Last night I was having a nostalgia evening watching the Movie Channel Encore where I saw the 1986 Kevin Bacon movie “Quicksilver” for the first time. The soundtrack was what Carol remarked on – featuring lots of keyboard synth sounds (listen to Huey Lewis and the News “Sports” album for the idea – though the soundtrack is Roger Daltry – no Huey Lewis involved). Visually, it was the big hair, both on Kevin Bacon and on the female interests in the movie, it just took me back. Ahhh!
Subconsciously, I knew there was something that bothered me about the movie and somewhere between sleep cycles this morning I figured out that many of the bicycle scenes in the movie were technically impossible with the pictured equipment. Googling Kevin Bacon’s bike in Quicksilver brought satisfying answers. While it is not inconceivable that a bike messenger in New York City would use a fixed gear bike “fixie” or a single speed (thank you to the online bike world for helping understand the distinctions) the variety of uses of this one and the same bike in the movie make it into some magical transforming superbike. I elucidate:
- In a display of bicycle acrobatics where Kevin takes advantage of the simplicity of the fixie. Pedal forward = go forward, pedal backward = go backward – there are interesting things that can be done with a bike of this nature, no doubt [full disclosure: I’ve never ridden a fixie].
- Soon, in a dance scene involving the bike and Kevin’s ballerina girlfriend we see handlebars with no brake levers (and their limiting brake cables) on them which allows Kevin to do some pretty awesome 360 spins of the handlebars (and attached front wheel, of course).
- Then there is a race scene with another bike messenger down a steep hill (think San Francisco, but straight). At the cross streets on the way down both riders jump their bikes. Again, I’ve never ridden a fixie but I would think that Kevin, on his, would want to keep pedalling even while in the air as when he lands his fixie he is going to have to resume the superspeed rpms that had him
keeping pace with his competitor who has the advantage of a 7 speed derailleur and a freewheel allowing him to coast (not keep up with the RPMs of his rear wheel). - But then, sometimes Kevin’s superbike does have a freewheel allowing him to coast. An example would be when Kevin is able to duck below the side door of the straight truck that would otherwise be blocking his way. Try ducking this low and pedalling at the same time.
- Back to brakes – at the start of the race down the steep hill we can see that while Kevin’s bike has no frontbrakes of any sort, it does have one brake lever (magically disappearing when not needed, such as when riding in his loft) which is presumably to the rear brakes. If the brake cable to the rear runs inside the handlebars and then through the frame, that would allow Kevin to do those fancy 360 handlebar spins in the dance scene. Yes? I just can’t get my head around this technical point.
In 2008, Kevin Bacon called the film “the absolute lowest point of my career.” I laughed and laughed when I read that today after watching this 1986 movie last night. If 22 years later Quicksilver didn’t stand as the pinnacle of Kevin Bacon’s career, then, first off, he might consider himself blessed that he was able to pass on to weightier content. I found it strange that the Movie Channel called this a comedy because large parts of it are drama with comedy interjecting. The comedy has increased with the years by the shocking hairstyles, fashion and period music, but that was unintended. I guess we’ll keep it as a comedy, kind of Shakespearean in the end, because the bad guy gets taken care of and the right people end up together in the final scene.
In researching this Quicksilver article, I found someone who had created a SBIG category for this movie. That is, So Bad that It’s Good. With that in mind, and with the added flashback benefit – seeing the eighties from the light of the 21st century, I highly recommend this movie – I had a blast watching it.