Runaway Car

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

It's a blatant Speed's rip off, low profile similitude, having aforetime a promising star Judge Reinhold as leading character only, this pseudo thriller mixing a comic orientation should be funny, in an utterly farfetched plot over the running car, a round-up of several farcical scenes where they trying deliver a baby into another car in high speed, helicopter lifting the weeping baby, blasting barrier at road, worst drawbridge wrecking in go down process and so for, letting the audience into laughs or despair or even both.

Therefore if us forget those oddities and the natural logic in is fair entertainment indeed, it's fully addressed for less demanding viewers as TV movie offering, the supporting cast is acceptable and deliver what the director Jack Shoulder expected, in other hand intriguingly no one at highway patrol never imagined or figure out a remote possibility to put on the road the those famous splint studded of nails used to stop occasional blockage runners, anyway it just for killing time if that.

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First watch: 1999 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 5.5.

Allegedly based on a true story, Siemaszko is a nurse having second thoughts about her career when she finds herself heading down the freeway with Judge Reinhold (in his most embarrassing screen appearance) and another dude, when her Rambler Hornet decides to drive itself!

Allegedly travelling at 100 MPH (which is more than 170 kph) we are treated to numerous external scenes where it is obvious the car is going no more than 30 or 40 mph. A baby in the besieged compact is winched to safety...something they could have done one hour earlier! The suspense is laughable, the effects worse, and the ending - missing! Why did no-one think to rip out the back seat, crawl into the trunk and puncture the gas tank or pour some water/soft drink into it??

Ultimately, the car crosses a bridge, falls off a road at about 30 mph and the credits roll! No explanation tendered for anything! About the same level as PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE except THAT was a classic movie!

I was bored one night and sat down to watch T.V. and came upon this and I was surprised it was such a good movie. Hey it wasn't the greatest movie but I would watch this a million times over before I watched Dharma and Greg. The movie didn't seem to realistic but hey it was Based On A True Story so no one dreamed this up they just saw it in the newspaper. Great movie if your bored. 5 stars out of 10

This 1997 film-blanc classic tale of smoldering passion has achieved its well-deserved legendary status as one of the screen's greatest sagas of a doomed and hopeless love. The pervasive, ongoing and progressive magnetism between Judge Reinhold and what's-her-name is sure to set many a viewer's heart a-flutter with memories of one's own first crush. The brilliant screenplay dangles this embryonic affair-to-be in front of the enraptured audience, sitting transfixed as the abstract, almost-expressionist cinematography deep-focuses on the just-under-the-surface desires that ebb and flow between the principals. You can cut the sexual tension with a dull tire iron.

A tiny drop of perspiration on the end of a nose catches the bright sunshine, and leaves no doubt as to its significance. Scenes like this abound and bear watching again and again. As with "Jane Eyre" and "Rebecca" (to which this masterpiece is so often compared), the closeups of the actors' faces as they experience the slow dawning of the great love-that-is-not-to-be will haunt you forever.

The now-classic RC soundtrack score, with its creative and unique use of solo synthesizer, emphasizes the emotion that drips throughout like a leaky crankcase.

If I had any criticisms at all by mentioning what I consider a minor flaw (and dared to risk the wrath of the millions of fans who hold this classic so dear to their hearts), I would say that the hallmark of "Runaway Car" - its sense of mounting sexual tension - is briefly broken by the highway scene, which now after repeated viewings seems just a bit overlong (and probably even unnecessary?) to the eternal, bittersweet tale of Love Interrupted.

Dare I advance what I perceive as the tiniest of flaws in this critically-acclaimed triumph of modern cinema? 'Citizen Kane' had its 'Rosebud' . . . 'Runaway Car' should have its catchword as well. Perhaps the film could have opened with an extreme closeup of Judge Reinhold saying something such as "A car is an extension of its owner!", and the rest of the storyline could then be dedicated to parsing every syllable, subtlety and nuance of that phrase. Had that plot line been done, this film could have topped "Titanic" at the Golden Globes that year, I'm convinced.

My one regret? That I didn't read the novel first.