A Estrada do Medo

Peter Fonda and Jerry Reed make a great team in this well-made Canadian-filmed action flick, which is very much of it's era. Made during the height of the time (late-70s) when movies about 18-wheelers and CB radios were all the rage (you may remember Reed from another HUGE hit of that time, "Smokey & The Bandit"), "High-Ballin'" plays alot like a modern-day western, with Fonda riding into town after an extended absence to help his buddy and former road partner Reed, an independent trucker, take on hijackers who are trying to run him and other independents out of business and into work for a local trucking kingpin.

There's nothing too fancy about the straight-forward story, but there's excellent camraderie between Fonda and Reed, as well as good supporting work from Helen Shaver as a saucy female trucker/groupie, and Harvey Jason as the chief henchman of the trucking company kingpin, King Carroll. It was also interesting to see Carroll played as a man who, while playing a not entirely honest hand, doesn't necessarily want to resort to violence in trying to achieve his means. There are several impressively staged action sequences along the way, as well as some nice cinematography showcasing the snowy Canadian locations. Director Peter Carter keeps everything moving at an interesting clip.

"High-Ballin'" is no masterpiece for the ages, but it's an entertaining time-killer and definitely a movie of it's time.

Having spawned an entire exploitation subgenera of outlaw biker films with his excellent "Easy Rider," could Peter Fonda do the same for movies about eighteen wheels of justice? "High-Ballin'" actually beat "Convoy" by one month on it's release date for being the first movie action movie about truckers (although "Smokey and the Bandit" came out the year before), but it's a pretty silly inconsequential hixploitation flick, and Jerry Reed is really the main character here. Reed and Fonda have to fight off a bunch of trucker thugs hired by a local crime boss who wants to put independent truckers like them out of business. Helen Shaver and Michael Ironside, in his first named-character role (he plays Butch), also appear in the film. Overall, I enjoyed this dumb movie and so will others if you're a fan fo hixploitation/rednexploitation type of films (think good ol' boys fighting one another ALA "Gator" or "Walking Tall"), even if it's pretty routine and nothing all that memorable. "Smokey," "Convoy," and "White Line Fever" are all still better trucker films, but I was entertained by "High-Ballin'."

I can't see why people are downing this movie because it doesn't really fit in a genre like Action or Comedy. This is a movie, it tells a story, and some parts are funny, there is some action, there are some serious moments and it is a little dark. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll see some action.

Overall it's a story about a big trucking company trying to squash the independent truckers out of business with Jerry Reed and Peter Fonda fighting against The Man for all the colorful, CB jive talking' independents out there.

The main problem with the movie, in my eyes, is the dreary and bleak scenery and Jerry Reed's overuse of "Son" as a form of address. There are some parts of the plot that are weak and not well explained, like the female lead "Pick Up". She eats at truckstops with the truckers and is on the CB and acts like a trucker but she just drives a pick up truck with exhaust risers and a camper on back. What is her job? Just cruisin' the highways pretending to be a trucker? She almost seems like a trucker groupie/wannabe, a step up from a lot lizard. Also not clear is why the big trucking company wants the independent drivers to quit and start working for the big company. The independents still haul loads for The Man and have to pay his fees. It is never really made clear.

This movie was entertaining all the way through the only real downer was the scenery. Wherever they are up in Canada is dirty, snowy and downright depressing.

If you like trucker movies and Jerry Reed, give it a spin. It isn't as awesome as Convoy it still is a good view.

Not much to see here. A couple guys swashbuckling with big Ken-Tool tire irons. At least this is a movie that accepts the existence of snow. Jerry Reed plays "the Iron Duke," a trucker who wants to make a few more runs and then stay at home. Peter Fonda perhaps should have played a trucker and not brought the biker element into this movie. After the chase with the racecar-laden auto transporter there isn't much to see. One memorable scene is Duke's poignant attempt to defend himself with nothing but a tire knocker. If you like trucker movies, it's your duty to watch High-Ballin' at least once, though. Isn't driving a truck in Canada exciting enough without a typical far-fetched plot? I guess the ultimate truck driving movie would have no plot at all and would be just one big roadeo.

Better head for Rosie's Truck Stop Diner and order a king size stack of flapjacks! That'll give you a higher burst of energy than losing it from watching HIGH BALLIN'. It's got the right ingredients for a 70s trucker movie including some colorful comedy and a C&W music score with Jerry Reed singing the theme song. To my dismay, it has a terrible amount of substandard action. Few cars on the loose and big explosions do not help. A slippery snow setting makes this tough to get the best results out of a simple little basic chase film that carelessly becomes your simple little basic "Save me!" film. The climax is so nearly desperate that one will have in mind how mixed the entertainment gets. "Pickup" is a very appealing character at first, but she later starts going into an emotionally nervous and frightening breakdown, which brings to mind the harsh violence that can't control itself towards the end. The word "confusing" best describes the movie in general. There hasn't been any trucker films recently, but HIGH BALLIN' may show you its greatest weakness: how not to adapt as a well thought out action film. Just leave the tip.