Fast Company

A sentence with the words "David Cronenberg" and "car racing movie" isn't exactly something you hear every day, but yes, Cronenberg did in fact make one in the late 70s in between his horror classics 'Rabid' and 'The Brood'. Very few people outside of Canada have seen 'Fast Company', and as Cronenberg is my favourite contemporary director I've been intrigued about it for years. Now that Blue Underground have released a restored version on DVD we can all finally get to see it. Now I'd love to be able to say that's it's some kind of lost masterpiece and essential viewing for Cronenberg buffs, but to be honest it's just an enjoyable b-grade racing movie, the kind of flick AIP would have released without a blink of an eye. I seriously doubt that anyone who watched it not knowing who directed it would be able to guess that Cronenberg was involved. He himself regards it as an important movie in his career, as it was another step in his learning how to make "real" movies, and because he also met several key future collaborators. That historical interest aside it's by far the most "normal" and therefore least interesting movie he's made to date. The movie is helped immeasurably by having b-grade legends William Smith ('Run, Angel, Run', 'Invasion Of The Bee Girls', 'Boss N*gger', 'The Ultimate Warrior') and John Saxon ('Planet Of Blood', 'Enter The Dragon', 'Black Christmas', 'Cannibal Apocalypse') as leads. Smith plays Lonnie Johnson a racer under pressure from his sponsors, who are represented by the back stabbing Saxon. The two work well together and by the looks of the short interview included on the DVD seem like great buddies. The late Claudia Jennings (her final role) plays Smith's love interest Sammy, and Nicholas Campbell, who subsequently acted in Cronenberg's 'The Brood', 'The Dead Zone' and 'Naked Lunch', plays his cocky protege Billy "The Kid" Brocker. The main problem with the movie apart from the awful sub-Springsteen "rawk" score, is a dull script. With a bit more work the movie really could have been something special , but as it stands 'Fast Company' is little more than an interesting curio for fans of Cronenberg and/or 70s exploitation movies.

Fast Company (1979) is an interesting film by David Cronenberg. He took a departure from his clinical horror films and made a quasi mainstream film dealing with hot rods and the sleazy sideshow aspect of them. Unlike most films of this genre, Cronenberg takes a look at the shady business that the promoters of the drivers do to try a make a buck whenever they can. Most times at the expense of the driver's safety and welfare. I wasn't expecting much from this movie but I was quite surprised at the results. All-American tough guy William Smith plays the lead whilst John Saxon co-stars as his shady promoter/ manager.

In the hands of any other director, this movie wouldn't have been that watchable. But Cronenberg works with what he has and creates a visually appealing movie. The inside shots of the driver was very well done. In some scenes the driver looks as if he's part of the machine! The camera catches the action and you can feel yourself being dragged along at 200 plus miles an hour. The film follows these drivers as the go from one small town to another performing in front of small crowds. This movie neither glamorizes or denegrate the "sport". It just documents it.

Like I said in the beginning, I wasn't expecting much (maybe because this movie wasn't widely released if at all in the U.S.A.) but I was surprisingly pleased with the end results. I would have to recommend this film for Cronenberg and William Smith fans.

B+

When I go to see a movie, I try not to tear it apart and deduce what "hidden messages" may or may not be in it. This movie is plainly and simply an excellent movie about a drag racing team and the wrongs dealt them from their sponsor's track rep, and the interesting way they get even with him. The script and dialogue are the most accurate portrayal of the sport that I have seen yet...the producer/writers obviously knew their stuff and have actually *been* to a dragstrip, not merely "speculated" about one.

Highly recommend this movie as one of the "must see"'s for those who are a fan of the sport, or who are even curious to get a taste for it. (This coming from a gal who "grew up on the track".)

AN AWESOME MUSEUM PIECE OF 70'S DRAG RACING "B" DRIVE-IN MOVIE HISTORY!

As other reviewers have said, this is not Cronenberg's best movie, but you need to understand even though it came out in 1979, it was shot way before that, and was one of his first movies of this commercial nature, actually his first movie with a budget of over a million dollars. So? So lighten up a bit, and look at what is there, not what lacking!

