Customer Reviews

Radio Flyer [VHS]

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have read many reviews on Radio Flyer, most concerned with the ambiguity of the ending. I saw the movie for the first time a few weeks ago. After watching it, I decided that it had, in fact, been a good movie. It was able to depict many aspects of child abuse, emotionally and physcially, along with the unstableness of the family. However, this alone does not even scratch the surface of the movie's depth. Like I said, after watching the movie, I had decided that it was good. However, if Mike's brother Bobby had flown off and never returned, then where did the turtle in the end come from? The same turtle that they boys had found when they were little, and the same turtle that Bobby took with him on his flight. After this perplexing detail was brought to my attention, I realized that Mike (tom hanks) at the beginning of the movie had said "History is all in the mind of the teller; truth is in the teller". The story recounted by Mike being told to his children was his version of what actually happened to him, and him alone, as a child. After considering this, other facts seemed to make sense. Why had only Bobby been abused? Why hadn't Bobby's flyer ever seem to fail? and for that matter, why hadn't Bobby ever come back? Because Bobby had never existed. In an attempt to escape his own childhood dilemas and tragedies, Mike created an outlet to disguard all his pain. The new idea of this ending made the movie so much better than I had originally perceived it. I'd definitely recommend it, even if it's just to get your own view on the ending :).

A reviewer, who decided to remain nameless, reviewed this movie giving it one star. Here's why I disagree. First off, the stepfather wasn't 'faceless'; with his face not being shown, he was meant to represent ANY abusive, alcoholic father or stepfather. Secondly, I was abused by my alcoholic father between the ages of 1 and 6, and the way these children acted was exactly how it is. Let's face it: when you're that young, you don't exactly know how to 'find the help you need', so you feel you don't have a choice but to 'retreat into your own world'. It may not have been healthy or the right thing to do, but that's just how it is most of the time. This film portrayed almost perfectly what it's like to be that young and to be abused, and Joseph Mazzello and Elijah Wood did such a good job playing those boys that I found myself crying through most of the movie, because that's how it is.
My congratulations to all involved with this film. You managed to capture innocence and how it's lost even when, as abused children, we try dearly to hold on to it.
Oh. Also. The damn Flyer is a metaphor for all of you who thought the end was stupid!

I have read many reviews of this movie, and not just a few here on Amazon. I'm constantly amazed at the negative comments from people who think that this movie recommends a way to deal with child abuse, or that it takes a stand on the subject. It does not. Child abuse is bad, an evil in this world. This movie shows this from the viewpoint of the two boys. As children, they can little understand why this evil has befallen the younger brother, they only know that their Mother was unhappy, and that the new man in her life has made her happy. Loving their mother and wanting her to be happy, they make the best of the situation, and try to get by, to escape into the things boys will escape into. This is not a statement on child abuse: it's a statement about the will to survive, and that of adventure, of these two boys. To view this movie in any other light is in injustice. The acting of the boys is simply tremendous. Sure, the step-father is seldom seen and when seen, from low-angles and stereotyped. But he is seen as the boys see him: a giant, and seldom. This is, after all, their story.

Glad to see that at least one other viewer figured out that there was only one boy: the weak younger brother is a figment of the older brother's imagination, created as a way of distancing himself emotionally from the physical abuse. Or, more accurately, the brothers are two aspects of the same person. The great thing about this movie is this hidden meaning ... watch this movie and look for the clues -- like when the mother tells the boys "don't forget your lunch" (instead of "lunches"). Other clues are less obvious and often have to do with coincidences -- I won't give them away. After the stepfather is removed there's no need for the younger brother; hence the ending that so many people thought was ridiculous. This movie is a real gem. It's unfortunate that its subtlety was lost on so many people.

I don't usually like to rant about a particular actor, but I seem to have re-discovered Elijah Wood's childhood performances. I just saw Radio Flyer for the first time last night and I must say that I was more impressed with Elijah Wood and Joseph Marzello than with any of the adults. The two of them were absolutely amazing.

The plot basically centers around the life of two brothers, the younger (Marzello), is abused by the boy's stepfather. Mickey, the older brother (Wood) tries his best to make sure his little brother is safe. The two build a flying machine on top of their Radio Flyer Wagon so Bobby can escape the beatings.

No matter what you believe about the end of this film, you must admit that it extremely touching. The last scene with the two brothers is one of the best performances by child actors I have ever seen. I am personally under the impression that Bobby never really existed and that Mikey made him up as an outlet to deal with the abuse. With that in mind, the movie takes on a whole new dimension. Howver, it may be a little hard for some people to pick up on these themes, as they are not well presented. Whether you belive that or not, Radio Flyer is a blunt wake up call to a problem all to common in our society. Not to be missed.

