Street racer Rick Bowman (Richard Davalos) wins when the other car crashes into a house. The other car is owned by Grant Willard (Brian Donlevy) and he has a proposition. After bailing Rick out of jail, Grant recruits him for a figure 8 race track. Grant's other driver is the arrogant champ Hawk Sidney (Sid Haig). Rick has romantic entanglement with Hawk's girlfriend Jolene. Later, he sets his sight on racing chap Ed McCleod whose wife Ellen McCleod (Ellen Burstyn) is his top mechanic.
I can watch the car crashes all day. Those racing clips are pure fun. There are some great real action mixed in with the standard rear projection. The lead Richard Davalos is not the most energetic. He does have the leading man looks or else the much more powerful Sid Haig is the more compelling. Anyways, Sid is perfect as the strutting baddie. It's Donlevy's last film and features a thirtysomething Ellen Burstyn who is still working under the name Ellen McRae. As much as I like me some Ellen Burstyn, I don't see the McCleods as necessary. Rick already has a love triangle. His rivalry with Hawk is already set up. Adding more characters in the middle seems to be beside the point. The fact that Ed is so bland isn't doing much. The story is fine. The acting is fine. There are a couple of familiar faces which is intriguing. The best part of this movie is the car action or more precisely the car crashes.
I can watch the car crashes all day. Those racing clips are pure fun. There are some great real action mixed in with the standard rear projection. The lead Richard Davalos is not the most energetic. He does have the leading man looks or else the much more powerful Sid Haig is the more compelling. Anyways, Sid is perfect as the strutting baddie. It's Donlevy's last film and features a thirtysomething Ellen Burstyn who is still working under the name Ellen McRae. As much as I like me some Ellen Burstyn, I don't see the McCleods as necessary. Rick already has a love triangle. His rivalry with Hawk is already set up. Adding more characters in the middle seems to be beside the point. The fact that Ed is so bland isn't doing much. The story is fine. The acting is fine. There are a couple of familiar faces which is intriguing. The best part of this movie is the car action or more precisely the car crashes.