Gleaming the Cube
Tags: tragedy, cult, revenge, murder

Plot synopsis:
Brian Kelly is an underachieving high school student in Orange County, California. An avid skateboarder along with many of his friends, Brian is frequently at odds with his parents for his increasingly reckless behavior, which has landed him in jail on more than one occasion. The only person in the family Brian can relate to is his adopted Vietnamese brother Vinh, who works as a shipping clerk for the Vietnamese Anti-Communist Relief Fund (VACRF), an organization whose stated purpose is to send medical supplies to Vietnam.
When Vinh discovers a suspicious error in VACRF's shipping records, he brings it to his boss Colonel Trac, who dismisses the matter as a clerical error. But when Vinh tries to investigate further, Colonel Trac abruptly fires him. Determined to find out the truth, Vinh sneaks into Westpac Medical Supplies (WMS), the warehouse responsible for VACRF's shipping, but is apprehended by the warehouse's owner, Ed Lawndale. He is then taken to a local motel and interrogated by Lawndale and Bobby Nguyen, another of Colonel Trac's employees. When Colonel Trac himself arrives at the motel, it is revealed that he and Lawndale are conspirators in a scheme to smuggle illegal weapons and ammunition to Vietnam. Convinced that Vinh poses no threat to their operation, Trac intends to set him free, but unfortunately Vinh dies from being strangled by Nguyen. The next morning, a housekeeper enters the room and finds Vinh's body hanging from a noose, purposely made to look like he committed suicide.
After the funeral, Brian finds the same list of medical supplies Vinh was investigating in their room, but written in Vietnamese. While looking for someone to translate it, he encounters Bobby Nguyen who immediately begins to follow him. When Nguyen stops to use a pay phone, Brian slips unnoticed into the backseat of his car. In a secluded area, Nguyen meets with Trac and Lawndale and attempts to extort them for $50,000 and plane ticket to Bangkok in exchange for information on Brian. A struggle ensues, and Nguyen is inadvertently shot to death by Lawndale. When Trac and Lawndale depart, Brian flees to notify the police. However, when they arrive at the scene, the authorities find no trace of the crime. Brian confides in Detective Al Lucero, believing that his brother did not commit suicide. While skeptical, Lucero offers to do what he can to help.
As Brian's suspicion of Colonel Trac continues to grow, he decides to reach out to Trac's daughter Tina, a fellow high school student and Vinh's ex-girlfriend. After an image makeover, Brian asks her out on a date and the two become closer. He accompanies Tina to one of VACRF's social functions, where he notices Lawndale and learns of his connection to Trac and WMS. Following in his brother's footsteps, Brian sneaks into Lawndale's warehouse and successfully uncovers a cache of weapons in a shipping crate.
Taking matters into his own hands, Brian causes an explosion at the warehouse and plants evidence to incriminate Trac, but Lucero immediately suspects Brian and admonishes him for the act. However, the incident causes Trac to panic and send his wife and daughter away to his brother's house, for their own safety. A distressed Tina spends the night with Brian and discovers a lighter belonging to her father in Brian's room, leading Brian to explain all his suspicions to her. Tina angrily confronts her father about the conspiracy, who is shamed by his involvement and contacts Lawndale to remove himself from the operation. In response, Lawndale begins to target Brian directly, sending a group of Vietnamese motorcyclists to run him down on the street. The police manage to apprehend the bikers and, with the aid of an interpreter, Lucero is able to confirm Lawndale's role in the attack.
Meanwhile, Brian visits his friend Yabbo, who builds a newer, faster skateboard for Brian and rallies the rest of the skateboarding clique. Brian and the police both converge upon Colonel Trac's house, where Lawndale takes Tina hostage at gunpoint. When Trac tries to wrestle the gun away, Brian crashes into the room through the window, but Lawndale shoots and kills Trac before making his escape in a stolen police car. A chaotic chase ensues, with Brian, Lucero, and the entire skateboarding crew eventually cornering Lawndale. As Lawndale prepares to shoot him, Brian soars into the air on his skateboard and knocks him out, injuring himself in the process. At the hospital, Brian tries to comfort Tina in the wake of her father's death and suggests that they go back to school together, implying that their relationship will continue. The film ends with Brian and Lucero visiting Vinh's grave before driving away.

Review: This movie just about wraps up the "rad" pop culture of the 1980's, and puts it into one film.
The skateboarding is incredible, and it features Tony Hawk who developed into the #1 skater in the world.
While this movie might not be realistic, it made me laugh all the way through.
The best scene by far involves Tony Hawk and a Pizza Hut truck.
Enjoy this movie and remember the 80's..
Perfect Late '80s Skater film.
