Bullet Points: Crossing the Line
If you are in the mood for a movie featuring motocross action, do I have the movie for you… it is 1990’s Crossing the Line.
If you are in the mood for a review about a movie featuring motocross action named Crossing the Line, do I have the Bullet Points for you…
- Bad Reputation: Rick Kagan (Rick Hearst) doesn’t give a damn about his bad reputation. Rick is a spoiled rich kid (his father Jack Kagan owns the big steel plant in town) and he spends his days riding his dirt bike around town and getting into trouble with the law. The movie starts off with Rick and his buddy Josh Kapinski on their bikes giving us our first taste of motocross action. One thing leads to another and the two dirt bikers are being pursued by the cops, Josh and Rick split off… Rick ends up getting off scot free, Josh ends up in a coma!
- Papa Don’t Preach: Jack Kagan (John Saxon, Enter the Dragon) hears the Josh Kapinski news from Josh’s father Joe Kapinski (Paul L. Smith, Desert Kickboxer), who works for Kagan Steel and his the union rep at the plant. Joe storms into Jack’s office and like everyone else in town, is pinning the blame on what happened to Josh on Rick. Jack says they need to hear Rick’s side of the story before they can jump to that conclusion. However Jack handles things much differently when he gets home and confronts Rick by belting him one and then reading him the riot act, seemingly more upset with how Josh’s injury will hurt his upcoming negotiating power with the union more so than Josh’s well being (typical industrialist). The end result, Rick storms off even after his father warns him he will not be welcomed back.
- Zing! Went the Strings of His Heart: Rick ends up at Zing’s diner, where he convinces the proprietor, Zing, to allow him to crash in the back room of the diner for a couple of days until he finds his own place… then Rick ends up across the street at Big Al’s bike shop where he literally bumps into Megan (Colleen Morris, Parker Kane), Big Al’s daughter who is in town visiting her dad and helping out at the shop and ZING the sparks of love are flying… that is until Big Al comes in from out back and sees that no good Rick Kagan talking to his innocent daughter, prompting Big Al to go after Rick with a wrench, causing all sorts of damage inside the shop and to one of the shop’s front windows.
- Zach Attack: Big Al isn’t the only one going after Rick… Rick also has to deal with Josh’s older brother Zach Kapinski (Jon Stafford, Full Metal Jacket). Zach holds Rick directly responsible for Josh being in the ICU. So Zach and his boys start going after Rick, first in the locker room at the steel plant where he nearly gets a swirly before Papa Kapinski comes in and stops his son (and knocks down a wall in anger). But Big Joe isn’t there to stop Zach when Zach and his boys spot Rick making time with Megan at the bar later that evening, resulting in an alley fight and Rick’s bike being set on fire!
- Send Me An Angel: At this point it would seem Rick Kagan has hit rock bottom… but thankfully for him Megan is completely in love with him based on their two brief encounters that both ended abruptly. Women really can’t resist bad boys I guess. Megan looks deep into Rick’s soul and encourages him to do something for himself… he’s the best damn motocrosser around, so he should be riding with the big boys and in this town that means being a part of Steve Sinclair’s team. Sinclair was played by none other than Vernon Wells of Commando fame. So Rick musters up the courage and heads down to see Steve Sinclair, he ends up with a job as a mechanic with the promise that if a spot on the team opens up, he’d be in line for it. On top of that Sinclair lets Rick stay in an old shack on his property and lets him use one of the track’s bikes to practice with after hours.
- Dream a Little Dream: The rollercoaster ride continues however because when that spot on the team opens up, Steve can’t give it to Rick even though he impressed the hell out of him with his motocross skills. You see the other members of Sinclair’s team are Zach and his boys and they all threaten to quit if Rick joins the team. It isn’t all bad, Zach and Megan turn his humble abode into a love shack. Then the morning after, Megan says she has a surprise for Zach and she takes him to the hospital to see Josh… who is out of a coma and on the road to recovery and there to tell Rick not to give up on his dreams. Next thing Rick knows Megan has a new bike waiting for him and all new gear (financed by his rich daddy, who he does make amends with) and perhaps most importantly finds out he can compete as an independent and doesn’t need to be on a team to achieve motocross glory!
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Zach is not ready to give up his grudge with Rick, even though Josh is expected to make a full recovery. So it looks like Rick is going to have to earn Zach’s respect on the track. And wouldn’t you know it… even with the odds against him Rick wins the big motocross race. Rick’s dream has come true… BUT Zach is still not done, in fact he escalates things, one could even say he crosses the line and this rivalry now looks like it will be settled on the streets!
Crossing the Line may have technically been released in the 1990s (it hit video stores in the United States on August 8, 1990) but it is very much a product of the 1980s. There’s the young lead that looks like he could be on the cover of Tiger Beat, the beautiful girl next door (or across the street in this case) that falls in love with him, the bully and his gang and the adults who just don’t understand. Plus, the soundtrack contains a rockin’ anthem titled “Crossing the Line”.
Crossing the Line is a movie best enjoyed if you don’t think too much about why the characters do what they do and enjoy the motocross action and occasional bikes on fire.
Don’t think twice about reading these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Familiar Face: Cameron Mitchell played the town’s sheriff who has some sage advice for Jack Kagan and Joe Kapinski in regards to their out of control sons. I’ll always remember Mitchell as
Santa ClausAlex Jansen in Space Mutiny and from his work in Action U.S.A. and Terror in Beverly Hills. - The Name Game: This Crossing the Line should not be confused with the other Crossing the Line released in 1990 starring Liam Neeson.
- Montage Alert: There is the obligatory Rick practice montage, but my favorite was the cleaning up the shack montage. If only they got the rights to “This Must Be the Place” by the Talking Heads.
