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 CANNONBALL
(Blue
Underground) 1976. Action.
94 minutes. Rated R. Coy
“Cannonball” Buckman (David Carradine) enters an illegal
trans-American car race. The
grand prize is big money, and the competition is ruthless.
Driving skills alone do no good in this competition, as
“Cannonball” Buckman soon finds out that he is the main target of the
race. On his cross country
trip he encounters resistance on every turn.
Come along for the ride as he fights his way to the finish.
Although
Cannonball falls far short of perfection, it was by no means terrible.
The first thing you notice with this movie is the cars.
I guess that’s good if you’re into the car thing; I’m not.
The movie provides some laughs along the way, both of the
intentional and unintentional variety.
In particular, there’s one German racer who provides a memorable
and hilarious scene. I also
enjoyed the rather flamboyant dress of “Cannonball” Buckman.
At times the movie seems slow, as most of the action is packed into
blocks, which is great when the blocks come, but painful when they’re
gone. Aside from Carradine (Kung
Fu, Kill Bill) the acting is average.
When I first saw the title I immediately thought of the The
Cannonball Run. In the little
research that I conducted, I found no relationship between the two movies
other than the fact that they are based on the same Trans-American race.
DVD extras include a trailer, an interview with Carradine, and
poster galleries. The movie
stars Bill McKinney, Veronica Hamel, and Archie Hahn.
There’s also a brief appearance by one Sylvester Stallone.
On a scale of 78, Cannonball gets a mediocre 39.
– C
Clark
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