Deadly Speed - Todesrennen auf dem Highway

This film was great.

The plot was preposterous.

The action sequences contrived.

But, provided you can lighten up enough to laugh, it was a throughly thrilling romp combining Keystone Cops and the Lone Ranger.

The baddies were more silly than bad. The good guys weren't too good. The black actors played normal characters rather than black stereotypes.

The inclusion of a baby added a good touch. Sympathy might have been a little difficult otherwise.

I have to disagree about the acting. It was, on the whole, very good. I really wanted to punch Judge Reinhold.

And, after all, isn't that the mark of a really good movie, wanting to punch Judge Reinhold?

Some may consider Runaway Car to be cheap exploitation--a Speed-ripoff in the high-occupancy lane. But this made-for-T-V thriller starring Judge Reinhold and Nina Siemazsko is so much more. Yeah, it's about a car that can't stop. But, Runaway Car is a wake-up call, a nightmarish fantasy about the total breakdown of the service industry. Siemazsko is Jenny, a nurse-in-training who nearly causes a botched operation. Upset, she picks up her car from the shop, where a desperate Reinhold finds out his car won't be ready for another week. He's got an important meeting with venture capitalists interested in his website idea. Jenny volunteers to give him a lift, but first they must pick up her sister's infant daughter. Baby makes three, and they're off. But before they can get out of the subdivision, they nearly run over wisecracking skateboarder Dex (Brian Hooks). He's hurt his knee, so Jenny offers to take Dex to the emergency room over the objections and grumbling of Ed. When they hit the freeway, the gas pedal gets stuck to the floor. When they try to pull it up, it breaks off, as does the key in the ignition. Soon the car is barreling down the freeway out of control. A good-hearted cop (single-named actor Leon) rides by their side trying to help, but much of the force would just as soon `take them out' as let them cause a pile-up. Also offering support is a police dispatcher who's (you guessed it) one day from retirement and a couple of talk-radio jocks. But they can do little for this disaster on wheels. Can they find a way to stop the car before it plummets off a raised drawbridge? Can a traffic helicopter lift the baby to safety? Did that cop really say, `It's not just a drawbridge-it's the end of the line'? This being on FOX, the answer is, of course, yes. The real moral of this story-know your mechanic.

What a movie. From the stereotyped characters to the baby the helicopter and the bridge, this movie is cliche ridden in the extreme. Yet it is compelling because of that. And it has Judge Rienhold in it. This is a must see with a few cans, a few mates, and money riding on what is going to happen next. The only thing I want to know is who did the M.O.T on that car

Yes it's a badly-made movie. The acting and script are poor, and it has got the worst continuity error I've ever witnessed - watch the car hood. The black character is from some lousy Starsky episode. I first saw the movie on tv late-night. I wanted to get to bed but ended up watching it all the way through. When I saw it again I taped it and showed it to my 8-year old daughter. She came out of the room shaking and crying as a result of the baby-jeopardy-helicopter moment. (The only movie moment I can ever remember producing this effect in her). The damn thing's enjoyable. I find this with other "bad" movies. Somehow, the effect of knowing it's cheap and has no big stars can lead to a more relaxed honest enjoyment. As someone else said, watch it with a few cans.

This movie got nothing going for it. When I say nothing I mean NOTHING. How can people think up such crap and pass it off as a movie. There is not an ounce of realism in the plot and to top it off the acting is below par in fact way below par. It still baffles me why did the police just use a "stinger" to stop the car like they do on countless times to stop bad guys (in real life). If only the makers did include that into this movie, we would have been saved from facing such trash. I would give this flick a 1/100 rating.