Landspeed

I was actually very surprised by this obviously low budget movie. There isn't a great story, but the characters are interesting, and the ensemble cast reminds me of something Altman would have done in the 70s, or maybe something Alan Rudolph might do. Billy Zane is a little hard to take sometimes, but I found myself liking his smart ass character. While the film is about something serious, and the racing scenes are well done, it does not take itself seriously. It has a light tone that I found refreshing. The script is the weakest link, here, and it seems as though the director and the actors ad-libbed the dialogue (and if they didn't, then I have to credit all involved for being so natural in front of the camera) but the story is a bit on the cliche side. Trust me, it doesn't matter. It's a fun ride, despite some flaws, and there are a couple of people here to keep an eye on. First, the direction is quite good. One would have thought a racing movie would have to be chaotic, like "Fast and the Furious", you know, "MTV style", but this movie feels like old fashioned moviemaking, and it works. Mr. McIntire should be doing bigger movies, and will, I think. Secondly, Scott Wiper, playing the sort-of-dumb pilot is VERY good. He looks to have directed a film, as well, and I will have to check it out.

Biggest complaint is about the crappy DVD. It has NO letterbox, NO extras, nothing. Good little movie, great cast, a lot of fun, and actually pretty intelligently done, too. Rent it.

I was subjected to this movie the other night after being unable to choose the movie that me, my roommate, and my roommate's girlfriend were to watch that night. I have learned never to let my roommate or his girlfriend pick a movie again! The story involves a man trying to break the landspeed record and his past creeps up on him. While there were some fine actors in the movie (Ray Wise being the best in my opinion), Billy Zane looked like the wooded Ken doll he so desperately wants to be. The script felt like it was written for a ten year old and the movie looked like it ran out of money while shooting it. The effects looked so lame. Thank god my roommate's girlfriend likes the Ken doll look on Mr. Zane or I would have pulled this out of the DVD player and used the DVD as a coaster for my can of soda.

Do yourselves a favor: rather rent "Istar." At least it is so bad you can laugh at it's badness.

What an oddly endearing film. Added to my ZipQueue a while ago when I was obsessing over Ray Wise, I was taken by what I expected to be a dull, plodding, lifeless low budget piece of crap action movie (based on the plot and those involved in the production and financing areas), which turned out to be a warm, inviting, odd little humorous adventure with some decent 'action' bits. It's not a great film, its flaws plain to the eye, but it is really quite well-made for something of this sort, and many of the cast members are very charming and fun to watch, especially Zane and Wise. A movie which was probably fun to make and was definitely fun to watch, and something of a little hidden gem in that vast cinematic world, an unexpected surprise. I don't know if this is a full-on recommendation, but if you're looking for something light and fun and not-so-well-known, or if you're a fan of one of the actors, there are worse things to do with your time.

This had so much potential but fell short on many levels.

First...hard to imagine a $50 million dollar prize...if the winner gets that much...how much do the initial investors and organizers make?

Why couldn't anybody afford to put their logo on a car that is going to make part of history? Nobody can throw a sticker on a high powered race car for any sort of sponsorship money? The car was almost 20 feet long, if not longer and nobody had the guts to go to a 7-11 and say to the guys...hey, we got a 2 million dollar car that needs a logo on the side...how much money you got to throw up a sticker so that millions of viewers can see this advertising? Come on...they are in America...land of the conglomerate and corporations. Somebody somewhere wants instantaneous brand recognition...not just the oil refineries.

One very very important note...during a highly televised event, there were barely any spectators, no vendors, barely any news-crews or journalists. NOBODY cheered...

I've seen street-fights with more crowd participation and turnout.

What was supposed to be the buildup of such an extravagant event in history was dismissed as if it was just 2 dudes with a Mustang and a Camaro street racing in an empty shopping mall parking lot.

While it had action....there was nothing to sustain it, to make it seem real. If there was a crowd, and groupies and hot models wearing swimsuits with beer banners sewn across the mid-waist, then it would be a kick ass event. There were no t-shirt vendors, or food, souvenir or camera tents. Nothing that makes this seem like a spectator sport.

There is no pull for the viewer to root for any nation in-particular or for a driver.

There is no sneakiness or regret, anger or hostility that real drivers or athletes in competition face.

A montage to signify the building of the cars, the pit crew making adjustments to the motor...you got to have a montage...even Rocky had a montage...always fade out on a montage.

So...here it is, a bigger budget, a more well known cast, some reworking of the script, more extras for fill in, accommodating theme music, fast cuts and cameras placed at the base of the car while it was in motion would bring this to an edge of your seat race flick with a hotshot driver and a hotshot car to boot.

And then the time-line when this all happens...there is nothing to signify how long preparation takes from the opening scenes to the finale...which needed dire improvement. Was it 1 week? 1 month? Not truly terrible by any means, but when you view it...and you will, you will realize that it has so much more potential.

Maybe a bigger budget would have worked it good...and yes, another name aside of Billy Zane wouldn't hurt either, but the actual buildup was a letdown, which is so common in many films produced and/or distributed by the companies that are associated with this film.

They build it up, only to let something fizzle and dissolve into a disappointment which leaves the viewer-(us)feeling empty.

Sometimes it's the music - something that is supposed to be so intense on screen is often devalued because there is no background music score to heighten and elevate the scene or dialog or action. Tension in a race car is evident and a definite. It's SUPPOSED to be a challenge, not a Sunday stroll in the countryside.

Sometimes it's the lack of use of close-ups or fast cuts...but whatever it is, in Landspeed...where it's all about action and speed, it leaves the scenes empty and desolate.

So even if they broke Mach 5, big flicking deal. There is nothing to make us grip our seats and say..."wow...that was so cool" or "holy shot, what a move" So when you rent or buy, steal or borrow this movie...you have to imagine more than what you see from the screen, put the two together, drink some alcohol and maybe smoke some weed too...then you will enjoy this more than being straight, sober and the time that passes you by will seem well worth it.

When making an action film-NEVER NEVER NEVER skimp on the action or the budget...they go hand in hand. Not necessarily meaning lots of fire and explosions, but something that keeps the ACTION alive to be called ACTION.

The movie had elements I like to see.

Realism - (if a car was to travel at mach two, the movie portyed it in a very real way unlike fast and furious which had guys drag racing thru a city over a 100 mph for 5 minutes.)

Comradery - They portryed relationships between friends and competitors in racing circles in a very positive and real way.

Other than some more lessons for the writers and a boost in the budget, the movie was better than I had expected.

Mike