Superando Limites

I was actually very surprised by this obviously low budget movie. There isn't a great story, but the characters are interesting, and the ensemble cast reminds me of something Altman would have done in the 70s, or maybe something Alan Rudolph might do. Billy Zane is a little hard to take sometimes, but I found myself liking his smart ass character. While the film is about something serious, and the racing scenes are well done, it does not take itself seriously. It has a light tone that I found refreshing. The script is the weakest link, here, and it seems as though the director and the actors ad-libbed the dialogue (and if they didn't, then I have to credit all involved for being so natural in front of the camera) but the story is a bit on the cliche side. Trust me, it doesn't matter. It's a fun ride, despite some flaws, and there are a couple of people here to keep an eye on. First, the direction is quite good. One would have thought a racing movie would have to be chaotic, like "Fast and the Furious", you know, "MTV style", but this movie feels like old fashioned moviemaking, and it works. Mr. McIntire should be doing bigger movies, and will, I think. Secondly, Scott Wiper, playing the sort-of-dumb pilot is VERY good. He looks to have directed a film, as well, and I will have to check it out.

Biggest complaint is about the crappy DVD. It has NO letterbox, NO extras, nothing. Good little movie, great cast, a lot of fun, and actually pretty intelligently done, too. Rent it.

I saw this film on the Sci Fi Channel and thought the storyline was horribly corny and the acting was tragic at best. By the way, did anybody catch some of the names in the end credits? Obviously the film makers didn't take themselves too seriously. But being a car guy, I was intrigued with the cool designs of the cars so in my typical nosey fashion, I had to research some of the sponsors and logos listed. So I stumbled across an auto racing forum that the designer of this film (David) and his friends had posted some comments about: http://forums.realride.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=145 An interesting insight to the behind the scenes difficulties they had making this film, budget and time being the obvious factors. However, it seems the main car was built full scale car and all the other cars are partial sections with the obvious CGI embellishment. He also seems to be quite knowledgeable about racing which is perhaps why he was hired for the job. Looks like he also enlisted some help from Craig Breedlove's design team too. Before reading these comments, I would have given this film a 4 but having had a little more insight now, I give the film makers credit for trying to achieve much more with little resources.

This movie has a LOT of flaws- the plot is thin, the graphics are toe-cringingly cheesy in some parts and there was an accuracy issue, but let me just say this: There was something warm and natural about some of these characters that was so nice to feel and see.(alternately there were a few characters that were so wooden it was hard to watch them) It made me want to know them, the elite little "gang, not a club" of race car drivers that devote their lives to the love of the game. Another review mentioned it wasn't very realistic that competitors of a 50 million dollar prize would go to strip clubs and scooter race with each other, but that didn't strike me as unrealistic, that was the nice part of the movie- the warmth of their camaraderie. I figure that's worth a little something...some of the actors, particularly Billy Zane, did a great job of warming their characters in spite of the some of overly cheesy lines and plot.

What an oddly endearing film. Added to my ZipQueue a while ago when I was obsessing over Ray Wise, I was taken by what I expected to be a dull, plodding, lifeless low budget piece of crap action movie (based on the plot and those involved in the production and financing areas), which turned out to be a warm, inviting, odd little humorous adventure with some decent 'action' bits. It's not a great film, its flaws plain to the eye, but it is really quite well-made for something of this sort, and many of the cast members are very charming and fun to watch, especially Zane and Wise. A movie which was probably fun to make and was definitely fun to watch, and something of a little hidden gem in that vast cinematic world, an unexpected surprise. I don't know if this is a full-on recommendation, but if you're looking for something light and fun and not-so-well-known, or if you're a fan of one of the actors, there are worse things to do with your time.

Of course maybe that's just because it sits pretty much alone in the category. Low budget, bad script, questionable physics explanations, and inadvertently mocking the very thing you are supposed to be honoring are all there. Try and find "The Mission" BBC documentary video on the Thrust SSC actually breaking Mach 1. Much more drama and coolness.

MAK