Product Details

• Actors: Kevin Bacon, Charles Gitonga Maina, Yolanda Vazquez, Winston Ntshona, Mabutho 'Kid' Sithole
• Directors: Paul Michael Glaser
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hollywood Pictures Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 15, 1997
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303109926
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #233 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Kevin Bacon stars in this quickie sports film that's really more a culture-clash comedy. He plays an assistant coach at the college-basketball level who's looking for that big, big recruiting score and finds it in a distant African village. But his quarry, a seven-footer (Charles Gitona Maina) he spots in an anthropology film, turns out to be the prince of his tribe who's in line for the crown and has no interest in becoming fodder for Sports Center. So it's up to the callous American to convince him that he wants to give this all up to live in a dorm and chase coeds (while, of course, honoring his ancestors). Unfortunately, the jokes are stale and the basketball footage is nothing to get excited about. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I Hate Basketball And Love The Movie, November 25, 2001

By	Richard Posner "wordspinner" (Long Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a pretty well educated film goer--took film courses in college, read much, understand the vocabulary and history of film. AND I have a secret, forbidden list--a list of films I really love but critics didn't. Such gems as Gung Ho! (with Michael Keaton) and The Golden Child (Eddie Murphy) grace this list. Out with snobbery, in with fun I say!

The Air Up There is definitely on my list. I hate basketball--I'm bored by sports in general. But I love this movie. It makes me feel good. Kevin Bacon is at his brash and cocky best as an assistant coach for a Catholic college team which apparently is expected to win big. When his personal pride costs him the loss of a promising prospect, he journeys to Africa to recruit a VERY tall fellow he saw in a home movie from a priest doing Good Works out there. When the basketball prospect turns out to be a prince and some tribal rivalry and mining interests complicate matters, the brash assistant coach has to find out what really matters.

Cliched? Sure. Predictable. I hope to tell you. But I love it anyway. The acting is amiable, the characters fun, the setting just exotic enough, the writing sure-handed, the story uplifting, and I got excited watching the basketball sequences even though I hate the game.

So what can I tell you? We talk now about not letting terrorists run our lives. I say don't let critics run your life either. I watch this movie at least twice a year and feel a whole lot happier when it's over. Try it.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A quality basketball movie, March 20, 2000

By	Michael J. Sopher "Soph" (Green, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This movie proves that it doesn't matter where you are, if you have talent, someone will find it. I enjoyed this film a lot.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let The Music Play, August 22, 2001

By	Alfreda doyle (Charleston, South Carolina (USA)) - See all my reviews

The really enjoyed the movie. Kevin bacon was great and so was the African actors. I have seen this movie about four times on our local cable network and I laugh as if it was the first time viewing it. The main reason I wanted to review this movie because I really enjoyed the soundtrack. The music on the soundtrack was especially good. I enjoyed the african songs, but I was not sure who sang them. I am looking to purchase this soundtrack but I could not find anyone selling it. I am really interested in the african lyrics or songs and I will really like to know who the artists are.