Synopsis

Archie McNally is known as the greatest Pittsburgh Steelers fan ever because of his daring exploits during the 1979 AFC Championship game when – using a suit of his own construction – he attempted to fly to heaven to visit his dead father.

Background

Icarus of Pittsburgh is our masterpiece - the "final" chapter in the Trilogy of Tragedy - where everything fell into place. The music; the animation; the "acting". It started out with a short email:

-----Original Message-----
From: Evan Mather
Sent: May 28, 2001 8:38 AM
To: Hostetter/24
Subject: Our next movie

"Icarus of Pittsburgh" (Evan Mather and Kirk Hostetter, 2002). The tragic tale of Brewster McNally, the brilliant man-child and his popularized attempt to ascend out of Three Rivers Stadium on July 4, 1976 using a set of wings crafted in his parent's basement. Featuring Mean Joe Greene (Damien McBride).

There is so much I could write about this film. About how we made the film while Kirk was in Seattle and I was in Los Angeles; about how Bill was so game to play the part; about how excited we were to go to Sundance.

I might however point out that there is a slightly longer Icarus of Pittsburgh: Original Cut which includes footage shot before a Pittsburgh Steelers game in Fall 2001. These scenes were trimmed out since the subjects we too inebriated to sign waivers for participation.

Film Info

Credits

Other

Buzz

"... strange and brilliant ...", Metroactive

"... a true flight-of-fancy that celebrates obsession."
29th Northwest Film and Video Festival"...***** ... You think you're a hardcore Steelers fan? Well, you're not as hardcore as Archie McNally and his 'daddy.' Using computer animation and interview footage with Archie, this film tells Archie's tale of when in the middle of a 1979 AFC Championship game, he strapped on a couple of helium filled wet suits and attempted to fly to the heavens to let his 'daddy' know how his favorite team was doing. Fuckin' hysterical!"
Film Threat