre, which just involves lots of people on Skateboards going really fast.
If Corey wins this race, he will become the face of Smash Skates or some other name. The thing is, The daggers leader doesn't like Corey going out with his sister, so he invites him to 'joust' which involves them chasing each other with a small bean bag on a stick.
Corey breaks his arm, ooooo, I wonder if he will win and become friends with the brother and get the girl at the end? I really don't know....
It's a typical eighties movie, made watchable by the likable cast and the admittedly good stunt-work and editing.
We have the usual breaks in plot to show off the fancy moves, and the fianl sequence involves lots of people flying in the air and landing in trees.
Brolin is great as the lead, and it's bright fun stuff to watch. -
nafps12 September 2021High ratings seem to be mostly nostalgia. That and just watching it for the skating moves.
The old studio heads who greenlit this film, and the suburban dad who watched MTV for his source material, all had no clue.
Really goofy choices for a soundtrack. Meatloaf the overweight faux opera epic hippie rocker singing about skating? Fine Young Cannibals the gay pride synth pop band? Another fashion casualty synth pop group, Animotion? And all kinds of third rate MTV wannabes...
Only RHCP, Fear, and Circle Jerks belong. But they could have found a dozen actual skate punk bands like Big Boys or Suicidal.
The fashion was pretty hilarious, more third rate MTV imitations. Frosted perms and waves, dangling cross earrings, mullets, and heavy eye makeup and metal denim jackets on skaters?
Kids doing skating moves in a punk rock pit? Or even being allowed to carry their boards into a club. Right...
Just keep fast forwarding past everything but the skate moves unless you enjoy unintentional comedy.
ETA: I'm glad of the strong reactions to my review, both the downvotes and the higher than I expected number of up votes. Good to know some others feel the same. -
kresojela3 December 2005I got hooked on skateboarding before i've seen the Trashin', but when i finally have seen the famous 'Skate or DiE' movie, it was love on first sight:) In my country they translated the movie title as 'The hero of SkAteBoarDinG:)) ..I've watched it around 13 times, knew the dialogs by hart, used the pause button on VHS to learn the tricks, used the pause button to copy the skate , scull:), bones, dagger drawings and graffiti, did a spider net on my board (couple of years later it was the cheesiest skate drawing:)), and did a lot of personal skate logo designes, but thank God didn't pierce my ear to wear a scull or a skateboard design earing on a small chain..
..Anyway i still consider myself a trasher:) This movie definitely represents my childhood and because of that i'm not capable of an objective valuation. It's summer, skate, good times, friends, first love, rhcp, bonding movie. -
welhof131 December 2020This was one of those not well talked about 80's gems. I loved it. Some of the acting was pretty corny but the leads were all good. Also some of the skating through town scenes went on a little long, but they were all exciting and worth watching.
The ending LA Massacre skate was pretty intense and very well done! -
vertigo_144 March 2004For the love of me, I can't figure out why this movie is so popular. I mean sure, the skateboarding craze attracts a lot of young folks, and probably a bunch of 80s fans are drawn to this laid back teen film, but honestly, what is the real attraction behind it?
Thrashin' is an 80s skateboarding flick starring those super dudes, Josh Brolin and Robert Russler, among others. Brolin plays a skater from the valley who's going to race a pretty tough downhill competition. The movie plays out, like too many before it (and so many after it) as a sports cliche and romeo/juliet love story. A rival skate gang, lead by Russler, hates kids from the Valley. But Brolin sure likes the leader's sister. And they'd make a fine couple if only she didn't have to hide him from her brother who doesn't want anyone associating with those kids from the Valley.
The story is far too played out to enjoy from the beginning. But that's never stopped the enjoyability factor of some movies so long as there are other appreciable qualities. The actors, the action, the music, whatever. But this movie hardly has even that. First off, the filming work is pretty shoddy. You have an awful lot of mistakes going on. But fine, so what, right? But to top that off, you have a terribly trite story line with the corniest dialogue.
Even the skating isn't all that great to watch, at least not when compared to other competing skate movies of the decade with the most noteable being Gleaming the Cube. It's nothing more than a hollywood cash-in on the sport.
I suppose the only bonus here is an appearance at the club by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Other than that, I'd say shelve this crappy movie. If skating movies are what suits your tastes, try the aforemention Gleaming the Cube, or try any number of the old Bones Brigade/Powell Peralta skate-movie spots such as The Search for Animal Chin, Ban This, and others. They're funny. They're good times. They're better than Trashin'. -
GodLovesMoviesToo15 November 2007THRASHIN' is The Movie! Everything is right in this '80 classic. There are greater movies. More profound movies. Movies of greater artistic vision or originality or political significance. There are other titles I would put above it on my list of the best films of all time. But when it comes right down to the movies we treasure the most, when we arelet us imagineconfiding the secrets of our heart to someone we think we may be able to trust, the conversation sooner or later comes around to the same nine words: "Well what do you thrash?" "What do you got!" Life shod be like Thrashin': not to complicated,with good friends,not so bad enemies,sweet girlfriend and YES a happy ending !!! My candidate for the best Hollywood '80. movie.Good race!!!
