American Anthem
1986 film by Albert Magnoli
American Anthem is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Albert Magnoli, starring Mitch Gaylord and Janet Jones. The film was produced by Lorimar Motion Pictures and released in North America by Columbia Pictures. Gaylord was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Plot
Steve Tevere, a football player turned gymnast, seeks to join the United States Olympic gymnastics team.
Cast
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on CD, LP and cassette by Atlantic Records. The album contains songs by various artists, including two themes from the film, composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri.
Two Hearts - John Parr (6:07)
Run to Her - Mr. Mister (3:34)
Same Direction - INXS (5:08)
Battle of the Dragon - Stevie Nicks (5:15)
Wings to Fly - Graham Nash (4:00)
Take It Easy - Andy Taylor (4:22)
Wings of Love - Andy Taylor (5:03)
Love and Loneliness - Chris Thompson (5:03)
Angel Eyes - Andy Taylor (3:26)
Arthur's Theme - Alan Silvestri (2:50)
Julie's Theme - Alan Silvestri (1:42)
Reception
The film was a box office flop, grossing only $4.8 million against a $7 million budget.
The film received aggressively negative reviews by critics, especially from famed critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert; with the latter saying the film was "as bad as any movie I've seen [in 1986], and so inept that not even the gymnastics scenes are interesting" and the former calling the film "complete junk; you can see more interesting gymnastics on Wide World of Sports than in this garbage". Ebert opened his print review by writing: "American Anthem" is like a very bad Identikit sketch of Purple Rain the previous movie by the same director.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “American Anthem” is 1986 film by Albert Magnoli. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through American, Anthem and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1986 film by Albert Magnoli” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3083599. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986 and 1984.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “American Anthem” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.