Road Games (1981)

Patrick 'Pat' Quid: I know you're looking for a little adventure.
Pamela 'Hitch' Rushworth: I could go to Disneyland for a little adventure. What I'm looking for is a little excitement.

I will start out and say that this is not to be confused or compared with the 2015 film of the same name.  Ok that’s out of the way.

Hitchcock, one of the most well-known directors, influenced quite a few people not just overseas, but also here in Australia.  The Australian Director Richard Franklin and writer Everett De Roche got inspired to bring the film in review to life after reading the script for Hitchcock’s 1954 hit Rear Window, but instead of being set in a block of units, this one would be from a truckers point of view, from a vehicle and it is quite an effective angle.  Sure it’s not as good as Rear Window, but it is a solid Aussie film that has a Hitchcock feel to it.

The film takes place between Melbourne and Perth along the desolate sections of the Nullabor Plain which is a perfect setting for this type of mystery thriller film as there are no large populated areas along it which just enforces the idea of isolation.  Pat Quid (Stacy Keech) is a truck driver currently in Melbourne who is required to deliver a load of butchered pigs to Perth.  As the drive is long he keeps himself awake and amused by maintaining a conversation with his dog and himself, often in a theatrical way.  During this time there is a killer who preys upon hitchhikers who just so happens to be on a similar route to Quid.  Quid picks up hitchhiker Pamela “Hitch” Rushworth (Jamie Lee Curtis) and together they start playing with the idea of catching this murderer seeing he appears to be on the same route, but as with all games there is a winner and loser.  

I really enjoyed the film and there were moments where there was some nail biting suspense, in a typical Hitchcock manner.  You don’t always see things which supposed to provide suspense but rather it’s in the hearing, lighting and acting that provide the suspense as opposed to seeing someone killed in front of you.  There isn’t really any gore and we have minimal swearing and one scene of concealed nudity (you don’t see anything as the actress is behind a guitar) which is a nice change from other Aussie films of this era where, sadly, it almost seemed like a mandatory addition to a film.  There are some good driving stunts in the film as well which do not overpower the believable story.

To get some publicity, it was decided to bring in American actors as the two leads which was not completely unusual for the time and no doubt contributes to it being the most expensive Australian film to be made at the time ($1.8 million).  It was filmed literally along the Nullabor so as the movie progresses so does the filming locations, though from what I understand the final scene was filmed in Melbourne, not Perth.  Stacy Keech had to learn how to drive a 16 speed truck in order to pull off a convincing job and he does quite well in the film.  Jamie Lee Curtis starred in several horror films prior to this so there was the idea that Road Games was more of a slasher film even though it wasn’t so it didn’t do too well at the American box office most likely because of that.  It also didn’t do too good in Australia at the time but has since grown in popularity and holds up quite well to this day both in terms of filmmaking and acting.  

Though I own the DVD version of the film, I jumped for the Bluray especially upon hearing it was going to be given the 4k restoration treatment.  Is there a difference between the old Umbrella DVD release and the Bluray?  Yes, a massive difference.

This is from the DVD…

And the Bluray…

Not just is the new scan giving us more of the image both top and bottom but more information is revealed on both the left and right.  The increase in resolution, contrast and colour is also striking and is only amplified with today’s larger screens. The image is a bit darker than the DVD but that also suits the modern TV better with its ability to handle greater dynamic range.  The image is shown in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and as indicated above, is superior to the old DVD edition which is now out of print.  The new DVD will also be somewhat better than the old DVD but naturally not as good as the Bluray.  What is a little disappointing is the choice of audio which only comes to us in two flavours but both in a lossy format and not the uncompressed format that is standard with Bluray.  We have a new Dolby Digital 5.1 (448kbs) and the original mono (224kbs) soundtrack to choose from.  Perhaps they thought it would not give too much improvement, however leaving that choice up to the consumer would have been a better move.  Nevertheless, the audio comes across quite good.