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Yea these were the days, i remember me and my friends in israel at the age of around 10, had our own little skateboard gang, and oh boy , what didnt we do :). this is a great movie, with all the action and love a child, teen, and even adult will enjoy. i was just searching some stuff on the net, and suddenly remembered that flick, so i hopped on imdb and luckily found it :) if n e one knows where i can buy it on the net, you can let me know, just drop me an email :) well thats it. great movie, great fun!
p.s. when reading reviews, dont be a follower and listen to everything they say, cuz u may find out its ur fav one.. for ex. Bird on a wire,
i dont understand why some dumbo would say its a stupid movie, cuz i watched it about a dozen times, and its great. -
rajitecture26 November 2023Like a Jackie Chan movie, you need to put aside some silliness and just enjoy. This is one of those movies. Some of the dialogue is ridiculous as are the fights. The wardrobe is also silly especially based on today's standards. Going off today's skateboarding skills, the tricks are also underwhelming. Al that said, this is a period film. It fit the 1980s. For those of us alive in the 80's this is part of the culture during that time and watching it again today bring me back to those innocent times in such a perfect way. This movie will always have a special place in my heart. I just read that the main female lead passed away a few years ago at what I would call too early. I obviously don't know her, but the film was a part of my youth and so it makes me sad to know the rough news. In a more light-hearted subject, it's pretty frickin cool that the main lead in this movie ultimately becomes Thanos.
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JPLeverich-129 January 2011Ahhhh..nothing like a skate down memory lane from time to time. Back in 1986 I was a skateboarding punk so this was an AWESOME movie to me. Much more so than 'Gleaming the Cube' because in Thrashin' the main story was about skateboarding. However, with time this movie has gone from AWESOME to awesomely bad. It was still fun to watch for me since it was one of my favorites from back in the day. But the clothing, skating and acting is so bad it is almost more of a comedy now. I remember wearing some of that 80's skate/surf neon apparel and when I see the neon look trying to make a come back these days I just ask....WHY!???? If you grew up in the 80's skating this is a fun watch, but if you did not...just skate on by.
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vertigo_147 March 2004Thrashin' is one of the worst skateboarding films I have ever seen. In fact, it's probably the cream of the crop of bad 80s teen movies. Nothing can save it--not the skating, not the story, not the actors, and not even the music (save a small appearance by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers).
Thrashin' is a tired play on the Romeo and Juliet saga. Some skaters from the Valley are despised by a raw, rival gang headed up by Robert Russler ("Max" in Weird Science). One of the Valley guys (Josh Brolin) falls in love with the rival team's sister. It's basically like a fight to the death (though not literally) story where Brolin must prove his worth in a downhill racing.
The movie is loaded with poor attention to detail during the skate scenes with boom mikes and mismatched skating doubles all over the place. The story is ridiculous and the dialogue is simply too stupid. The skating scenes aren't even that fantastic. And yes, the cliche of break dancing and skate offs are thrown in there, too.
I recommend that if you want to watch a good 80s skate movie, your best bet is "Gleaming the Cube" (with Christian Slater and Max Perlich) or the Powell-Peralta Bones Brigade mini skate movies such as "Search for Animal Chin," and "Ban This."
"Thrashin'" just pains the brain. -
Marko1019 September 2007I was a nearly a kid when this movie appeared on TV and I had an opportunity to watch it again a month ago.
What else to say except that all people which lived in '80s will adore this movie because it will remind them on times when life was simpler,when all people around the world respected each other much more and when young people could do anything they wanted with their lives. Skateboards however, survived,and maybe good feeling of '80s will repeat again! However,for todays kids this movie will probably be "lame" or even funny,which will only show us what have we made of world for this 20 years.
Well,in waiting of new "peace era of '80s" watch this and enjoy "Trashin"! -
"Trashin'" is a skateboard-movie with numerous clichés from the middle of the 1980's. It looks older than films such as "Blade Runner" or "The Terminator" despite the fact that it tries to be cool and modern - it fails at all points.
"Trashin'" has also several stereotyped characters without any sense of depth. The whole story is simple and dull, and it could just have been about surfers, bikers or anything. It is quite impossible to make a good skateboard movie when there is a plot about a guy who comes to this different place and then fells in love with the bad guy's sister. And this try was not even serious - in many ways, this is a movie without any sort of ambitions. The music is really off the map, and the editing shows that some of the skateboard tricks are never really made. The main characters goes around or skating with their boards almost all the time to make it look like a skateboard movie, but that is not enough to make 'Trashin'' exciting, personal, funny or charming in any way.
Rating: 1 of 10. -
fittsy1 September 2005I think the previous comment was crazy.
Gleaming the cube is a horrible skate movie.
I know the screenplay of Thrashin wasn't any good but it was truer to skateboarding than Gleaming the Cube where a dude makes a skateboard out of steel plate! Thrashin had a ton of real skaters in it, they have the performance in the skateboarding night club by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and lots of other cool tidbits.
