Crash

I searched long and hard for this movie, as I do for all of Joe Don's early work. This movie is magnificent! I watch it over and over. It's got Joe Don, Susan Sarandon, Larry Hagman and Parnelli Jones, and it casts Joe Don much better than a lot of his other movies.

A GREAT thing about this movie is how creatively the actors talk--they NEVER use profanity, but come up with other ways to express what they are feeling. Any other "action" movie is full of foul language.

Another great thing about it is all the Bugs and rail-jobs. Even Walkaway's car started out as a Bug. I've been a Bug person most of my life.

And I LOVE the way Bo says "motor-cicle" instead of motorcycle. I say it that way myself very often.

I guess the best thing about this movie for me is that it is set in the 1970's. That was a kinder, gentler time when Joe Don was young and SO gorgeous.

For a movie that is of no interest whatsoever, this has quite a lot going for it, especially in the acting department: Larry Hagman, Susan Sarandon, Joe Don Baker et al are relaxed and agreeable. But no one manages to channel the glib repartee into anything resembling a character, in part because their contributions are mere slivers of celluloid crammed between pictures of cars driving around. Which does make a depressing kind of sense, since it's a racing movie; what makes no sense at all, especially given some promising set-ups, is the total absence of kinetics or pyrotechnics. It's a total arbitrary mess, looks like it wasn't even storyboarded. The filmmakers revert to slow motion every single time anyone does anything other than drive in a straight line, but that doesn't fool anyone. The one punctuation mark of the whole movie comes at the climactic Baker-Alan Vint coin toss, and I laughed as hard as anyone, but a REAL movie has one moment like that per scene. Allow me to lodge a special protest on behalf of poor Daina House, who is required to regress from classic tough-chick to wilting sex object the moment some creep gives her a flower.

"Checkered Flag or Crash" revolves around the Manila 1000, a grueling, multi-vehicle off road race that lasts three days. The man organizing the event is Bo Cochran (Larry Hagman of 'Dallas' fame), while the chief competitor is "Walkaway" Madden (Joe Don Baker, "Walking Tall"), who got that nickname because he's always been able to walk away from crashes in the past. Susan Sarandon ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show") is the photojournalist who's been promised a ride in the passenger seat of Maddens' car.

A strong bunch of stars - Sarandon is especially appealing - provide enough motivation to check out this car chase & car crash action flick. While it's ultimately nothing truly special, the Filipino setting does give it *some* distinction; the scenery is enjoyable, and looks good photographed in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. First rate second unit work, a decent number of laughs, and a catchy theme song all help to keep this watchable.

Real-life racing legend Parnelli Jones plays himself; other supporting cast members include Playboy Playmate Daina House (who acted with Sarandon in "The Great Smokey Roadblock"), Logan Clarke ("Sweet Sixteen"), Dick Adair ("Blind Rage"), and Bill Cross ("Blue Chips"). Tough guy Baker is amusing as the kind of fiercely competitive guy with a "win at all costs" attitude, while Alan Vint ("Macon County Line") does well as superstitious racer Doc Pyle.

All in all, this should be acceptable entertainment for fans of this particular genre. The coin toss is indeed a comic highlight.

Six out of 10.

Don't listen to these others posters - this is a great film. How can you go wrong with the great Joe Don Baker, Susan Sarandon (although this is one of the few films in her early career where you don't get to see her breasts. and what breasts those are - the lemon scene in Atlantic City is probably the defining moment of this great actresses career!) larry Hagman doing an early riff on JR Ewing as an unscrupulous Off Road Racing promoter, and Parnelli Jones - as himself.

I always thought Ms. Sarandon had bought up all the prints of this movie - but if you get a chance to see it - definitely give it a look.

If you love cars and stunts is your movie.if you want Bergam or Fassbinder go away.😜