Heißer Asphalt

A group of hijackers are harassing truckers. Iron Duke (Jerry Reed), and Pickup (Helen Shaver) are two of the independents worried about the situation as well as being pressured to sell by the ruthless trucking boss King Carroll. Visiting stunt driver Rane (Peter Fonda) is riding shotgun with his friend Duke when they are attacked.

This is a Canadian action exploitation B-movie. The plot is pretty simple elevated by solid actors. Its action is reminiscent of gonzo Australian B-movies. There is a good amount of destruction. Camera work is not that imaginative but effective enough for the era. At various points, it takes its sweet time which is unhelpful in an action thriller. Overall, it's not aiming that high and it mostly its target.

Not much to see here. A couple guys swashbuckling with big Ken-Tool tire irons. At least this is a movie that accepts the existence of snow. Jerry Reed plays "the Iron Duke," a trucker who wants to make a few more runs and then stay at home. Peter Fonda perhaps should have played a trucker and not brought the biker element into this movie. After the chase with the racecar-laden auto transporter there isn't much to see. One memorable scene is Duke's poignant attempt to defend himself with nothing but a tire knocker. If you like trucker movies, it's your duty to watch High-Ballin' at least once, though. Isn't driving a truck in Canada exciting enough without a typical far-fetched plot? I guess the ultimate truck driving movie would have no plot at all and would be just one big roadeo.

If you think you might be getting into a jovial SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT type film thanks to HIGH-BALLIN's ad art, think again. What the film delivers is a dark, moody piece set in snowy Canada that doesn't seem to know what direction it exactly wants to go in. Reed plays Duke, an independent trucker who just happens to be next on the list of a bunch of local truck hijackers. Fonda is Rane, an old trucking buddy come to visit for a spell and ends up helping Duke take on the hijackers. Is it supposed to be a comedy? Well, there are some funny moments. Hard ass action flick? Well, there are some cool stunts. Romantic drama? Well, yeah, there are some tender moments. For some reason though, there is that aforementioned dark tone that somehow squeezes out any ounce of humanity and replaces it with an ominous aura that lays itself out on the characters and the landscape. Maybe it's 1970's Canada, as I got the same feeling watching Cronenberg's FAST COMPANY. It may sound as if I don't like this film but I do. It's different and odd, especially for it's genre. Definitely worth a look.

The main reason why I saw HIGH-BALLIN' is because it's one of Michael Ironside's first movies tho he appeared as an extra that if you blink you miss him. As for the rest it was a bit mediocre and could have been better considering its cast.

The Iron Duke is an independent trucker that stands up to the local truck boss King Carroll that tries everything to make truckers go out of business. Rane (Peter Fonda) comes for a visit and ends up helping Duke. Rane and Pickup have the idea of truck loading lot of illegal liquor to a lumber camp with the hope of making other truckers resist.

It doesn't go smooth as gang leader Harvey kidnaps Pickup and shoots Duke when he tries to resist. When Rane notices Harvey fleeing, he reaches him with his motorcycle and have a brawl until he manages to shoot him. Before fleeing on Harvey's truck he manages to save Pickup and take her with him.

As I said in the summary, a plot like this works better on those shows (on which Ironside would guest star two decades later, 2 episodes of the first one and 4 of the second) probably because the episodes last 45 minutes give or take while here it lasts 1 hour and 40 minutes so for the most time there is filler that is mostly boring. The actors, mostly unknowns except Fonda and Helen Shaver, did what the material and director required.

Overall, one of those movies with the plot reminiscent also remotely of a western (with trucks and truckers instead of horses and land owners) that is perfect for killing an hour and 40 minutes but not much more.

Having spawned an entire exploitation subgenera of outlaw biker films with his excellent "Easy Rider," could Peter Fonda do the same for movies about eighteen wheels of justice? "High-Ballin'" actually beat "Convoy" by one month on it's release date for being the first movie action movie about truckers (although "Smokey and the Bandit" came out the year before), but it's a pretty silly inconsequential hixploitation flick, and Jerry Reed is really the main character here. Reed and Fonda have to fight off a bunch of trucker thugs hired by a local crime boss who wants to put independent truckers like them out of business. Helen Shaver and Michael Ironside, in his first named-character role (he plays Butch), also appear in the film. Overall, I enjoyed this dumb movie and so will others if you're a fan fo hixploitation/rednexploitation type of films (think good ol' boys fighting one another ALA "Gator" or "Walking Tall"), even if it's pretty routine and nothing all that memorable. "Smokey," "Convoy," and "White Line Fever" are all still better trucker films, but I was entertained by "High-Ballin'."