Article by Daniel Nodzak
It’s another Friday in 2020 and for many of us the potential risks of Coronavirus exposure has still got us sealed away in our homes and looking for things to occupy our down time. So this weekend I thought I’d share a few mainstream movies that either feature rollerblading as a central plot element or use inline skaters to achieve a sizable portion of the film’s action. The movies I’ve compiled here range from solid guilty pleasure flicks best viewed through a thick pair of nostalgia goggles to so-bad-its-good science fiction schlock. If you have any suggestions for movies you’d like us to cover in the future, or you want to share your thoughts on the titles we’ve covered so far drop a comment below!
This list is limited to movies that are available through subscription or free ad supported streaming services and digital rental/purchase platforms. Availability and prices in this article apply only to the United States. If you’re in another country and would like to find out how to watch these movies I recommend searching for the titles on justwatch.com which is a service that provides listings of content availability throughout most of North and South America, Europe, Asia, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Airborne (1993)
If you’re a regular visitor of this website you already know this movie so a plot synopsis probably isn’t necessary. Airborne is, apart from Brink!, the most inline skating focused movie on this list. It stars Shane McDermott as Mitchell Goosen, the coolest SoCal surfer/blader to ever roam the halls of a high school in Cincinnati, Ohio. Along with Seth Green, Brittney Powell, Chris Conrad and Jack Black in his second film role.
This movie will always have a special place in my heart for portraying rollerblading in a way that most closely resembled my experiences as a kid in the 90s. Years before I discovered the aggressive rollerblading scene I spent my summers cruising the gnarliest hills I could find and flinging myself off modest stair sets or makeshift kicker ramps with nothing but a pair of cheap rec skates and some good friends.
Airborne has a 21% critic rating and 60% audience score based on 8,538 user submitted ratings.
Stunts were performed by Chris Edwards and Team Rollerblade. Chris also played the role of Walt in the movie.
How to watch: Airborne is available to rent or purchase on Amazon, Google Play, Fandango, and the Microsoft Store. Prices vary by service.
Brink! (1998)
This Disney Channel original movie starring Erik von Detten as the titular Andy ‘Brink” Brinker tells an age old tale of a young man facing new responsibilities. In fact, it’s so old that it’s actually a loose adaptation of a novel called “Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates” by children’s author Mary Mapes Dodge originally published in 1865.
In this modern update our hero Brink feels compelled to help his financially troubled family by joining Team X-Bladz, a professional team of skaters at the expense of what he believes rollerblading is all about, the pure love of the sport. It’s filled to the brim with the cheesiness you’d expect from a late ‘90s Disney Channel production but, hey, it’s a classic, and well worth a watch if you’ve never seen it.
Brink does not have a critic score but it holds a 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 4704 user submitted ratings.
According to IMDB stunt work was done by Sean Graham, Todd Grossman, Cory M. Miller, Laura Lee Connery, Lisa Dempsey, Chris Sayour, and Sam Horrigan.
How to watch: Brink! is available to stream with a Disney+ subscription or it can be rented through Amazon for $3.99. If you’d rather own a copy of this classic you can grab a digital copy for $5.99 on Amazon and Google Play.
Hackers (1995)
Strap yourself in for peak ‘90s cyberpunk nonsense with Hackers. Starring Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, and Matthew Lillard, this crew of high school hackers and phone phreaks inadvertently stumble upon a corporate extortion scheme involving a computer virus that threatens to do a massive amount of ecological damage to the world’s oceans by capsizing a fleet of oil tankers through some early 90s hand-wavy internet magic.
How does all of this tie into rollerblading? Well, it’s simple. In a bit of ham-fisted symbolism the good guys are rollerbladers and the bad guy’s chosen mode of transportation is a skateboard. Don’t go into this one expecting some dope skating because there isn’t any. Our gang of heroic hackers awkwardly stumble around city streets like a bunch of baby deer trying to find their footing. But in defense of the lackluster skating abilities of these teenage hackers it turns out to be most realistic aspect of the 90s in this movie. Not everybody back then was capable of stacking clips for a Battle My Crew edit.
Hackers has a 33% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 68% audience score based on 122,299 user submitted ratings.
IDMB does list a number of stunt performers for non-skating related action sequences in the film. But the amount of skating was limited in screen time and scope, and appears to have been mostly performed by the stars themselves.
How to watch: Hackers is available to stream with a subscription to HBO Max, HBO Now, and HBO Go. You can also rent it for $3.99 through Amazon, Google Play, Apple TV, Fandango, Vudu, or the Microsoft Store. The movie is also available to purchase through all of those services although the price varies.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Alita: Battle Angel is a science fiction action film from acclaimed director Robert Rodriguez. It’s based on an incredibly popular manga series called Gunnm and the 1993 anime movie called Battle Angel. It’s without question the biggest blockbuster film on this list and along with its star-studded cast features stunt work from a wide array of prominent rollerbladers. Including Franky Morales, Chris Haffey, Dave Lang, Julian Bah, Katie Ketchum, Cory Miller, Damon Franklin, Wake Schepman, and many more.
Alita: Battle Angel has a 61% critic rating and 92% audience score based on 33,500 user submitted ratings.
How to watch: Alita: Battle Angel is available to stream with an HBO Max, HBO Now, or HBO Go subscription. It’s available to purchase on Amazon, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, Fandango, and the Microsoft Store. Prices vary by service.
Rollerball (2002)
Rollerball is a remake of a 1975 sci-fi dystopian film of the same name which stars Chris Klein fresh off his success in the American Pie comedies as well as LL Cool J and Rebecca Romijn. While the original movie was chock full of social and political commentary this remake drops all that in favor of fast faced action and zero substance whatsoever. Boasting a dismal 3% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes the only reason to check this film out is for the killer rollerblading action set pieces and nostalgic early aughts rock soundtrack.
According to IMDB stunt skating was done by Mathieu Ledoux, Jonathan Bergeron, Isabelle Bouchard, Sebastien Roberts, France Raymond, Serge Maheu, Stéphane Julien, and Marie-Sol Harding.
How to watch: Rollerball is available to stream free with ads on YouTube. If you’d prefer to watch commercial free you can rent or purchase the movie on Amazon, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, and the Microsoft Store.