Ok I know this film is old, but who cares?
I was 13 1/2 when this movie came out, and I know a lot of people even my age (27) would consider this a dated "old school" movie, but like I said, I don't care, it's still fun.I was a middle school skater in the very late '80s, and this film brings back great memories.
Ok the fashions got old by like 1991, but again who cares?
Forget the fashions and just concentrate on the skateboard stunts, they'll blow you away.
Legendary skater Tony Hawk is in this film, and everyone who was or is a skater knows how valuable Hawk was to skateboarding.
These days I see a lot of teenagers skateboarding in parking lots and malls, it seems the trend has come back since being dormant since 1990.
It was uncool to be a 19 or 20 year old skating back in the heyday of grunge, but once a skater, always a skater.
Many times when I see these kids skating today, I want to haul my old 27 year old butt out there and show them how us 13 and 14 year olds did it back in 1989..
Cold War Skate Movie.
I love Gleaming the Cube, with the exception of the coyingly senitmental dialogue going on and some of the forced grief by Slater.
It's a pretty cool 80s action movie for skaters.A kid mysteriously winds up dead after he goes poking his nose into questionable problems with shipping orders for the Vietnamese Relief.
The cops say all signs point to suicide (or at least they're not conclusive of any other cause of death), but his skater brother is determined to prove that he was murdered.
Gleaming the Cube, as Brian's (Slater) friend Yabbo (Perlich) explains, is about finding your place.
It's actually a pretty fun, if not different, story involving athletes, nevermind skaters.
Plus, you have a pretty rad soundtrack, and Christian Slater and Max Perlich make believable teenagers, and entertaining ones at that (rather than obnoxious or totally stupid).
I love this movie!
It's got a plot, good skating, and its entertaining.What more could you ask for.
It is just your typical 80's movie and personally, I think those are the best kind.
That usually works for me.My recommendation...Check it out if you need something to do late at night and you're tired of watching all of the normal blockbusters that come out these days..
A fun stupid film.
This is the story of a young confused high school punk who loses his adopted Vietnamese brother to a couple of gun runners.
To lighten things up, he could hit on his dead brothers girlfriend.There are many famous skaters who lent their abilities to this film.
This is the best skate boarding movie ever.
There are some really impressive scenes and the movie totally rocks.
It just adds charactor and proves that it doesn't matter how advanced technology gets, they don't make gems like this anymore.
Check out Christian Slaters hair!
The only thing I would ever slamm this movie for was some of the acting.
Christian Slater is cool, but there were some weak performances by others.
This doesn't effect the movie on bit though!
Great 80s film, nothing amazing, but certainly competent in what it does, and not many films like it.
One of the first films of its kind that I had seen and is still really entertaining, after I hunted it down on DVD and watched for the first time last night for years.
I like the portrayal of the skater guys.
Slater's 'I miss you' speech was pretty cringing for me, but apart from that, the film carries itself really well without trying to take itself too seriously, and it comes off better for it.The Corvette guy was a terrible addition in many ways, but despite being so bad, it was hilarious.
this movie is great, if you like skating you will love it.
if you like mad effects from an 80s movie you will love it.
if you like Slater you will indeed love it!!!it is a good movie with a very bizarre story but it works well and is a great feel good movie.
the story is about Slaters brother getting killed when he finds out some imformation about his work that he shouldnt know.
Slater takes it in to his own hands to find out why his bro was killed  and in the process finds out serous stuff.
Must see, one of slaters classics!!!!8 out of 10.
Thriller, tension and intrigue in this skateboarding movie.
This movie deals about a skateboarding adolescent(Christian Slater) investigates his fostered brother's killing.
His brother from Vietnam origin is killed by an organization led by a nasty(Richard Herd) but he aware that the store he worked sends arms to Vietnam instead of medicament.
The down-and-out teen has a skateboarding team(Max Perlich) and and he suddenly become involved in several risks, helped by the group skateboarding Trashers.The film displays action, suspense, thrills and, of course, spectacular skateboarding.
Another films about Skateboarding sub-genre are ¨Skateboard: The movie(78), Skateboard kid I(93) and II(95) and Skateboard madness¨, though the classic movie is ¨Lords of Dogtown¨ directed with Catherine Hardwicke and with Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger.
The whole style of the movie was real cool back when I was 10, and the feelings kind of stuck.The story line is stupid but the skater-guys are cool.
A lot of the acting is poor, but a GOOD MOVIE.
You have to look past all the bad stuff and just try to sink into the whole 'nice family' good brother avenging the death of his step-brother theme.
Brian Kelly (Christian Slater) has his group of skateboarding friends in Orange County.
His adopted brother Vinh is the star of the family.
