Product Description

Vision Quest is a coming of age movie in which high school wrestler Louden Swain (Matthew Modine) decides he wants to be something more than an average high school athlete and sets his sights on a prize that many don't think he can win -- he then sets out to reach his goal alone, without much support from his father or coach. His father rents a room to a young drifter, Carla (Linda Fiorentino). Swain falls in love with her and she helps him stay focused and prevents him from losing sight of his goals. Although a lower-budget film than Flashdance or Top Gun, this movie is similar in theme and style. Madonna makes her first appearance in a major motion picture as a lead singer in a local band performing her hit songs "Crazy For You" and "Gambler".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2701 in DVD
• Brand: Team Marketing
• Released on: 2004-06-01
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.com
This film wraps up the big wrestling match that Terry Davis's novel left unresolved. It also makes Carla (Linda Fiorentino, in her screen debut) less of a bad girl. What it does capture is the book's flowing feeling of power and the possibility of youth. Probably best known for presenting a just-emerging Madonna singing "Crazy for You," Vision Quest also uses Matthew Modine nicely. He doesn't typify the usual coming-of-age youth, but his character, Louden Swain, isn't the typical youth, period. Swain needs to win the Washington State wrestling championship, and he's up against a guy who carries logs up stadium steps. He's also involved with an older woman, Carla, and learning that love and all that stuff is much harder than pinning an opponent. Ah, youth. --Keith Simanton

Customer Reviews

As close to a perfect movie as one can be...
...and I was not a wrestler -- in fact, I rather disliked the sport growing up! What makes this one of the greatest movies, besides the brilliant casting, directing, music and of course, acting; is the way it moves your emotions. If you don't feel complete euphoria after watching this film, you don't have a pulse either. Call it a cult classic, or a relic of the past -- however it gets categorized -- it will go down in history as an inspiring, true-to-life portrayal of youth and passion and the quest for success. Not a single scene in this movie is flawed or unbelievable -- a truly remarkable...yes...masterpiece.

good movie, bad DVD
I'm really hoping that they re-release this movie soon. In terms of the Rocky-esque movies, this is one of the better ones. I liked it even better the second time around because I noticed just how realistic Modine's performance is not only as a wrestler, but also as a highschooler.

The problem with the DVD is that (1) the transfer is positively awful, (2)it's standard as opposed to widescreen (not a big issue in this case), and (3) there are no features. The main problem, of course, is with the quality of the transfer, which probably looks better on some VHS versions of the film.

Re-release this into a more non-hurried DVD format and this rating will go from 3 stars to at least 4.

A truly excellent film
On the surface, this is the story of a high school wrestler. But the story goes so much deeper. While I, like many others, were drawn to this movie because of the wrestling theme, I found it to be an amazing story about growing up, and about life as a teenager in America. The book was better, but the film takes you through a full range of emotions and leaves you feeling good at the end.