Running on Empty (1982)

Rebel: [sitting in the garage with Mike's trashed Falcon] Gimme a go, Mike... let me fix your car for you.
Mike: [knowing he can't afford to pay Rebel] Mmm, couldn't do that, mate.
Rebel: No, I mean really fix it... make her fly! She's a 351, right? I've got some nitrous oxide injection 'round that's a sweet sensation.

There is something neat about seeing an Aussie movie with Aussie cars shot in Aussie locations.  Not just do we see some of the great cars but we get an idea of what certain places looked like at the time and also that good ol Aussie know how in putting together a car flick.  We have a film that was shot around various parts of South Sydney (near Brighton Le-Sands and Cronulla, Kurnell, Homebush, near Kemps Creek, out west near Cobar along with a few other places) and we have a neat GTHO Phase III thrown into the mix which makes up for the “ok” acting and script.  Start those engines!

The street scene can be a tough one.  Fox (Richard Moir), who owns a supped up Dodge, likes to keep a look out for cars he can beat and he has a red GTHO Phase III, owned by Mike (Terry Serio), in his sights.  Whilst Mike and girlfriend Julie (Deborah Conway) are out together Fox arranges for his girlfriend to be taken knowing that Mike will chase after him.  When Mike catches up he is cornered into a best out of three race with Fox.  After the first race Mike, Julie and best friend Tony (Vangelis Mourikis) head out to the country to earn some bucks racing some country folk where they meet up with blind petrol station owner Rebel (Max Cullen) and form a friendship.  They then return back to Sydney to race Fox a second time with the intention to squash Fox once and for all.

I will be honest and say that this isn’t the best movie in terms of acting.  It is similar in a way to the 1974 Gone in 60 Seconds which is not watched for its fantastic script and acting performances but rather for the cars and this is the case for Running on Empty.  There are some great throaty V8’s roaring and burnouts that get the adrenalin in a keen car fan pumping through the veins.  That’s what this movie is all about.  There are a few scenes of nudity which are simply not needed and in my opinion shouldn’t be in the film, and swearing is also present so it’s not exactly young family safe.

We don’t have fake racing, our crashes are often spectacular and as per above, we can get some real tyre smoke happening. But after all that, is it worth seeing?  The movie is a classic when it comes to the car action but sadly not much else.  It’s an ok story with average acting but from that point of view it’s not really worth writing home about.  The recommendation however comes in the form of cars and the locations which may inspire some reminiscing to viewers who lived in the areas filmed.

The DVD reviewed should still be available in a movie only form with no extras.  The image is quite good, though not highly detailed which could be due to a lower resolution transfer to this single layered DVD.  The image is in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound but as is often the case with these older movies, don’t expect too much surround use.

Overall it’s a classic Australian movie from a car action point of view.  If you like some car action, check it out otherwise give it a miss.  For me I really enjoyed the cars, racing and locations so it was worth the ten bucks for the DVD.  Beware though of the few scenes of nudity.

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