Brian knows better and investigates.
After witnessing a killing, he goes to police detective Al Lucero for help.It's weird that a skateboarding film turns into a crime drama with a Vietnamese flavor.
In a skateboarding movie, one would like lighter fare.
The story is trying to be smart but it's really only B-movie quality.
It's got a nice cult movie feel..
When I first watched Gleaming The Cube probably twenty years ago, I was highly excited by this farce.
I liked it so much I probably watched it everyday for a week, hell maybe even a month.
Then once I had finished watching I'd take my skateboard round to my friends then we'd head down to school, climb onto the long flat roof and skate around for hours rein-acting scenes from the film.
Gleaming The Cube was just one of many films that had us acting like this in our youth.Having just finished watching Gleaming The Cube for the first time in years I realised two things.
2. It isn't anywhere near as bad as some of the reviews I've read over the years.Starring one of my all time favourites 'Christian Slater' in the lead role of Brian and starring no-one else worth mentioning, Gleaming The Cube is without doubt the best skateboard/mystery/drama that the world has ever produced.
Slater spends his usual amount of time trying to pull of intense 'Jack Nicholson' style faces, but that's one of the things I always loved about him.When Brian's stepbrother is found dead, the police say its suicide but Brian thinks different, so he sets out on his skateboard and tries to solve the mystery of his death.
That's basically it as far as plot goes, but the film is carried forward with chase scenes and skateboarding action.All in all it's everything an 80's skateboarding film should be.
Pro Slater Movies.
I absolutely love this movie, no doubt about it!10/10.
A great display of tacky, bad acting, bad storyline, eighties brilliance at it's best.Drop me a line if you the same way.
The film is really enjoyable if you get past the slightly lame plot, but it does contain some really cool skating sequences and some of the dialougue is cool.
The stage curtains open ...This is the first Christian Slater movie I've ever seen on the silver screen.
I'd seen Christian Slater in movies before this one, such as "The Legend of Billie Jean" and "The Wizard", but this is the first movie where he headlined and starred that I can remember ever seeing.High School student, Brian Kelly (Slater), really didn't care about anything other than hanging out with his friends, music and skateboarding - much to the chagrin of his disapproving father.
But when his adopted brother, Vinh, is found dead in a motel room and it is ruled a suicide, Brian isn't buying it and he begins to investigate what he believes is a murder.
Finally, he is able to confide in Detective Lucero (Steven Bauer) and together they find out more than what they bargained for, leading to a climatic confrontation between the bad guys and Brian and his skateboarding gang.Bolstered by a solid music soundtrack, this fun piece of 80's teen action is one of the best of its time.
Slater began to come into his own about this time and this movie was a stepping stone into the prime of his career.
Skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk, also makes an appearance in the film as a character named Buddy.
The stunt work is incredible and the skateboarding sequences are outstanding.I highly recommend "Gleaming The Cube".
It is one of my personal favorite Christian Slater movies and gets plenty of play time out of my own collection..
this movie is iconic for the 90's and the entire skate boarding era.
If any one that is a true skater and has not seen this movie they need to re-evaluate their priorities and get it done.
NOTHING BEATS THIS skate film period.
I have been obsessed with this movie since it came out and have been introducing it to many a young-en and older my entire life.
Average Movie...Great Time.
As anyone knows who has seen it, "Gleaming the Cube" is not on par with Citizen Kane or a film with A-list acting, but what it does do is capture the "zeit geist"(I think thats how its spelled?) of the late 80's.
It captures the "spirit of the time" in a way that few other movies have, maybe Thrasher, but that movie is almost impossible to find.
I remember five of my skater buddies and I pooling our money together to get the movie.
It was one of those movies we could watch over and over.
We loved the skating!
Christian Slater's "fuck off" attitude didn't hurt either.
We would watch that movie and then go out and skate for hours, it was great.
this is a great movie...........slater before he so blatantly rips off jack nicholson.
in fact it must have been lame for tony as he doesn't do any skating in this movie at all.
he drives a red utility with an old pizza hut roof on it (u have to see the movie just for the pizza car) and according to the credits he doesn't perform any of the stunts nor is he listed as a "skater" the story line is a bit "dads film" for a skate board movie which conflicts with the whole alienated teen thing however with some things, the more over the top the better..
i used to love this film.....
i remember watching this film when i was much younger and i loved it to bits as i was an aspiring skater at the time, i used to really like the first bit with the theme tune and them skating down the airstrip.
i saw it again a short while ago and i will definitely say it hasn't lost any of it's character, i probably like it still because i liked it so much when i was younger but it is definitely a top film, the skating is superb even if it is on  those old school boards and the bit where slater is skating down the massive hill is awesome.
a true skating classic..