The Bluray also contains the following wealth of extras:

• Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Richard Franklin
• Kangaroo Hitchcock: The Making of “Road Games” featurette
• Uncut Not Quite Hollywood interviews with Jamie Lee Curtis, Stacy Keech, Grant Page, Richard Franklin, Everett De Roche, Vincent Monton and Tom Burstall
• Never before seen 1980 lecture on the Making of Road Games from Richard Franklin, Co-Producer Barbi Taylor & Composer Brian May
• 1981 Interview with Richard Franklin
• 2001 Audio Interview with Richard Franklin
• Exclusive New Audio Interview with Stacy Keech
• Exclusive New Audio Interview with Stunt Co-ordinator & Actor Grant Page
• 4K Scan & Restoration featurette by Roar Digital & Interview with Cinematographer Vincent Monton
• Exclusive Essay by Fangoria writer Lee Gambin
• Gallery of Stills, Production Shots, Storyboards, Newspaper Reviews, Promotional & Artwork Materials
• HD Theatrical Trailer

Overall, Road Games is a classic Australian thriller with a Hitchcock flavour that really deserves more attention than it has received.  It stands up well against today’s movies despite the limited budget (comparably) and camera equipment used.  It is acted well and has some great moments of suspense and we also have the great Aussie outback as a setting.  If you like a good thriller or enjoy Hitchcock films, then this comes highly recommended.  Check it out!

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Gun Crazy (1950) [aka Deadly is the Female]

Annie Laurie Starr:  Let's go for a walk on the beach.
Bart:  I just read an article about funerals.

Whilst it’s not a Genre as such, I have really been enjoying Noir films lately.  The quick, witty and sometime odd dialogue along with the style of filming is really appealing, or at least a nice change from the films of today where special effects/CGI is often more important than acting or storyline.  Films that fit the “Noir” flavour were mostly made during the 40’s and 50’s and some attempts have been made to make them in latter days (such as The Long Goodbye, Blade Runner, Chinatown and L.A. Confidential) with more modern themes but trying to retain that Film Noir feel minus the Black & White (apart from the Coen brother’s The Man Who Wasn’t There from 2002).  Anyway, in some of my browsing I stumbled across this older film called “Gun Crazy” which from the title sounds like a silly movie but it did inspire a remake with Drew Barrymore in the 90’s (I haven’t seen that one) so I thought ‘surely it can’t be all that bad’.  There is also a book specifically written about the movie and the behind the scenes stuff which adds to thought that it must be reasonably good to warrant a book about its making.  Sure it has good reviews but sometimes you can’t always rely on that (the recent movies Snowpiercer and Lucy are proof of that….for me anyway!).  

Without giving the story away, the film is about two crack-shot shooters who end up falling in love.   Annie (Peggy Cummins) convinces Bart (John Dall) that they should go on a robbing spree across the country (hence the alternate title – Deadly is the Female).  They take it a bit too far and one person ends up getting killed during one of the robberies and the police then conduct a major hunt for the pair.

It’s similar in a way to the 1967 release of Bonnie and Clyde but about 17 years older.  When it came out it didn’t gain much attention however over time it has become a highly respected classic, and rightfully so.  The chemistry between the two lead roles is fantastic and natural and this reveals itself when you find out that the Bank robbery that takes place (we only see outside the bank) was done in one take where they drive to the scene, improvised their lines, do the robbery and getaway.   The film is brilliantly filmed to keep up the suspense of the chase and I recall one scene where Annie is driving the car in a getaway and is being told by Bart to go faster and you can almost feel her frustration when she can’t get it to go any faster.  The final scene is also simply brilliant with its use of fog and natural surroundings (sorry, no spoilers here!).  The two lead roles do all their own driving in the film (except one scene) which also adds to its authentic feel.

This was initially a B movie with a style of shooting that was new for its day (in particular the robbery scene) which gave the movie a fresh feel and look.  As with many of the “B” movies, the directors had more freedom to experiment with new techniques and they often had to cut down on expensive lighting which also paved the way for the Film Noir we know today with its shadowy look.

