Radio Flyer (1992) on Netflix
Mike and his younger brother Bobby move with their mother Mary to California after their father leaves. Mary marries Jack MacKenzie, who beats Bobby and makes the boys call him The King.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb6.9/1015,367 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes35%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1969, after their father leaves home, Mary takes her sons Mike and Bobby and the family's German shepherd, Shane, from New Jersey to a town in California. Mary marries Jack MacKenzie, who insists the boys call him The King. Away from Mary, Jack drinks and beats Bobby, and Bobby makes Mike promise to keep the beatings secret so their mother can stay happy. Jack plays the same Hank Williams record again and again. The local kids, led by Victor Hernandez, treat the newcomers as intruders. Mike and Bobby explore the town with their red wagon, the Radio Flyer, and Mike looks for a way to get his brother out of the house.
Cast
- Noah Verduzcoas Victor Hernandez
- Isaac Ocampoas Jorge Hernandez
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Radio Flyer (1992)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- David Mickey Evans's script set off a bidding war between Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures in November 1989, Warner wanting it as a vehicle for Richard Donner and Columbia buying for Michael Douglas's Stonebridge Entertainment. Just before Thanksgiving, Columbia paid Evans $1.25 million, a huge sum for a first-time screenwriter.
- Under Evans's own direction the film first starred Rosanna Arquette as the mother, Tomas Arana as Jack and Luke Edwards and James Badge Dale as the children, but Stonebridge executives found the dailies disappointing and after ten days Douglas shut the production down at a loss of $5 million.
- Douglas then recruited Richard Donner as the new director. With Evans's blessing, Donner accepted for a $5 million paycheck, and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner, came on board with him.
SPOILER
The original ending was a present-day coda in which a grown-up Mike, played by Tom Hanks, takes his children to the National Air and Space Museum to see the Radio Flyer/Plane hybrid displayed next to the Wright Brothers' flying machine. Test audiences were confused, and reshoots produced the prologue and epilogue used instead.- In a 2004 interview, Elijah Wood remembered his time on the film fondly, praising Richard Donner as an "amazing" director and recalling his tenth birthday during the shoot, when Donner gave gifts to both him and co-star Joseph Mazzello so that no one felt left out.
