If there has ever been a movie that I have watch more than 20 times as a kid, this is it. watching again more than 15 years down the road has been a trip down momery lane the feeling of getting in the car and going from coast to coast as fast as possible starts getting the blood going.
This movie is about the Cars and there drivers, and NO other moive comes even close to it's way of putting the car first in the movie. One excellent buy !!!
Gumball Rules!!!
I have been waiting for this DVD for a long time. 5.1 surround would have been great, but if you put it on "All Channel Stereo", it sounds pretty darned good. Picture is fantastic.
Great to see this classic on DVD finally!!!
"To internal combustion and wind in the face."
In terms of films featuring illegal cross-country racing, I've always considered The Gumball Rally to be the grandpappy to all others that followed, including Cannonball (1976), The Cannonball Run (1981), Cannonball Run II (1984), and Speed Zone! (1989). While I've enjoyed some of these other films, they were never able to reproduce that which made The Gumball Rally such a favorite within the genre, in my opinion. Produced, co-written, and directed by Charles Bail ("CHiPs", "Knight Rider"), the film features a slew of actors including Michael Sarrazin (The Groundstar Conspiracy), Norman Burton (Diamonds Are Forever), Gary `Mr. Head Injury' Busey (D.C. Cab, Silver Bullet), John Durren (Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw), Tim McIntire (Brubaker, Fast-Walking), Susan Flannery ("Days of Our Lives"), J. Pat O'Malley (Alice in Wonderland), Joanne Nail (Switchblade Sisters), Nicholas Pryor (Airplane!, Risky Business), Lázaro Pérez (The Mambo Kings), Tricia O'Neil (Piranha Part Two: The Spawning), and Harvey Jason (The Specialist), as Lapchick the Mad Hungarian.
Michael Sarrazin is Michael Bannon, corporate bigwig in a candy company. As the film opens, we see Bannon in a boardroom in New York, looking, well, bored (there's probably a joke in there somewhere)...he cuts the meeting short, makes a phone call, utters a single word, "Gumball", which sets off a chain reaction of sorts as the word is spread to select individuals throughout the country. The significance? Bannon has just initiated a illegal, no-holds-barred, cross country race where the only prize is the satisfaction of being the best...that and a huge, honking trophy filled with gumballs. Drivers come to New York from all parts (Bannon's main competition Smitty, played by McIntire, goes so far as to import a famous, Italian racer named Franco Bertollini, played by Julia), to make preparations for the race...but they're not the only ones interested, as a California police lieutenant named Roscoe (Burton) also gets wind of the competition, and arrives on the scene. Apparently he's got a score to settle, particularly with Smitty and Bannon, the two organizers, as Roscoe's past attempts to foil the race have failed miserably. With a revving of finely tuned engines, a squealing of tires, and the smell of burnt rubber and exhaust fumes permeating the cool, early morning air, the race begins! Which team will take the honors of being the first to reach the Pacific Ocean in this hi-octane, cross-country free for all? You might be surprised...or maybe not...it doesn't really matter, as the real fun is getting there...
One of the things this film has is a whole lot of boss cars including a Cobra, Ferrari, Corvette, Camaro, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Mercedes, and even a souped-up boogie van...I'm no motorhead, so I couldn't give you the actual models of the vehicles, but my personal favorite was the Cobra, driven by Bannon, with Smitty's Ferrari is definitely a close second. The movie is filled with wacky characters, the wackiest being Lapchick the Mad Hungarian, the only lone participant (all the others were in teams of two) on a Kawasaki motorcycle. He was the main comic relief in the film, generally getting into outrageous accidents, but always coming back for more, sort of like the Wile E. Coyote character in the Road Runner cartoons. Of all the colorful characters, I think Gary Busey's was my favorite, as a member of the team driving the Camaro, the other being Ace Preston aka Mr. Guts, played by Durren, both of whom were professional stunt drivers, normally found putting on shows in the south. I really didn't get a sense Busey had to act too hard to create his slightly psychotic `wild hillbilly' character, one that'd let out a rebel yell at the drop of a hat. I also really liked Raul Julia as the amorous Italian driver...was he a stereotype? Maybe, but he was still funny, and fun to watch. Overall the story is very simple, and the characters even more so, and in another film that might be negative, but here it's all about the cars, all of which were driven by the actors themselves, and director Bail (whose primary profession was that of a stunt man) seemed to know this...I'd say probably 90% of the film is dedicated towards the display of pure, unadulterated (no sped up footage here) speed, as the cars zip towards their final destination, highlighted with stationary shots, in front of and behind shots, high above and way down low shots, and even a few trick shots. My favorite scene in the film is right before the race starts, and all the cars are in the garage, engines revving and raring to go...there's a real, honest to goodness sense of excitement and anticipation present, something that emanates from the production naturally, rather than produced by artificial means. Another aspect I liked was the fact there were no goofy, evil characters, bent on winning through devious means like sabotaging the other vehicles. There was a healthy sense of competition within the group, but they felt like a tight knit bunch, the kind that would provide assistance to each other, if in need. The `us against them' attitude was fostered strongly throughout as Lieutenant Roscoe continually tried to capture them. All in all this is a really fun, silly, crazy movie with some generally lame, good natured gags, a whole lot of speed, and the heart to match.
