Breaking Away with Dennis Christopher: DVD Cover
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Breaking Away Director: Peter Yates Cast: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Paul Dooley

DVD - Wide Screen / Pan & Scan / Dolby 5.1 / Stereo / Mono Learn more

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  • DVD Release Date: 01/29/2002
  • Original Release: 1979
  • Rating: Rated PG
  • Sales Rank: 873

Viewer Rating: (5 ratings)

Detailed Rating: "Plot" See All

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DVD - Wide Screen / Pan & Scan / Dolby 5.1 / Stereo / Mono$14.99

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  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
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  • Full Product Details

Features

Theatrical trailer & TV spots; Interactive menus; Scene selection; Both anamorphic widescreen (aspect ratio 1.85:1) and pan & scan versions; Audio: English stereo surround, English mono, French mono; Subtitles: English, Spanish

Full Product Details

Scene Index

Side #1 -- Widescreen
0. Scene Selection
1. Main Titles [3:37]
2. Dave, the Italian [4:58]
3. Small Town Living [1:46]
4. At the Quarry [:33]
5. College Students [2:23]
6. The Exchange Student [4:12]
7. The Italians Are Coming [4:50]
8. Speed Test [:41]
9. No "Ini" Allowed [:57]
10. Katherine's Serenade [6:13]
11. On Campus [3:31]
12. Competition [:45]
13. College, or a Job [5:17]
14. Training and Work [5:08]
15. The Cinzano 100 [:18]
16. Everybody Cheats [7:20]
17. The Race Bike [3:59]
18. All in the Family [:11]
19. The Little 500 [4:14]
20. An Accident [5:09]
21. Tied to the Bike [1:24]
22. Winning [7:43]
23. First Year French [1:16]
24. End Titles [2:31]
Side #2 -- Standard
0. Scene Selection
1. Main Titles [3:37]
2. Dave, the Italian [4:58]
3. Small Town Living [:46]
4. At the Quarry [1:32]
5. College Students [2:23]
6. The Exchange Student [4:12]
7. The Italians Are Coming [2:35]
8. Speed Test [2:56]
9. No "Ini" Allowed [:57]
10. Katherine's Serenade [6:13]
11. On Campus [2:01]
12. Competition [1:29]
13. College, or a Job [6:02]
14. Training and Work [3:08]
15. The Cinzano 100 [2:00]
16. Everybody Cheats [7:38]
17. The Race Bike [4:11]
18. All in the Family [4:14]
19. The Little 500 [3:46]
20. An Accident [2:46]
21. Tied to the Bike [7:43]
22. Winning [1:26]
23. First Year French [2:21]
24. End Titles [1:23]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

Dennis Christopher stars as a recent high school graduate in Bloomington, Indiana, who is caught with his friends -- Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley -- coasting between high school and deciding what to do with the rest of their lives. The four friends are snobbishly looked down upon by the college students of the town as "cutters," since they were born in Bloomington and their parents worked in the local limestone quarries that built the university. Dennis Christopher's character Dave wants to be a champion bicycle racer and he idolizes the Italian racing team -- so much so that he speaks, thinks, and acts Italian, all to his father's (Paul Dooley) forlorn exasperation. Dave falls for a college girl (Robyn Douglass), but is ashamed to admit he is a cutter and poses as an Italian exchange student to impress her. Dave is particularly excited when his heroes -- the Italian racers -- come to town for a race. But they are even more snobbish than the college students and rely on dirty tricks to keep Dave from winning a race against them. After that ordeal, Dave throws away his false identity and convinces his friends to enter the university's "Little 500" bicycle race against the college students. This light-hearted and heartwarming tale was a surprising word-of-mouth success at the box-office and won several awards, including an Academy Award for "Best Screenplay." Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

I've loved this movie ever since I first saw it in 1979by Anonymous

Reader Rating:
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October 24, 2009: I've loved this movie ever since I first saw it in 1979. All the characters are so real and so similar to people I grew up with that I instantly identified with them.

Even though Dave's efforts to become Italian are over the top at times, his ambitions are so sincere and altruistic that you can't help rooting for him.

And the scene where Dave's father goes back to visit the quarry where he used to work is a miniature gem in it's own right. The other cutters and his relationship with them rang absolutely true. I still get a little teary during that scene because it has so many echoes of people and places I've known in my own life.

The other performances are likewise praiseworthy, as is the script, the camera work, etc. This is not only a great story and a great movie, but will provide great material for family or classroom discussions of social class, hero worship, determination and aspiration, friendship, and many other themes. And unlike so many coming-of-age movies in recent years, there is virtually no violence, no sex, and the language is mostly clean.

Three other scenes to watch for:

1) The scene where Dave is tailgating the 18-wheeler is real. Yes, bicycle racers really can pedal that fast!

2) In the encounter with the Italian team, non-bicyclists sometimes wonder where the pipe-like object came from. It's a small tire pump carried in case of a flat during a race where there's no support crew trailing along.

3) The "punch the clock scene" got a loud cheer when I saw this film in a theater full of mostly blue-collar people, and a loud gasp when I saw it in a theater with a mostly white-collar audience. (That, in itself, is an interesting topic for friendly discussions)

Why I Recommend "Spirited Away" and "Easy Rider":

Spirited Away is a wonderful, family friendly, coming of age story loved by countless people. It works as fantasy, inspiration, and in every other way. It's one of my top five movie favorites of all time.

Easy Rider, on the other hand is great for exactly the opposite reasons. These two guys are neither very admirable, nor very bad as it turns out, and on their ride across America we get an unblinking look at what the late sixties were really like. Watching it for the first time after many years, I was struck by how fair and even handed it was in protraying both sides of the cultural divide. It's another great discussion starter.

I Also Recommend: Easy Rider, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi.

A great comming of age movie.by Anonymous

Reader Rating:
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October 18, 2009: It's a story the we can all identify with.


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