The Bluray reviewed here was imported from Spain via www.amazon.com.   The image quality is generally very good, clean and sharp whilst retaining the nice film grain.  What I did notice (I checked on three different players) was that the video image was not completely smooth.  The image would be smooth than jump/skip a frame or two without affecting the sound.  As this is a made on demand (MOD) Bluray as opposed to a pressed disc (like every other bluray available here) I would assume there is a slight issue with the encoding.  The Spanish edition of the Bluray uses  a DTS HD Logo on the rear of the cover however its only Dolby Digital 2 channel at a very slim 192kbps in English and Spanish.  It is an authentic release and is still available at a price which is much much lower than the Warner Bros DVD (see below).  Those points aside the Bluray looks brilliant but there are no extra’s on the Bluray.

The Warner DVD (cover on the left above) is also available however only in the fantastic 5 film boxset “Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 1” (cover shown above on the right).  The boxset has since sold out and is only available second hand, however the DVD in question has a great transfer fo the film though naturally not as sharp but has no encoding issue.  The DVD also has an audio commentary by film noir specialist Glenn Erickson which is a great bonus.

This film comes very highly recommended particularly if you’re interested in Noir film or simply movies from that era.  Either way this is a film that’s certainly worth seeing, it’s just a shame that it doesn’t have a wider release on DVD/Bluray.  The Bluray disc has only been rated 2.5 out of 5 due to no extras and the skipping issue, but the movie and image quality (minus what appears to be an encoding issue) gets 5 out of 5.

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Mars Attacks (1996)

[Watching an alien on TV]
First Lady: [after seeing the Martians for the first time] I'm not allowing that thing in my house.
President Dale: Sweetie, we may have to. The people expect me to meet with them.
First Lady: Well they're not going to eat off the Van Buren china.

The 50’s gave us the real introduction to sci-fi films containing aliens and space travel and being a new genre they were granted B status and therefore (just like film noir) had low budgets and often poor visual effects but some of them grew to cult status and have a high rating even today.  Films such as It came from Outer Space (1953), Invaders from Mars (1953), The War of the Worlds (1953), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956) all deal with alien invasion of some sort and Mars Attacks! is a spoof and homage of them all, perhaps Earth vs the Flying Saucers in particular.

Tim Burton, who directed the film, initially wanted stop animation for the aliens but was eventually convinced on CGI courtesy of ILM (Industrial Light & Magic).  The aliens in the film look like a modernised version of those from Invasion of the Saucermen (1957) and the saucers look and act like the ones from Earth vs the Flying Saucers.  

The film has a host of big names being Jack Nicholson (playing two roles, the President James Dale and Art Land), Glenn Close (First Lady Marsha Dale), Annette Bening, Pierce Bronson, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Rod Steiger, Tom Jones, Natalie Portman and Jack Black.  

Without ruining the experience for anyone, the movie is basically about aliens coming to earth with the intention to take possession.  They like what they see and they want it!  The United States welcomes them, thinking that because of their big brains, they must be peaceful but it becomes clear that it is not their intention.  The movies from the 50’s were quite serious in nature but I assure you this is NOT the case with Mars Attacks! as can be seen by…well almost everything in and about the movie.  How the aliens talk, the machinery used by the military (uniforms and vehicles are 50’s style), what the character’s say, how they say it etc just screams an odd yet memorable comedy.  The opening scene in the movie will have you laughing and the way the humans defeat the aliens is downright funny as well.  Sadly, all this does not guarantee a great movie but it is entertaining and you will likely never watch a 50’s sci-fi again without having a flashback of this film with a giggle.  It has its ups and downs but if you go in with no expectation and just laze back to enjoy the show, you will enjoy it.  

The Bluray reviewed was imported from the UK and has a great image in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio with quite a powerful DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 sound.  You can get the DVD from Australia (there is no Bluray in Australia) but it would have cost me about the same price but with a drop in image quality.  There are no extras on the Bluray.  This really begs to have a special edition with a great doco on 50’s sci-fi and how they made this film as a homage and spoof.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie as a 50’s sci-fi spoof and alien invasion comedy.  There are some really funny scenes that just shows the film makers just wanted to have a blast making it.  As long as you don’t expect a deep quality story, it will give you more than a few laughs.   Personally, I’m glad I bought it because it just goes along with the 50’s sci-fi that I enjoy but with a comic angle.  But I would recommend hiring it out first to see if you like before spending the $$.

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