Warner Brothers provides an excellent widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic transfer here. I thought the picture was very sharp, and showed only one or two very minor blemishes. The one disappointing element was the Dolby Digital mono audio...it did come through clearly, but it would have been cool had they re-mastered the audio in stereo given this was a racing film featuring exceptional cars, each vehicle having its own, distinct sound. As far as special features go, there isn't much, only a theatrical trailer for the film. I was a little surprised there wasn't more, given the influence the movie had towards future productions in a similar vein, but, at the very least, I'm happy to see this film finally released onto DVD, as the wait seemed unnecessarily long.
Cookieman108
If I learned anything from this film it's that late model Corvettes seem to have a structural weakness that causes them to split in half about mid-chassis if they take a slight jump...also, did any one else think Tricia O'Neil, who played the character of Angie, sporting an American flag bikini top, had it going on? I think I saluted her more than once...
Susan George (Straw Dogs) is ex-groupie Mary and Peter Fonda (Easy Rider) is wannabe-NASCAR driver Larry. They're thieves on the run from sheriff Vic Morrow (The Blackboard Jungle), who carries neither gun nor badge. According to director John Hough (The Legend of Hell House), his white trash cult classic was "an action picture with a lot of stunts." That about sums it up. The Tarantino favorite is slim on character development, but overstuffed with automobile-oriented action (most revolving around a 1969 Dodge Charger). Notable stunts include a game of chicken with a couple of 18-wheelers, a low-flying helicopter chase, and a death-defying leap over a moving bridge (Speed would up the ante with a bus). Adapted from the novel The Chase, Dirty... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Peter Fonda - Susan George Director(s): John Hough DVD Release Date: Released the 28 June 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I saw this film for the first time when I was 8 years old. This film started my love afair with the Corvette and my eventually purchasing one as an adult. The DVD picture quality is great, and its nice to see it in Widscreen. I bought a bootleg on Ebay that was ok, but in full screen. The widscreen DVD sound is good also. I am dissapointed with the lack of extras. Hamill and Potts doing commentary would have been nice. Also
a short on the building of the car would have been cool too. Korky's Customs built it. It would have been nice to see a documentary on that. Also, where is the car now? It is actually owned by Mid America Covette, a corvette parts builder. They probably could have helped with a documentary. Too bad. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Mark Hamill - Annie Potts Director(s): Matthew Robbins DVD Release Date: Released the 30 August 2005 Usually ships in 6 to 7 days
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Cannonball is 100% car-crashin', gas-guzzlin', tire-squealin', '70s-style fun courtesy of executive producer Roger Corman and director Paul Bartel (Eating Raoul). Inspired by the success of Bartel's Death Race 2000, Corman commissioned him to direct this down-and-dirty adventure comedy about an illegal transcontinental car race and the eccentrics who compete for its $100,000 prize. Leading the pack is David Carradine, who's brought his sexy parole officer (Hill Street Blues' Veronica Hamel) along for the ride; hot on his tail are scurrilous Bill McKinney (Deliverance), cult queen Mary Woronov, and a host of marvelous character actors. Bartel also dots Cannonball with cameos by Corman, Sylvester Stallone, co-writer Don Simpson, and numerous fellow... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Paul Bartel - Archie Hahn DVD Release Date: Released the 28 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Art film and road movie collide for Vanishing Point, an existential car chase across the desert in a post Easy Rider America. Barry Newman stars as Kowalski, a taciturn driver who bets that he can drive a new Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. He loads up on amphetamines and begins his odyssey through the contemporary west while a funky black DJ (Cleavon Little) turns the driver into a folk hero and broadcasts advice on dodging the cops. It's like a counterculture precursor to Smokey and the Bandit, with the road as the last bastion of freedom and the DJ as a combination commentator and mystical guide. The slim plot offers a network of society drop-outs that aid the "last free Man on Earth" (as the DJ describes him) on his obscure but obviously... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Richard C. Sarafian DVD Release Date: Released the 03 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Like The Gumball Rally (1976) before it, former stuntman Hal Needham's The Cannonball Run was inspired by the same real-life cross-country road race. If The Gumball Rally was the critical favorite, The Cannonball Run was the box-office favorite (spawning the almost-as-successful sequel, Cannonball Run II, a few years later). Aside from top-billed stars Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise (stars of Needham's Smokey and the Bandit series) plus Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. (as horny priests), the movie features many of the same actors (Bert Convy, Jamie Farr) that could be found on a typical '80s episode of The Love Boat (along with the same caliber of writing). But as the tagline notes, "You'll never guess who wins"--and it's true. As in most... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Burt Reynolds - Roger Moore - Farrah Fawcett Director(s): Hal Needham DVD Release Date: Released the 05 June 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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