The Gumball Rally
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Movie Reviews of The Gumball Rally
Movie Review: Gumball Rally
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie should be a classic if it already isn't. Very funny.Movie Review: "To internal combustion and wind in the face."
Summary: 4 Stars
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...
Movie Review: Great Movie for Gearheads
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm not a wannabe movie critic, just a guy who grew up enjoying cars like the ones featured in this film. I'll leave the drama critiques to the others, if you're a gearhead here's the important stuff:
This film captures cars that are now rare classics, back when they were nothing more than late model used cars (though desireable ones).
Without any of the amateur special effects of the era, or the modern computer generated "action sequences", it shows in real time and at real speeds what these great cars were capable of. The stunt drivers rode these cars hard and put'em away wet....
Details:
-Shelby American AC427 Cobra, most likely a '67. Running flat-out against a Daytona in the Los Angeles River Basin.
-A gorgeous Ferrari 365 GT "Daytona". Ferrari guys were putting these cars on blocks even back then, so to see one run like this one is super rare. (Miami Vice's Daytona was actually a fiberglass body kit fitted on a Corvette chassis)
-A built to the hill gen 2 Camaro driven by Gary Busey. Peeing in a beer bottle at 80mph on a winding road, "must see" stuff.
-A Jag XKE, some funny cracks about British cars.
-A big block gen 3 "bumper car" Vette convertible.
-A 300 Series Mercedes, driven by two old WASPS from Fairfield County Connecticut.
-A 911 Porsche with 2 hot seat covers.
-A Kawasaki Mach 3, remember this hot bike? (900cc Triple TWO STROKE)
-A gen 2 Chevy Van, modified for nonstop travel.
-An early 70's Mopar fake Police Cruiser
-A Rolls Sedan and a T-Bucket Ford don't really race but are neat cars in the movie.
Enjoy!
Movie Review: The original crosscountry race film
Summary: 4 Stars
Gumball Rally was the original crosscountry race film. After Burt Reynolds saw this film, he had Cannonball Run made.
Michael Sarrazin is the owner of a major candy company. For fun he has an annual car rally from NYC to Long Beach (of course growing up in So Cal, they would arrive from Orange County not Santa Monica but that's just splitting hairs).
There is an assortment of drivers each with their own car (a ferrari, jaguar, kawasaki, etc.). Of course, there is the inept police officer who tries to stop them but never can catch them.
The difference between this an the imitations is Gumbally Rally was done for the fun of it. I would definitely buy this one over the other.
There are no DVD extras on this one but the its funny to see many up and comers in small or bit rolls from Raul Julia as the Italian racer to Don Johnson with one line as an upset motorist.
Suitable viewing for preteens and above.
Movie Review: DVD in mono
Summary: 4 Stars
Anyone who's stumbled into here probably already knows this is the best rally movie ever made. That's why it gets 4 stars, because it's a good movie.
The DVD video quality is good, but the colours are not as saturated as a new movie would be.
The DVD audio is mono - center front channel only. That's a bit of a shame because I was hoping to exercise my subwoofer with the throaty startup of the engines, and the stereo speakers with the left to right panning of the roar of the cars as they went past. No such luck. C'est la vie. The trailer is in stereo.