Les Roues de la mort

Joey Rosso (Don Michael Paul) is a young independent trucker who works with his dad Big Joe (Lawrence Dane) hauling stuff for anybody and everybody. That includes even the wretched Doyle clan, because hey, work is work. But the Doyles feel compelled to show the world what sons of bitches they are. They cause an accident that claims three members of the Doyle family. Then Big Joe is badly injured in a traffic accident that they instigated. All of this, and the law seemingly cannot touch the Doyles. Well, Joey's not going to stand for this. He takes the super-duper monster truck on which he's been working, and metes out some brutal vehicular revenge.

Written by Michael Thomas Montgomery, this routine but enjoyable vengeance saga fulfills its requirements more than adequately. It establishes the Doyles as so completely vile that you are just ACHING to see them get what they deserve. Presiding over these stereotypical redneck cretins is patriarch Tiny Doyle (Ned Beatty), giving us two father figures of differing stripes in the story. Just about everything in Montgomery's script plays out as you would expect it to, if you've ever seen other movies like this. It doesn't just push buttons, but takes a sledgehammer to them.

Of course, the real "star" is the title monster truck, designed and operated by Michael Welch. When it first makes an appearance, it's a cheer-worthy moment. And the relentless onslaught of vehicular carnage is fun, although there's no gore to speak of, and thereby offend some potential viewers.

Paul, who went on to an interesting career as screenwriter ("Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man") and director ("Half Past Dead", "Tremors 5"), is a perfectly serviceable protagonist. You definitely sympathize with this guy. Dane has a warm and wonderful presence, and Beatty (other than Paul, the only token American in the cast) is pretty good. Lisa Howard is appealing as Joey's sweet girlfriend; look for familiar Canadian actors such as Susan Hogan ("The Brood"), Michael J. Reynolds ("Visiting Hours"), and Leslie Carlson ("Videodrome") in supporting roles and bits.

All in all, this is pretty damn good for this kind of action fare. Ideal viewing if you love trucks and just want to put your brain in neutral for just over 92 minutes.

Seven out of 10.

I *loved* this film. It's a classic, universal story -- the story of a young man named Joey whose entire family is killed by Ned Beatty's mentally retarded offspring. Unable to cope with his feelings of loss and helplessness, Joey makes a decision we can all sympathize with. He builds a gigantic, flame-spouting tank with 7' tires and proceeds to take revenge on those who have wronged him, as well as their vehicles and buildings.

The vehicle itself is impressive -- it's not just a pickup truck on huge tires, it's a wholly scrap-built "Mad Max" battlewagon. It carries a gigantic retractable drill/metal cutter on its front bumper, apparently scavenged from some gratuitously suggestive metal-rendering machinery. There's a great scene involving the drill, a drainage pipe, and the protaganist's girlfriend that conjures echoes of Tetsuo, the Iron Man.

The thing that surprised me most was the acting. Let me make this clear -- the script is awful, a tissue-thin vehicle intended to carry the film from one scene of gasoline-fueled mayhem to the next. Yet, this cast of mostly unknown actors all rise far above the occasion, adding unexpected dimension to a movie that's really all about the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass. Ned Beatty, the sole recognizable name in the lineup, delivers a stellar performance as an aging greaser and single parent, trying to protect his quasi-legal business interests and his fetal-alcohol-syndrome afflicted bastard children as they are crushed one by one under the wheels of a vengeance-crazed truck driver. Even the weepy girlfriend and the one-day-before-retirement county sherrif are played as low-key, believable characters.

So, there you have it. Rolling Vengeance -- a timeless story of tragedy, family, and monster trucks. See it with someone you love, and a case of cheap beer.

Rolling Vengeance (along with The Pit) is one the most unintentionally hilarious flicks I've ever witnessed. Don Michael Paul plays Joey Russo, a young trucker whose entire family is killed by Ned Beatty's idiot offspring. This is what I think happened: After Beatty was raped in Deliverance, these are the b*****d children he went on to have. Beatty is the highlight of the film, next to the monster truck, but I'll get to that in a moment. He absolutely cracks me up and he's way over the top with his all black outfit, leather jacket, slicked back hair, and one tooth missing. He's ridiculous. Back to the story, Joey decides to take revenge on the ultimate hillbillies in one of the most extreme ways ever. He constructs a monster truck of epic proportions, it's Bigfoot on steroids and it wreaks major havoc on the rednecks from hell. Check this one out if you like your cheese thick and your corn corny.

This movie is cheesy and pretty bad. Not horrid bad, but cheesy enough for the MST3K gang to handle. If they were still making new episodes this would be a perfect film for them. They'd have to edit out the rape scene but other than that it be fine. Or get some friends together and have a home MST3king of it yourselves.

Even if you are only slightly familiar with revenge movies from the 70s and 80s, then you must know the drill. A gentle, hard-working man sees his beloved family members raped and/or killed by a bunch of ruthless thugs or sneering rednecks. When subsequently the innocent are humiliated in court and the rednecks acquitted due to procedural errors or lack of evidence, the good All-American working class man's mind snaps and he turns into a stone-cold avenger.

Usually, these avenging angels arm themselves to the teeth, but trucker son Joey Russo is more creative. He builds an enormous monster truck from leftover and spare parts and literally waltzes over the redneck family that wronged him!

This "Death Wish on wheels" is very formulaic, like many other reviewers already pointed out, but it offers plenty of fun. It features annoying 80s clichés, including dreadfully romantic interludes/collages guided by sappy music, but also hilarious moments like the crushing of an entire used cars' park. The Doyle redneck family is also one you'll love to hate, with a notably awesome role for Ned Beatty as the yelling, whiskey-drinking and mashed potato throwing patriarch. Lead actor Don Michael Paul is nowadays mainly a director, and the made the very entertaining "Tremors" sequels, for example.