Vision Quest

I subscribe to the Warner Bros. Archive Collection email list, and it works as it sounds where Warner periodically releases several films from their archive on video for the first time and will send out an email with all the latest updates. I got a little gleeful when I saw 1985’s Vision Quest (trailer) made their list of upcoming releases last year. I instantly placed my Amazon pre-order and waited a year after it arrived to pull it out of the backlog box. Why wait a year? Because I am running a full marathon this weekend and need an inspirational sports movie some added motivation!

Louden Swain (Matthew Modine) is a senior on the wrestling team and claims in the film’s opening narration that he wants to do something ‘heroic.’ He brags about his early wrestling championships to love interest Carla (Linda Fiorentino) and his goal for senior year is to drop two weight classes and take on the defending state champ, Shute (Frank Jasper). All of Louden’s friends and teammates tell him he is a nutcase, and Louden essentially lives up to the claims with his wildcard personality throughout the film.

Even though Louden is the lead protagonist in the film, he is not all that affable. He spouts countless random lines of gobbledygook concerning his career goal about being a doctor in space. He also gets in some awkward exchanges with his firecracker of a friend Kuch (Michael Schoeffling). Eventually Louden’s teenage sex drive leads to some very eye-brow raising moments throughout the film. He gets aggressive in a way that flew in films of the 70s and 80s, but easily would face backlash now. He also put his health in extreme risk by cutting weight that had some consequences leading up to the big final match with Shute. What is baffling is that these health risks keep happening and while Louden’s friends keep telling him he is nuts-o, they do not necessarily prevent him from keeping it up while he keeps suffering numerous ailments through the second half of the film. Somehow Carla eventually falls for Louden despite the two having a huge age gap of 18 and 27 and the two constantly being at odds throughout.

While Vision Quest has some major head-scratching moments, it is also responsible for having some noticeable supporting cast members. Believe it or not, the Forest Whitaker is one of Louden’s teammates, and Harold Sylvester (aka Married With Children’s Grif) portrays Louden’s English teacher. JC Quinn is my unsung hero for this film as Elmo, who is Louden’s coworker at a hotel and bestows his proverbs and advice while arm-wrestling Louden throughout the film. Finally, Vision Quest is most likely known for featuring the first major film appearance by Madonna with one of her emerging hit songs, “Crazy for You.” Madonna is featured at a club singing the song, and the filmmakers liked it so much it is repeated two or three more times throughout the film. As a matter of fact Crazy for You is the name of Vision Quest in international markets.

The parts of the movie I dug are the scenes focusing on wrestling and leading up to the big final bout with Shute. There are a few wrestling practice sessions throughout that help establish how crazy Louden is for attempting to cut so much weight. There is a brief-yet-memorable moment where the film introduces Shute and him and Louden share an intense glare. There are several emotional moments setting up the final match, with an especially powerful scene where Elmo gushes to Louden how important this match is, countless training montages and an extra climatic weigh-in! The final showdown between Shute and Louden is well produced and got me nostalgic for my days amateur wrestling.

Other than a couple of trailers there are no extra features on the BluRay. That is fine as I am thrilled to see it finally available on disc at this point. Vision Quest is not a movie I easily recommend as there are some serious character and pacing flaws throughout it. The primary reason I like this is the portrayal of amateur wrestling is respectful and on point as far as rules and technique goes and that went a long way for me when there are very few other amateur wrestling-based movies out there.

Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs

3
12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown
21 Jump Street
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie
Atari: Game Over
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Bounty Hunters
Cabin in the Woods
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Christmas Eve
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special
The Condemned 2
Countdown
Creed
Deck the Halls
Dredd
The Eliminators
Dirty Work
Faster
Fast and Furious I-VIII
Field of Dreams
Fight Club
The Fighter
For Love of the Game
Good Will Hunting
Gravity
Guardians of the Galaxy
Hercules: Reborn
Hitman
Ink
Joy Ride 1 & 2
The Interrogation
Interstellar
Jobs
Man of Steel
Man on the Moon
Marine 3-5
Mortal Kombat
National Treasure
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
The Replacements
Reservoir Dogs
Rocky I-VII
Running Films Part 1
Running Films Part 2
San Andreas
ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Shoot em Up
Steve Jobs
Source Code
Star Trek I-XIII
Take Me Home Tonight
TMNT
The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2
UHF
Veronica Mars
The War
Wild
Wonder Woman
The Wrestler (2008)
X-Men: Days of Future Past