If you’re wrestling with the idea of watching this film, just buy the soundtrack and watch The Wrestler instead.
Kronomyth x.x: No holds bards.
I saw maybe thirty minutes of this movie on tv, figured it was about the stupidest thing I’d ever seen, and went back to watching cheesy ‘60s science fiction (“The radiation just seems to make it stronger…”). Vision Quest fed into every sweaty, fungal little fantasy that ever crept into the crack of a high school shower tile: boy gets super strong, shows up his parents and teachers and gets laid by a hot, college-age chick. In fact, just thinking about it makes me want to take a shower.
So why did I buy the soundtrack? Because it cost me a dollar. Because it has Dio’s “Hungry for Heaven” on it and I wanted to see if it’s the same as the Sacred Heart version. (It is.) And because, just in case anyone ever asked me what was the dumbest movie I ever saw, I could pull this sleeve out and say “This one.”
The soundtrack isn’t nearly so bad. It has some great rock tracks on it, including “Lunatic Fringe” and “Hot Blooded.” It also contains actual hits that were unique to the movie soundtrack: Journey’s “Only the Young,” Don Henley’s “She’s on the Zoom” and Madonna’s “Crazy For You.” (She also contributed “Gambler” to the soundtrack and made a cameo in the film as a singer.)
Oddly, the album doesn’t contain anything from Tangerine Dream, despite the fact that they composed the film’s original soundtrack. I don’t recall ever seeing TD release anything from this soundtrack either. Maybe they used pre-existing material from earlier albums, or watched the film and filed some kind of injunction against releasing any material associated with it.
Original elpee version
A1. Journey: Only the Young (Steve Perry/Neal Schon/Jonathan Cain) (4:01)
A2. John Waite: Change (Holly Knight) (3:14)
A3. The Style Council: Shout to the Top (Paul Weller) (4:18)
A4. Madonna: Gambler (Madonna) (3:54)
A5. Don Henley: She’s on the Zoom (Don Henley/Danny Kortchmar) (3:18)
B1. Dio: Hungry for Heaven (Ronnie James Dio/Jimmy Bain) (4:12)
B2. Red Rider: Lunatic Fringe (Tom Cochrane) (4:20)
B3. Sammy Hagar: I’ll Fall in Love Again (Sammy Hagar) (4:11)
B4. Foreigner: Hot Blooded (Lou Gramm/Mick Jones) (4:24)
B5. Madonna: Crazy for You (John Bettis/Jon Lind) (4:08)
The Players
Belinda Carlisle (background vocals on A5), Jane Wiedlin (background vocals on A5), Stephen Bray (arranger on A4), Rob Mounsey (arranger on B5). Produced by Mike Stone (A1), John “Jellybean” Benitze (A4/B5), Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi (A5); A1 mixed by Bob Clearmountain.
The Plastic
Released on elpee, cassette and compact disc on February 12, 1985 in the US (Geffen, GHS/M5 24063, 24063-2), Canada (Geffen, XGHS 24063) and Japan (CBS/Sony, 28AP-3000). Reached #11 on the US charts.
- Re-issued on compact disc in the US (Geffen, 24063).
