Chewing Gum Rallye

So, you've just spent thousands of dollars on a new home entertainment center and you want to take it for a spin around the block... what movie do you watch? 'Gumball Rally' would be a lovely choice. It's pure simple fun filled with raw visceral sights and sounds. Leave the serious films till later, this one will make you feel you've gotten your money's worth. Capturing the heart and soul of the real life "Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash" of the '70s, it's the tale of an unofficial, illegal, recurring race from New York to Los Angeles... anything goes. And what goes? Lapchick, the Mad Hungarian, trying to spend 36 hours non-stop on a motorcycle; a van filled with hundreds of gallons of fuel so they don't have to delay for fuel stops; Raul Julia as the Italian race driver Franco and his famous first rule of Italian driving. And in that over-filmed concrete gully known as the LA River there is the BEST sequence ever shot there when a Ferrari Daytona duels with a 427 Cobra... they didn't rely simply on trick shots and undercranked cameras, often the cars were really driven to their limits. Forget the later, far inferior 'Cannonball' movies; the 'Gumball' people actually knew their cars, and they'll have you craving a powerful engine, a full tank of gas, and the open road.

Somehow this movie came and went on DVD and I missed out. My loss.

This is one of the great outlaw road race comedies - better than Cannonball

Run, better than most of the Smokey and the Bandit movies. Time-warp

yourself back to America in 1976 with its national 55 mile-per-hour speed

limit and a recent history of gas rationing, and you will better appreciate

the spirit of this film. The incomparable Raul Julia is superb as the ringer Italian race car driver hired to win for the Ferrari team. Norman Burton

defines for generations the frustrated cop role in this film, and a youthful

Garey Busey tears up the screen as a rebel hick in a Camaro. I still get a

chill when I see the Cobra and Ferrari tearing down the Long Beach flood

control channels with no speed limits, lots of water and smooth concrete,

and the California sun shining down, and I still can't visit the Queen Mary

without seeing the Gumball Rally finish line and the lovely young insurance

policy hired by Michael Sarrizin. Mindless fun, but like a Sunday drive up

the coast, well-worth the trip. And if you find an extra copy of the DVD,

please send it my way!!!

If you're looking for non-stop racing, wild chases and more of the old good movies, check out "the Gumball Rally". It's fast and hilarious, it's old but it didn't lose its charm. My personal favorites were Michael Bannon and Samuel Graves and the car they drove - a beautiful, blue Shelby Cobra. To find out who wins is up to you - so watch it!

There's one negative point I have to add: during the movie, you will only see freaky, no-limit racing and a speed above 100 mph. Oh yes, enjoy the Ferrari 275 GTB. Beside the 250 GT California in FBDO, this is a unique car you won't see a lot in movies!

Whenever this film is on TV, I always go out of my way to watch it. The script isn't over written, nor is the acting overdone as it had been well cast. Raul julia is excellent as as italian lothario who risks losing the race to make time with a groupie. Michael Sarazzin, here playing a bored tycoon, is always excellent in all the '70s movies he made. Whatever happened to him? Anyone out there know. The many stories and characters intertwine neatly, and don't outstay their welcome. Gary Busey also stars as a lame-brain racer, and later went on to portray many a villian in future films.

This film actually inspired a really rich kid to organise an annual gumball around Europe and America. So how's that for an endorsement?

Forget The Cannonball Run and it's straining to get laughs. Check this out if you've never seen it before.

I remember articles about the movie when it was still being shot. It was supposed to be a light hearted romp across the country with the cars being the stars. With that in mind, it succeeds greatly. My son and I have watched the "Garage Scene" over and over again. This movie is to car nuts what a porno is to sex nuts. It's hard to believe you can indulge yourself this much in front of the family without feeling guilty. :^)

Also, I've read a few of the comments and would like to make corrections here. The transmission in the Cobra (yes it was a real 427 Cobra) was a four speed "Toploader" transmission, not a 5 speed Tremec. There were no replica Cobras in those days. Also, the Ferrari was a 365 GTS/4. I also remember reading that the first Ferrari rented for the movie was totaled and they had to get another to take its place. However, that was over 30 years ago.