A Corrida Maluca

I'm a big fan of the Cannonball Run movies of which this is the "unofficial" last installment. Jaime Farr reprises his role as the Shiek in an uncredited spot, the only role continued from the series. The movie does make a mark with me as having four of my top favorite actresses; Donna Dixon AND Melody Anderson, Alyssa Milano AND Brooke Shields. Unfortunately, the movie bogs down in places, especially where the Smothers brothers are concerned, and the fact that the comedy, as in the other two, plays second fiddle to the racing. There may be one REALLY good movie in merging all of these films together, but as it is, this movie really suffers in that none of the characters really get to do any real comedy.

I read that "Speed Zone!" is a semi-addition to the "Cannonball Run" movies; I don't know those at all, so I just have to take the movie at face value. It's basically another flick in the wacky race genre - others include "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and "The Gumball Rally" - a litany of silliness for silliness's sake. I didn't derive any hidden meaning or anything (even "IAMMMMW" was all about greed). Totally pointless, I guess. Sort of an excuse to have a bunch of stars. There were some funny scenes, but not enough to merit any real recognition. The cast members have all done better than this. Starring John Candy, Donna Dixon, Peter Boyle, Shari Belafonte, Tom Smothers, Dick Smothers and Brooke Shields.

I know people have debated this but this movie IS part of the Cannon Ball Run series. Its only tie however is a brief appearance by Jamie Far as The Shiek within the first few minutes of the movie. After that the movie severs most of its ties with the first two save for the race. Here a new crop of Cannon Ballers run the race while being pursued by Spiro T. Edsel a sheriff in the mold of Bufford T. Justice (a character played by the late Jackie Gleason on the Smokey and the Bandit series). Now believe it or not this is actually a decent movie when viewed outside of the Cannon Ball Run series. However when lined up with the first two Cannon Ball Run movies this just seems like a blatant rip off of them and to a lesser extent Smokey and the Bandit.

This movie needs to be seen for the very funny bit on the airplane between a French passenger sitting next to Tom Smothers. He is Jean Pierre Bergeron. I laughed out loud, and I don't normally do that. I liked the movie, and all the other comedy players are also good. It's not as painful to watch as the reviewers state, who must not have gotten that joke. It's on You Tube if you'd like to catch it, or just read the quotes between the two. It's much funnier if you see the movie.

Speed Zone was originally intended as Cannonball Run 3 but the Cannonball Run producers found it so bad that the Cannonball Run name was pulled from it. So it's not an official Cannonball Run movie.

If you're a fan of the original Cannonball Run movies then you're going to be greatly disappointed. With all the SCTV stars the movie comes across as a Canadian version of Cannonball Run. And Jamie Farr is about the only person to appear from the previous films.

It's obvious that those stars that do appear in the film were suckered into making it. They thought they would be acting with many major Hollywood stars only to find they were stuck with a bunch of minor comics. It's somewhat similar to the way Battle of the Network Stars lost it's stars and wound up with supporting actors.

This film is better enjoyed as a stand-alone and not part of the Cannonball Run series. Remembering how good Cannonball Run was will only make the film unbearable and remind the viewer of a lost opportunity. It should only be watched by those interested in race movies in general, particularly those with patience for b-rated movies.