such films as PSYCHO (“Anne Heche was in it!”) and Spielberg’s THE LOST WORLD (“Is that the one with the T-Rex?”)—though it’s the non-Universal BAY OF BLOOD/FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 double impalement that gets the most graphic tribute here. The DVD is presented in
1:85:1 letterbox and seems ac- curately framed. Supplements include a Spanish-language track, a “making of” piece and about 6m worth of extended (not entirely deleted) scenes. There’s nothing new to be had here, but those deliberately seeking a slasher spoof/clone could do worse.
CANNONBALL aka CARQUAKE
1976, Blue Underground, DD-5.1 & 2.0/MA/16:9/LB/+, $19.95, 94m 12s, DVD-0 By John Charles
Roger Corman cashed in on
the publicity surrounding United Artists’ production of ROLLER- BALL by having Paul Bartel film
DEATH RACE 2000 (1975). The next year, they did the same thing with CANNONBALL, which is based on the same illegal, cross- country race depicted in Warner Bros.’ THE GUMBALL RALLY (and, later, Golden Harvest’s THE CANNONBALL RUN and its se- quels). David Carradine toplines as ace driver Coy “Cannonball” Buckman, who hopes that vic- tory will land him a corporate sponsorship. Even with his pa- role officer (Veronica Hamel) along as co-pilot, Buckman will have a hard time eluding a long- time enemy (DELIVERANCE’s Bill McKinney), who is not above murder. Continuity is ragged (the cars here do a better job of re- pairing themselves than their counterpart in CHRISTINE!) and the humor hovers uneasily be- tween the regular low-brow antics of the genre and the violent satire Bartel achieved with DEATH RACE 2000. That said, there are a num- ber of funny moments here (courtesy mostly of Bartel him- self, as a most unlikely Mafia
boss) and the project boasts one of the greatest drive-in casts of the ’70s, offering everyone from Dick Miller and Mary Woronov to Gerrit Graham and John Alder- man, along with a few choice cameos from the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Joe Dante, Allan Arkush, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Kaplan, producer Don Simpson, and Corman himself. Stay tuned to the very end of the credits to see a sur- prise plug for Carradine’s next New World picture. The sole collaboration be-
tween New World and Shaw Brothers, CANNONBALL! (on- screen title) has been given a very good 1.66:1 transfer, with a choice of the original mono and 5.1 or 2.0 stereo re-mixes. The new tracks are rather thin on the low end but offer some great separations. Also included is a contemporary featurette offering observations from Carradine, Woronov, and Corman, plus trailers, TV spots, and several promotional galleries.
Racing rivals Bill McKinney and David Carradine face off as Veronica Hamel looks on in Paul Bartel’s action comedy, CANNONBALL.
6
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
