Danger and tension as truckers haul volatile rocket fuel across desert terrain.
Brian Keith, with his patented wry and cynical wit, is perfectly cast to lead the heavy truck convoy of desperate men hauling explosive cargo in a race against time. This is a plot similar to "The Wages Of Fear (1954) and "Sorcerer" (1975), so it couldn't help but be a nailbiter if done well...and it is. But the script resists the temptation to lay down wall-to-wall action in favor of good character development through flashbacks, a well-used device but an effective one. Leith Stevens provides a good music score, even accompanying a trucker as he drives along singing "Breezin' Along With The Breeze" (before the inevitable problems begin, naturally). Violent Road was filmed near Lone Pine, California, with plenty of shots of crumbling cliffs, laboring diesel engines, spinning tires...all the neat stuff that cinema-action fans like, but with enough celluloid devoted to getting us to know the men behind the steering wheels and why they wanted the job to begin with. Recommended for all.
- Hup234!
- Mar 15, 1999