Roues sauvages

This film has a cult following among the modified car community here in Oz. It may not be the best acting or story line but that is all part of the appeal. Even Rocky Horror Picture Show was a HUGE flop when first released, even MADMAX had to use a different name in the states, The Road Warrior. Sure it's got tacky lines in funny voices from Max Cullen, "green, green is nice" i'm sure would be said once somewhere in Australia every Saturday night by a "pervert car freak deviate"

Once you've seen it you will never forget:

"Whats ya name?"

"Piss off!"

"Piss off? What type of a name is that?"

"Its polish. Pissov's a Polish name!"

"OK sheryl, getcha gear off"

"not now Ram, ya so slow"

"a polak and a spag! what are ya trying to do? lower housing prices!"

mike - "she still snatches in second"

tony - "yeah, i know"

mike - "she winds up ok, but,,, i'm just loosing too much on the changes"

tony - "yeah , you would do"

mike - "yeah,,, so waddaya reckon?"

tony - "she still snatches in second"

mike - "yeah that just could be it!!!"

Its only been recently released on DVD here in Australia.Prior to this only available on VHS video. A very good friend of mine personally knows the guy who owns the red Ford Falcon GTHO used in the movie....not the the car they mocked up which crashed,caught fire and then had its roof ripped off. It helps if you were of age or close to it when the film was made so you can relate to the whole car culture thing here back then. Seems a bit corny now but always enjoyable to watch. Note...worth going into slow mode close the end after "Fox" loses to the 1957 blown black Chev and and its interesting how this scene was staged and which car didn't blow up when it didn't hit the wall but a substitute car parked away from the wall and blown up..... God i love DVD.

Whenever this film gets a mention, usually the discussion begins and ends with the wonderful collection of cars and drag scenes, often overlooked are the at times eclectic characters that populate the film around the three central characters

One character that stands out is Rebel played by the great veteran Australian actor Max Cullen. Rebel is a blind drag racer, who nearly runs down the hero and his group in the middle of the night because he is not using any headlights.

In the back story we discover that Rebel master builder of street racing cars, and he and his wife seem locked in a time warp of the 1950's. Rebel goes on to play a small but pivotal role in teaching Mike, played by Terry Serio, the almost spiritual truth about street drag racing. It is not speed, reaction times that make a great racer. It is the one who feels the car best who will become the greatest

This is best exemplified as Rebel explains to Mike after a test drive "You got all the agony, just missing the style"

Graham Bond, is another well credited actor lending his talents as a crooked police officer looking to get in on some of the financial action being generated by the street racing. The confrontation between Bond and Fox played by Richard Moir adds tension to the story. Bond not only expects results but also Fox to drum up racing business

For most of the movie Fox displays a real manipulative and evil side, yet in the climax he presents a sense of honor that turns the final few minutes into an extremely tense and memorable ending. It is almost as if the film is refocusing on its true intention, to show us the culture of street racing rather than the day to day activities of people

One of the major complaints about the film is the script. Although it is nothing exciting, I believe the complete lack of any chemistry between Mikes girlfriend played by Deborah Conway and his mechanic played by Vangelis Mourikis has more to do with the problem. Any scene in which these two interact simply should have been cut

Lastly in terms of the actors, one truly standout performance is delivered by Kristoffer Greaves, who plays a deaf and crippled member of Fox's inner circle. His back story is never explored, was he injured in a race, born that way, what is it that Fox sees value in to keep him around

The reality of the film is simple, it is about street racing, and the culture behind it. When the cars are flying and action sequences are in motion it is the only time Director John Clark and his writer Barry Tomblin seem really comfortable with what they are doing.

So if you are looking for an in depth exploration of human relationships, moments of life defining drama, then this film is not for you. If your pulse races at the thought of a blown 57 Chev or the iconic GTO Phase 3 blazing away on the streets of Sydney, then you wont find much better than this film

Enjoyable fun focused on Australian petrolheads racing their hotted up cars.

There are some great cars seen, several well shot race sequences, many spectacular driving stunts, and some beautifully shot scenery. The widescreen format is well used.

Of interest is the 1980s New Wave fashion and hairstyles. That part was really cool.

The script is OK but pretty thin and a bit clunky. Terry Serio in the lead is pretty good. Vangelis Mourikis (Tony) gives a good performance... and has some cool costumes. Deborah Conway looks great and has screen presence but her acting isn't the best. Maybe they should have had her sing a couple of songs instead of talking?

Plenty of very recognisable Australian actors appear in support roles so it is fun spotting them.

For those of you out there who have seen this pic on VHS, I would recommend the DVD. In fact the VHS is utter rubbish. The main reason is that the film was shot widescreen (2.55:1) and the producers ran out of money making the VHS version and released it as 4:3. The result is that several actors are not on screen at all, and in many drag races, less than half the cars are showing since one is on each side of the screen. The DVD is actually a reasonable version of the film.

A lot of the best scenes in the film were cut before the final release. They were viewed as being too offensive to minority groups. In fact the prospect of a US release caused even more cuts in the film. For example, the Americans reputedly did not understand words such as Petrol & Strides.

Mike's dad and mum were meant to be hippies. The dad survives in the film as a wasted dope smoking guitarist. But the following scene with the mum was cut. The scene took place in the roof space of the house which was lined with aluminium foil, fluoro lights and filled with plants... you get the picture. The producers had rounded up a lot of real plants for the foreground and when they saw the result on the big sheet, they freaked and the scene was cut. Cowards!

Yes, the film is noted as an Australian cult classic. Voted #2 in Street machines best 100 films of all time, narrowly missing out to Mad Max ll. The latter had over 10 times the budget of ROE. In fact the budget on ROE was so small that the director could not afford to wreck any of the cars... even though there would have been a public outcry if anyone had wrecked a real HO. (compare that with Smoky and the Bandit or Blues Bros where dozens of cars were wrecked.)

So there's one real GTHO and two fakes. One of the fakes was bought from the local indigenous community in Cobar after the standby GTHO crashed into the back of the Country Boy's truck. (That was unscripted! The car was meant to burst out from the side of the truck.) Because the budget was so tight, the car was made up with ordinary brown masking tape instead of the painted on gold trim of the real thing.

The 55 chev is absolutely real. The car began as a very plain 4 door and was brilliantly and quickly converted to the blown '55 in the film. The motor was a marinised 545 which made around 1000 bhp. This was reduced to around 600 for the filming. The car was able to easily to 170 mph as show in several scenes in the film.

Just for the record, anyone with $12,000 could have picked up ALL the cars after the film. The HO, the Dodge, the '53 Ute, Rammer's 53 Chev... the lot. Wonder where they are now?

SW