Gleaming the Cube is the only half-way decent skating movie around.
As far as cinematic art goes I don't know how I'd rank it, but as there aren't any others like it we'll just have to settle.
Decent Movie.
This was a decent movie...if you were ever into skateboarding then this movie is a must see...it's good for the time frame it was created in(late 80's)..it also has a lot of big time pro skaters in it Mike Vallely,Tony Hawk,Rod Mullin,Lance Mountain,Mike McGill,Natas Kaupus,and Eric Dressen.....I think the only big actor is Christian Slater...so this is obviously a "skater oriented" movie..
check it out...its worth the money if you can handle the "old skool" skating and a little cheesy storyline drama...
fun movie, if you like Slater films..
this movie was fair, and  most of  the time was fun to watch.
i'm not a fan of skateboarding,  but,  it was fun to see slater's character go after the man  for his brother's death.
some action in this film to keep you excited..
One of silliest male bonding movies ever...Should wind up at the top of Christian Slater's list of movies he wishes nobody remembers.
Cone to think of it, the only male bonding movie Slater ever succeeded in was Interview With the Vampire, because all he did was to interview Brad Pitt's Louis.
One of Christian Slater's early hits finds Slater as a high school kid with the biggest passion of his life being skateboarding.
Gleaming The Cube casts him as the son of Ed Lauter and Nicole Mercurio.
He has an adopted Vietnamese brother Art Chuddabala that the parents may have gone overboard to make him feel like one of the family, possibly ignoring Slater.
In any event he's a misfit kid with skateboarding on his mind 24/7.Chuddabala works for Le Tuan a Vietnamese exile who has an electronics store but who also works to supply arms needed for counter revolutionists in the old country.
One night Chuddabala discovers some bookkeeping errors and it gets him killed by arms dealer Richard Herd.They fake a suicide, but that does not stop Slater.
After the cops have closed the case he starts his own little investigation and when needed Slater's skateboarding posse is at his command.Gleaming The Cube does not have Slater as one of the more outrageous and quirky characters he specialized in the 90s playing.
The skateboarding acrobatics by the pros who worked on this film are spectacular.
Christian Slater fans will like it as will others..
A cube not that gleaming, but.....
There's a scene in this movie, one would say freakily idenitical to one in another Christian Slater, years later, Kuffs.
It's Slater farewelling his stepbrother here, spouting the words "I fu..in' love you man" Watch Kuffs and you'll see the same dialogue.
GTC is no Kuffs though, with fantastically shot skateboarding scenes, some quite breathtaking.
They do quite well compensate for some of the films faults, although GTC is quite entertaining, too being one of Slater's first films, which had a brief run at the cinema.
Again making references to Kuffs, Slater is again, an avenging hero, not playing by the rules, and causing s..t and some tempers to flare.
One being a young detective, Al (Steven Bauer) who sides with him, to take down the corrupt party who wasted his Vietnamese stepbrother (again I drawer reference to Kuffs, Slater's brotherly love problems).
I don't really know how Bauer's character fits in, as far as Slater's acquaintance, (Is he just some old friend, now a cop who busted Slater and pals one too many times) e.g. Slater and skate addicts crashing a house, and using a deep unfilled pool as a skating rink.
GTC isn't really a film that impresses.
It's a good popcorn flick, but don't look for anything beyond that, except the great thrill seeking skating sequences.
Try and count the time Bauer, flicks Slater's ear.
Christian Slater is out for some get-back in this 80's skater classic with a wacky title.
This is what the movie comes down to.
Whatever gleaming is its awesome and all skaters do it, or did about twenty years ago.
Watched this often as a child and it helped propel, sustain, my skateboarding throughout the careless 80's into the carefree 90's and on and on.
I still skate and conjure up images from the film when I'm in a helicopter scoping out some killer bowls or when I'm skitchin off Tony Hawk's Pizza Hut delivery truck, which happens quite often.
The movie follows Slater as he tries to connect the dots of his brothers murder.
Adopted as he may-be Slater nonetheless goes on a crusade that includes pool halls, weapons cache's and in true 80's fashion a geek to chic makeover scene that has to be witnessed to be real.
The scene with him skating mad through the warehouse is probably my favorite, but to nail down one thing alone i like about this movie would be an impossibility.
Slater looked cooler in this movie then he has before or since and everyone on film cash's in a good performance to back him up.
Slater ill never let you down girl!
Christian Slater is a good "skater" character, and yes, Tony Hawk does some skating in the movie (beginning pool scene), but I just couldn't buy the "death" emotions portrayed.
And that Brian's friends would pick on him for dressing like a prep instead of noting that he might be grieving his brother?