'Wanna go, pretty boy?'

TODAY's RETRO-REVIEW: The 1986 hockey flick "Youngblood," starring Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.

THE PLOT: A promising, young hockey player (Lowe) is pressured by his teammates, opponents and family to show that he can fight as well as he skates -- if he wants to make it to the big time. In the process, he befriends the team captain (Swayze) and falls in love with the daughter (Cynthia Gibb) of the team's surly head coach (Ed Lauter).

SOUNDS FAMILIAR: It should sound familiar -- it's the same plot of just about any teen sports movie. Think "Karate Kid" meets "Rocky" meets "Slap Shot."

MAYBE YOU REMEMBER: Former NHL player Eric Nesterenko (Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks) played the part of Lowe's father. Steve Thomas and Peter Zezel are other NHLers appearing in the film. Cynthia Gibb, who played Lowe's girlfriend, would do several other movies in the 80s, including "Salvador," "Modern Girls" and "Stardust Memories."

SURELY YOU CAN'T FORGET: Keanu Reeves as the goalie with a dubious Quebec accent. (Is there any accent Reeves can master other the SoCal surfer dialect?) Still, rumor has it that Reeves was a very good goalie as a youth. He and Swayze would team up again in "Point Break."

ONE NASTY REVIEW: "If Rob Lowe had to learn to play hockey, was it too much to ask Peter Markle, the writer-director, to write an original screenplay?" -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

WHY WE LOVE IT ANYWAY: Famed critic Roger Ebert actually gave the movie a decent review, but detested the two scenes for which which the movie is probably best remembered by 80s fans: Lowe being seduced by his mature, female landlord ("Ahhh, tea with Miss McGill"), and Lowe wandering the hallways of the sports arena wearing nothing by a jockstrap. Throw in some great fight scenes with Thunderbay player "Carl Racki" and some gratuitous nudity and there's your classic '80s flick.

TOP 5 LINES FROM YOUNGBLOOD:

5.  "Hey, go hump your Saint Bernard, scum-nuts."
4. "Fast legs, slow fists."
3. "Where else could I get beaten up every day, treated like shit by prima donna Canadians, get my nuts shaved? "
2. "You can learn to punch in the barn, but you gotta learn to survive on the ice."
1. "Thank God there is a sport for middle-sized white boys."

Comments

[Johnny B. Goode]

Steve,
Are you suggesting Keanu Reeves' Gainesville accent was less than authentic in that movie he was in with Al Pacino?

[Spears]

Don't get me started on his Gainesville accent. A travesty. A felony.

[Dave]

Man, I love this film! Carl Racki was hilarious. Loved William Orbit's electronica score too, it was very inspiring and ahead of it's time. I also liked Jim Youngs who was Lori Singer's jerk boyfriend in Footloose as Lowe's one-eyed brother who went on to do another jock-related sports flick about soccer called Hotshot. I consider Youngblood to be a seminal 80's flick.

[Spears]

DAVE! You are THE MAN! I totally didn't connect Lowe's brother with Footloose! I bow to the master...

Steve, it's Thunder Bay, Ontario, not Thunderbay.

I just finished watching this film, and hmm, I'm torn on it.

It's a good film for people who know little about hockey. The Memorial Cup is actually held every year here in Canada for the junior hockey championship.....but always at a neutral site, with the host team joining in. In order to get there, you have to win the championship of the WHL, OHL, or the Quebec league. That's my biggest beef with this film.....it's a lot harder than it looks just to get there, you can't just mosey on in.

I did love the stand-up goalies of the 80's......you could actually deke them, unlike the Michelin-Man goalies of today. Not a bad fight at the end, but NO real hockey players do that silly stick fight before Lowe and Raki finally drop the gloves. The director could have done his homework.

And I have to admit, Lowe's penalty shot goal was pretty nice (and a lot more realistic than the Triple Deke of Mighty Ducks fame). Cynthia Gibb was quite scrumptious, too.

Finally, where the heck did they shoot this movie? They could have at least picked a nice arena, like Maple Leaf Gardens or the Forum!