I've been searching for this movie on DVD and God willing, it will be released soon. When I saw this movie in the theatres, you could not hear a sound when Bobby and Michael say their goodbyes on top of the hill before Bobby leaves. And when it ended there wasn't a dry eye in the house. I agree that the story was told from the point of view of the children and that one needs to understand this to "get" the stereotypes of the stepfather that are presented. One of the standout scenes is when their mom takes her husband back. The cinematography and the voice-over have so much emotion, it takes my breath away. I disagree with one reviewer who said she didn't think Bobby died. He did die for a few reasons: One, Tom Hanks says "History is in the mind of the teller, and this is how I remember it." He makes a point to repeat that at the end. Two, when one of his sons asks if that is where they got Samson from, their father says "yes." Well, Samson supposedly flew away with Bobby so they must have "found" Samson when Bobby died. Three, the postcards were all cards the boys already had. I think Michael sent them to his mom to make her feel better. That he lived on. Four) Since the step-father was arrested, there would be no reason that Bobby couldn't have come back home sooner. So he couldn't have been traveling for that many years. He would never have left his mom for that long a time. And lastly, someone once offered this explanation: That there was really only one boy. Michael split himself into 2 kids, if you will. The one abused and the one that wasn't. This helped him deal with the abuse. The sad and hurt Bobby "left" at the end leaving a stronger boy. It makes sense in a way because near the end, when the boys are at school, they BOTH get stomachaches. Also, when Mike is getting beat up by the bullies, Bobby is getting beat up at home. There are a lot of dualities like that. Just a thought anyway. I urge people to see it because it's thought-provoking, well-acted and well-directed. One of my all time favorites.

According to him, the movie was never supposed to be so ambiguous. Mr. Evans had some abuse in his childhood, and this movie was created out of that experience. It is meant to be taken literally, as it is essentially supposed to be a story about an extrodinaty event fueled by brotherly love and hope.

It was probably Richard Donner who decided to make the story more ambiguous, so that each person would digest the events differently. Once a film goes into producting, the screenplay writer has little, if any, say to what happens.

But, if you want to know the truth from the man behind the story, what he meant for the characters, and ultimately - what the truth of the characters were. Read on.

Was Bobby real? - yes he was.
Did Bobby Survive? - yes he did.
Did he really fly away? - yes, and that was the remarkable part of the story.
Does Shane (the dog) really die? - in the original screenplay, yes, the King was supposed to have killed Shane when he shot him.
What happened to Bobby? - He grew up and flew planes for a living.

The last scene of the screenplay that was not included in the production of the movie, was the grown up Michael (Tom Hanks) taking his kids into the airplane hanger (if you remember, he was at some kind of air show when he tells his kids the story) and the radio flyer is on display. Here, grown up Bobby shows up to meet with his older brother.

I saw this movie as a child, and I think it is a GREAT movie, and it does show the signs and effects of child abuse and I think its a great way to help inform people of how child abuse IS real and that it DOES affect our population. As far as the few people who don't really understand the movie and think the younger brother is just a metaphor, they need to watch the movie again and notice how the mother talks to not just Mikey, but also talks to Bobby, and at the end, when he is gone, his mothers asks Mikey, "Where is Bobby, Where is Your Brother?!" and this statement clearly specifies that Bobby is NOT a metaphor created by Mikey to hide the abused side of him, Bobby is a real person and Mikey's little brother. I recommend this movie to Anyone who wants to see a good movie about True Brotherly Love and just how even the worst situations can bring two people even closer to each other, even though it may be pushing them apart in a different way.

This movie just completely blows me away. It even made my mom tear up. Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello do an amazing job, and especially at such a young age. And to think that Elijah grew up to do more amazing films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But this movie really is superb. Wonderful yet sad story, and by the end it makes you want to call up one of those hotlines for physically abused children and help out. If I could, I'd give it 10 stars.

I just discovered this movie 9 years late, but it doesn't matter, because I thought it was great. Reading the reviews here about how there's only one boy, it makes total sense. I thought at first that that couldn't be, because the mother, "the king", the cop, and other characters all talk to the younger boy, but then I rememered that at the beginning and at the end, Tom Hanks says that reality is in the mind of the story teller, and that's how he rememberd the story. With this new knowledge, I realized that the movie is brilliant, and a gem. Everyone should rediscover this movie, because it is underappreciated.