The defence The Adrenaline Seeker
“Momentum is a formal choice.”
The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.
Back to trending 
Gleaming the Cube
Crime · Thriller · Action · 1989
An Orange County teenager's carefree life of ditching class and skateboarding abandoned pools comes to a screeching halt when someone close to him dies. The cops rule the death a suicide, but the bereaved skater believes he was murdered. It's up to him to solve the case, with a skateboard.
Movie details
Gleaming the Cube
“All he cared about was gleaming the cube...until the night they killed his brother.”
1989 Crime · Thriller · Action 1h 46m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.0 / 10
Community rating
An Orange County teenager's carefree life of ditching class and skateboarding abandoned pools comes to a screeching halt when someone close to him dies. The cops rule the death a suicide, but the bereaved skater believes he was murdered. It's up to him to solve the case, with a skateboard.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Gleaming the Cube?
For the defence
The Adrenaline Seeker
“If it slows down, you check your phone.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Thick as Thieves
Action · 2009
A master thief recruits a notorious thief to help him steal two famous Faberge eggs from an impenetrable vault in an effort to pull off one final job and repay his debt to the Russian mob.
Nick of Time
Thriller · 1995
An ordinary man is suddenly forced into a plot to kill a politician in exchange for his kidnapped daughter's freedom.
Transporter 3
Action · 2008
Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukrainian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.
Point Break
Action · 2015
A young undercover FBI agent infiltrates a gang of thieves who share a common interest in extreme sports. A remake of the 1991 film, "Point Break".
The 355
Action · 2022
A group of top female agents from American, British, Chinese, Colombian, and German government agencies are drawn together to try and stop an organization from acquiring a deadly weapon to send the world into chaos.
Inferno
Mystery · 2016
After waking up in a hospital with amnesia, professor Robert Langdon and a doctor must race against time to foil a deadly global plot.
Gotcha!
Action · 1985
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
Overdrive
Thriller · 2017
Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women and lives all on the line.
Hostile Takeover
Action · 2025
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.
Murder at the Embassy
Mystery · 2025
1934. Private detective Miranda Green investigates a murder perpetrated in the British Embassy in Cairo, where a top secret document was stolen, risking to jeopardize both Buckingham Palace and the peace of the world. All those present in this closed place are suspected: the American photographer, the English student, the American actress, the Egyptian security guard, the ambassador interpreter, the Egyptian gardener and - why not? — the Ambassador himself. But who would have expected that a small group of Nazis would be behind a plot, risking to jeopardize both Buckingham Palace and the peace of the world?
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Graeme Clifford
Written by
Michael Tolkin
Christian Slater
Brian Kelly
Steven Bauer
Al Lucero
Richard Herd
Ed Lawndale
Ed Lauter
Mr. Kelly
L
Le Tuan
Colonel Trac
Peter Kwong
Bobby Nguyen
Charles Cyphers
Harvey McGill
Court is in session
Put Gleaming the Cube on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Auteur Devotee
“Speed as an alibi.”
The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.