Yes, I agree with the blackxmas review above, but beg you all to view this as a "moment in time", in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Spokane, Washington, USA. You have to, otherwise it won't stand up to criticism using current movie criteria. In other words, do not buy this movie if you want an intriguing plot and award-winning acting! LOL But if you know a person who went to these two drag strips back in the 70s, make their day with this one!

I am not going to add any more film criticism here, but wanted to make the point that it is rare movie because of the age of this famous film maker, because few VHS copies were ever released and because it is a Northern-made drive in movie made by a young Canadian film maker. Yes, Canadian. LOL And, oh yes---- a certain November 1969 Playboy model named Claudia Jennings was featured in this movie, and tragically, and perhaps ironically, lost her life in a car accident shortly after. So, yes, I think Fatss Company is a collector's movie.

**Canada had just started offering incentives to U.S. film makers to come up north, so David was in the right place at the right time. A long string of very famous movies have been shot here in Alberta, and Brad Pitt is getting ready to star in a movie about Jesse James--right here--- as I am typing this.

One last thing: If you look VERY carefully in the stands near the crash scene, you may be able to see me in my Mopar ball cap----yes, I was there. Hey Honey--we're out of popcorn! See you at the movies!

Lonnie "Lucky Man" Johnson is an veteran drag racer and head honcho of his race team that's sponsored by FastCo Oil. Their business man Phil Adamson thinks only of the sponsorships than winning and when Lonnie's hotrod explodes Phil isn't too happy. Seeing that Lonnie is the one who draws the crowds, Phil gets Lonnie to take over Bill "The Kid" Broker's car, which doesn't go down to well with Bill. Their rival team led by Gary " The Blacksmith" Black would like the chance to beat Lonnie and things do heat up when Adamson decides he wants to make some changes.

When you think of the name David Cronenberg, does drag racing come straight to mind? Most definitely not, but on this occasion he has churned out a rather normal, exploitation flick on the sport. You don't always associated the word normal to his name, but even though its an entertaining piece, it's really nothing much out of the ordinary. That's probably the best reason why it flies under radar, well it won't escape the fans' of the director's work, though. Cronenberg's excursion into "Fast Company" is pretty much a low-budgeted film that's marketed for a more mainstream audience. I didn't really know about this film that pretty much came out of the blue when I found out it was directed by Cronenberg. So I've been itching to get my hands on it and I gladly came across the 2 disc special edition release at my local library. I'm no revhead fan, but I couldn't help but get drawn into the thick of the action thanks largely to Mark Irwin's cinematography. I actually didn't mind this little picture, but you still call it a rather a hot and cold detour. The film looked great with it's semi-documentary style, where there were a lot of creative angel shots that caught the action superbly and the beautiful Canadian landscape that fills the frame also leaves a mark in your mind. Cronenberg manages to stage the set-pieces involving the dragsters quite well, as you watch some burning rubber along with the crowd. It's just like the real deal! But when it wasn't focusing on the racing it becomes the usual the good guys v bad guys theme, where it becomes morally hounded and predictable. You feel the tension between the teams and the plot shows the manipulative nature of sponsorship deals taking over the show. But the drama element runs low on fuel. It just feels leaden with a simple script that doesn't really seem to go anywhere with some underwritten plot details, but still there's a nice amount of sharp humour evident. The film's conclusion might be exciting, but still it's rather illogical you could say. The howling rock soundtrack that surrounds the film felt overly tacky and got a bit repetitious. The performances from the main two leads lifts most of the acting out of the standard mould. William Smith and John Saxon make the most out of their character's material. Saxon is a great character actor and he steals the film as the slimly sponsor adviser Phil Adamson. Smith adds a steady head to the veteran driver Lonnie Johnson. Also in the supporting roles is the gorgeous Claudia Jennings as Lonnie's love interest Sammy, Nicholas Campbell plays the up and coming youngster Bill Broker and Cedric Smith plays the competition Gary 'The Blacksmith' Black. There's definitely a lot of stunning gals in this picture. Well, cars and girls go down rather nicely don't they.

Rather a middling affair that has it's perks. When it's close to the action that's when it hits it's strides by making you feel like you're there. It's nothing overly showy, but it's a mildly entertaining romp for the undemanding.