Full Throttle

I'll say this right up front: Full Throttle is a damn good movie. The only thing is, if you're looking for a roadracing movie where the racing is primary and the plot is secondary, try "Race for Glory" instead. Full Throttle is less about bikes and more about relationships. Namely, the relationship between Jimmy, the street racing king; Annie, Jimmy's long-suffering girlfriend; and new guy David, and up-and-coming racer who befriends Jimmy.

The street-racing scenes are more than decent, but where the movie shines is in the drama department. Kar Lok Chin (Jimmy) looks suitably tortured as he recovers from a debilitating crash, attempts to reconcile with his father, and tries to stop sabotaging his relationship with Annie.

Without the convincing dramatic elements, the movie would not have held up, and while I would have preferred more racing, I found Full Throttle to be a solid piece of work. You can't ask for more than that.

Excellent! I like it better than Saturday Night Fever, Diner, the Outsiders, or any other movie I can think of in that genre. The acting from all of the actors was excellent, except for maybe the girlfriend. I watched it dubbed in Mandarin and the woman who did her voice-over sounded like a Hello Kitty or something. I thought the psychological development of the characters made so much sense. I liked the scene where the camera takes the perspective of a small boy. The performances from the older characters, especially the grandmother's were great. Wow!

Despite similarities to movies like Rocky, this doesn't play out the same way.

9/10