The Daggers were obviously made up of Alva team skaters as one of Tony's classic designs was the Alva Dagger.
I know Thrashin isn't an Oscar nominee but I give them a lot more credit than Gleaming the Cube. Thrashin tried to be truer to their skateboarding roots. Gleaming was just a way to GLEEN money from the movie goers pockets.
As far as comparing it to Powell & Peralta Bone's Brigade movies... those were skate videos and featured primarily skateboarding sequences. There weren't a lot of story lines or acting. Even The Search for Animal Chin only has a limited amount of story and is entirely focused on the skateboarding. -
SnoopyStyle12 March 2017Corey Webster (Josh Brolin) is a skateboarder from the valley. He and his friends often clash with The Daggers from the Venice Beach area. Tommy Hook (Robert Rusler) is the Daggers' leader. Velvet (Sherilyn Fenn) is his girlfriend and Chrissy (Pamela Gidley) is his younger sister. Corey meets Chrissy at a club and they start going together.
It's a bit cheesy but it does have some skateboarders involved and the unknown unnamed Red Hot Chili Peppers. Josh Brolin is the skateboarding lead. He does simple boarding while the tricks and footwork are done by experts in cutaways. Brolin has proved himself over the years to be a reliable actor but there's a problem with him in this role. He may be a teenager but he looked older. Worst, he always gives off a narc vibe. He's never a rebel or the all-American. It would have been interesting to have a young Johnny Depp in that role. This was never going to be a big hit but it could have been a cult favorite with Depp in the lead. -
snyggdia18 August 2005It doesn't matter if its a bad movie with bad 80's quality. It was after this movie that Europe started to get into some serious skating, including me as well ;) I'm sure that most of the living legends of skateboarding thinks this is a kick ass film. Its so 80's and that rules! BTW How many movies in the 80's where really good blockbusters? LOL. Well this movie has it all, skates, skaters, romance, cool 80's skate tricks, red hot chili peppers, and a hell of a romeo and juliet theme all over it. I have watched it like 300 times on a very bad copy VHS tape. Hehe to bad i doesn't have my old Powell Peralta board with kryptonics wheels still laying around. I recommend this movie to any and everyone. Hugs and kisses from me ;)
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Josh Brolin from The Goonies makes a great skateboarding hero. This movie is filled with great styles and great fads from the time period, not to mention great music, including The Circle Jerks and The Red Hot Chili Peppers who perform in the movie. It's a classic story of good guy falls for bad guy's sister. Bad guy and good guy fight, and finally bad guy and good guy unite after good guy beats bad guy in a skateboarding race. This movie seems very comical watching it in present day, but it actually serves as a time capsule for the 80's. There are many great skateboarding tricks displayed, and many other great scenes including: a skateboarder riding into the side of a truck, and watch carefully (and rewind to watch over and over again) the hilarious scene where the young kid in the sunglasses shouts out "NO, you be there!", pure genious.
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This movie is absolutely fantastic; it's got everything to get that teen-feel going!!! Romance, action, good music, and grreat gear. I don't think they make movies like this anymore, or maybe the nostalgia is just an important factor in these kind of feel-good movies. This thing makes me want to go out & go really fast; -it still gives a real freedom-kick after all these years!!
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This movie .. i tell you .. everytime i wanna feel like a teen again , i just pop this one up hehe. This movie is the definition of the 80s ,GREAT amazing music, real Cali vibe, if there was a time travel id pop here in no time! I dont even know how many times i've seen this one, and i always watch it with the same passion. Corey is a "good guy" while Tommy is a badass hahah ,btw i love Robert Russler, i dunno why but he had the chance to be a true movie star back in the days, sad that it never happened, hes a great actor. All in all ,i love this movie, without any doubts one of my top 10 of all times.
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mattcweber18 December 2005If you were a skater punk in the 80's and loved everything Neon, OR you like skating Fat Decks in pools, this movie is for you. If you are an Ebert or a Fat Tony Hawk video game nerd chances are it's not your cup of tea, it's that simple. I was waiting along time for this DVD to be released and when I finally got it, I was so pleased. Watching this disc with the commentary on gets it a nomination of sorts for a comedy commentary award with Robert Rusler, Josh Richmond, Alan Sacks & Steve Olson tearing it up in a drunken blaze of glory. Lace up the Vision high tops, slap on the pink grip tape and shred.
P.S. The Daggers will own your soul!!! -
jostaley26 October 2004I think this movie is totally awesome. Its everything great that cheesy, cheap, and shallow 80's movies have. The cinematography is beyond appalling, the story line is stupid, and the acting is atrocious. The mistakes and cheesiness is what keeps me coming back for more, they make the movie fun and watchable. Its great because it never tries to be anything more than a cheesy cash in on the skateboard fad. Its like soft-core porn substituting sex scenes for skateboarding. The story is only to segue into skateboarding scenes. While the skateboarding may seem lame compared to today's standards, there is actually some really good footage of old-school style. The Hollywood Blvd. skate scene has some really excellent early street skating by the underrated Natas Kaupas. How can you not love anything this cheeseball?