Cannonball

Rating:
Summary: Even better than Death Race.
Review: I love this movie. I havn't seen the new DVD version yet, but I rented this movie on VHS a wile ago and I just remember it being full of action, humor, and suspence. I love David Carridene. If you liked Death Race 2000 or just love David Carridene you should get this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Start Your Engines
Review: I loved Cannonball! One of those fun, forgotten drive-in flicks that Blue Underground has taken it upon themselves to release. Hopefully this will find an audience for those curious about David Carradine after his renewed fame with Kill Bill. Cannonball is likely to get confused with Burt Reynold's Cannonball Run films. It's easy to see why coz both deal with an illegal cross country race with a group of eccentric characters all hell bent on the grand prize. But remember, Cannonball came first! Directed by Paul Bartel who did Death Race 2000, also starring Carradine and Mary Woronov. Not quite as violent and outrageous as Death Race, but just as good, maybe a teeny bit better. It goes a little more towards action than comedy, but it's got it's funny moments for sure. Many of these moments come from a country singer played by Gerrit Graham(who played "Beef" in Phantom Of The Paradise) who can't seem to make it through a song without getting hit by either another car or his own driver.
Lots of good cameos, but they'll only be recognizable to film buffs. Small roles by Joe Dante(director of Gremlins and The Howling), Martin Scorsese(needs no intro), Sly Stallone(no intro either), and even Don Simpson of Bruckheimer/Simpson fame. Good to know he did a cool film before churning out the crap he did later. And of course a supporting role from Dick Miller. Who can't love Dick Miller? If you don't know who Dick Miller is, slap yourself a few times, and Shame On You! Even Carradine's younger brother, Robert "Louis Skolnick" Carradine has a role. Very good film if you're a fan of this golden era of exploitation films that they just don't make anymore. The dvd includes an interview with Carradine, Woronov and Roger Corman. It's interesting to hear their thoughts all these years later. They all seem to be happy with it. David, while saying he enjoyed making the film, was a bit disappointed with the final product. I'm cetainly not, and hopefully you won't be either.

Rating:
Summary: Coast to coast vehicular mayhem...
Review: I'll admit it, I've always been a sucker for movies with spectacular car chase sequences, one of my favorites being Bullitt (1968), with Steve McQueen, and then there's always The French Connection (1971). The last, few, more recent ones worth looking into can be found in Ronin (1998), and The Bourne Identity (2002)...that being said, the prospect of an entire film based on car chases seems pretty far-fetched, but it's been done, and done well, in H.B. Halicki's Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)...the acting amateurish, the plot vague and murky, but the car sequences are amazing. The idea was later expanded to focus on a trans-continental race in The Gumball Rally (1976), and also Cannonball!, released the same year. The concept then morphed into something quite odious in The Cannonball Run (1981), which begat the even worse Cannonball Run II (1984), which begat the even worse Speedzone! (1989), which was also known as Cannonball Run III...if anyone deserves credit for driving the concept into the ground (pun intended), we can all blame Hal Needham, stuntman turned writer/director, responsible for Cannonball Run and its' dismal sequel, and if that's not enough to turn your stomach, know he's also the one responsible for the cinematic nightmare known as Stroker Ace (1983)...it would take years for Burt Reynolds career to recover from the Needham Effect, finally appearing in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997).

Anyway, Cannonball! (yes, there was originally an exclamation point included in the title, although it seems to have been dropped on the Amazon and by Blue Underground, the company that released this DVD), was co-written by Paul Bartel (Death Race 2000, Eating Raoul) and Don Simpson, who later became the uber-producer for such films as Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Days of Thunder, and The Rock, to name a few. The film stars David Carradine (Kill Bill: Vol. 2), character actor Bill McKinney (he's appeared in many Clint Eastwood films, his largest role as `Redlegs' Terrill in The Outlaw Josey Wales but probably is most known for his scary, Ned Beatty lovin' hillbilly character in Deliverance), and Veronica Hamel (Hill Street Blues), who's much too attractive to be appearing in this film. Also appearing, some so briefly you'll miss them if you blink, are Gerrit Graham (Used Cars), Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds), Belinda Balaski (The Howling), Mary Woronov (Rock 'n' Roll High School), James Keach (Moving Violations), Dick Miller (The Wild Angels), Allan Arkush (Deathsport), Roger Corman, Joe Dante (Gremlins), Martin Scorsese (yes, that Martin Scorsese), and Sylvester Stallone, in an uncredited role as a mafia tough guy....whew....it was kinda fun recognizing the various cameos...

As the film begins, we learn of an illegal, cross-country, anything goes race, starting in California, ending in New York, with the grand prize being 100,000 smackeroonies...David Carradine is Coy 'Cannonball' Buckman, favored racer, out on parole due to a crime he didn't commit but took the rap to save his friend and mechanic Zippo. Coy's shady brother, Benny (Miller), is pushing Coy to participate in the race, providing him with a definitely non-stock Trans-Am, but if Coy does race, he'll violate his parole, and be subject to arrest by Linda (Hamel...man, she is way too pretty to be in this film, much less be stuck with creepy old David Carradine's character), who is not only his parole officer, but also his girlfriend. Also racing is Coy's nemesis (in a nifty, black Charger), the psychotic, beer swilling Cade Redman (McKinney), who's priorities seem to be destroying Coy, and then winning the race, in that order. There are a number of other racers, the snotty German driver Wolfe Messer (Keach), the girls in the shaggin' wagon, driven by Mary Woronov's character (I don't care how `souped up' your boogie van is, you're not going to win a cross country race), and so on, but it's pretty obvious who the race will come down to...or is it? You may be surprised...oh yeah, let's not forget this how thing is illegal, so the authorities are in on it too...

I did enjoy this little trip into vehicular mayhem, but something seemed to be missing. If you've seen director Bartel's previous film, Death Race 2000 (a main aspect of that film being points awarded for hitting pedestrians), you may understand. Cannonball was obviously meant in similar fashion (darkly comedic), but had little of the inspiration of Death Race 2000. The story seemed to switch between different elements (humor, action, melodrama), having difficulty deciding which way to go (I would have preferred the straight up racer type of film filled with dirty trickery, rather than trying to develop the soppy characters as much as they did). I thought Carradine did alright as the `Zen' driver, but it seemed little difference from any of his other roles, all infused with his signature `Zen' aspect. My favorite characters were the extremely insane, and downright nasty, character of Cade Redman, played by McKinney, and the hilarious Euro-trashy German driver played by Stacy Keach. The car sequences were done very well, but nitpicky viewers may notice various irregularities (damage to cars varying from scene to scene, exploding cars with no drivers, etc.). The actors do seem to be having fun, but that didn't always translate to the viewer, probably because of the lackluster direction and/or sloppy story. The film is fun, and should provide some fun for car racing enthusiasts, but ultimately suffers under the weight of not committing itself, which isn't surprising as Bartel's talents lie not in films like this, but in more offbeat, tasteless (no pun intended, and I mean tasteless in the kindest possible sense) ventures like Eating Raoul.

I'm giving three stars for the film, and an extra for the outstanding release from Blue Underground. The anamorphic widescreen picture (1.66:1) is flawless, and features 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Surround 2.0, and original mono sound. Also included is a slew of extras, listed on the Amazon website (where's the subtitles?).

Cookieman108