Red Line 7000

One of the strangest race car movies of all time is also the most grounded, deliberately mundane, and, directed by an old Howard Hawks starring a young James Caan, its worth both watching and re-watching since there's so much going on... yet barely on the racetrack... In which Caan's one of several racers holed up at a Holiday Inn and partaking in various affairs while driving for Norman Aldan, whose tomboy sister Laura Devon winds up quickly bedded with the film's buried lead in muscular John Robert Crawford, whose rushed backstory of a farm boy wanting to be the fastest takes away from an against-the-odds story that should have been Caan's role... Instead he's the most contented and dependable of the drivers, and often seems bored despite his natural screen presence, eventually winding up in the arms of his future brother's trophy wife, Marianna Hill from THE GODFATHER 2, a spurned foreign beauty who, like the other relationships mixed and matched throughout this sport genre melodrama, consists of mismatched couples bickering till they bang... But what makes RED LINE 7000 shine despite the lack of plot and action is its colorful 1960's template, looking more 1967 than 1965, a two-fold time-piece showcasing that era's womanizing yet equally vulnerable playboy types and their reluctant-till-their-not dames, also including Gail Hire as a "widowed" co-owner of the kind of groovy nightclub that's neat to hang-around in within this mellow hangout vehicle.

I have to agree with the comment about Ms Hire being a junior grade Paula Prentiss. I logged on to my account to write that Gail Hire (Holly) came across like Paula Prentiss, but it had already been noted. But, I also noticed that Marianna Hill (Gabby) seem like she was a substitute for Brigitte Bardot and Laura Devon (Julie) as Nancy Sinatra. I like the movie, even though it was full of clichés and all too typical of most racing movies. I like looking at the race footage. I remember many of the races and knew the full background of the races and accidents shown in the movie. I like the movie because it showed real production based race cars racing. The same makes and models my neighbors owned. If you like NASCAR this is a movie worth seeing. If you are looking for AFI top 100 films, this is not the movie for you.

After a Nascar driver (Anthony Rogers) is killed in a race at Daytona, fellow team racers gather round his mysterious new girlfriend (Gail Hire) and together they have trials and tribulations on and off the track. Late Howard Hawks film is exciting on the track, but makes for dull drama off the track, but with little in the way of characterisation. This is unfortunate in that the action is well done and could have been an interesting time peace, but is instead dated. There were exploitation films made in the period that handle this subject matter better such as PIT STOP (1969).

This film is said to be minor, but the opposite is true. It is absolutely masterly how Hawks tells his story and paints an archetypal portrait of the U.S.A. in the sixties. The racetracks with the cars circling in endless rounds symbolize the circle of life: the drivers who die in a car crash are replaced by new drivers who get also in accidents, the girlfriends of the drivers are left by them just to find a new driver to cling to. The drivers look alike, the girls are all alike, nobody is sticking out. Everything in this world is superficial and on the outside. The brands are everywhere in the movie: Ford, Pepsi, Holiday Inn. The dialogs get to the point fast, there is not a word too much. It is an extreme economy of storytelling. The camera by Milton Krasner is fantastic. Howard Hawks loved car races, he drove races himself, even constructed a car. He absolutely knew what he was talking about.

"All the bubbles are gone", Laura Devon observes at one point; and Howard Hawks should really have quit when he was ahead with 'Rio Bravo', since his sixties films are a pretty sorry bunch. Structurally and thematically 'Red Line 7000' bears many similarities to 'Only Angels Have Wings', but stock car racing hardly merits the heroic status it's accorded here, a bland young cast mouth banalities like "That's all you really care about, winning"; and James Caan and Marianna Hill are not - to put it mildly - Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. The actual racing sequences are obviously intercut with studio shots of the ladies watching from the crowd, and there are some shockingly obvious soundstage exteriors. This long, glossy, but disjointed production (which looks suspiciously as if a lot was left on the cutting room floor; but not enough) ends very abruptly; perhaps the most true to life feature of it.

Noted director Howard Hawks would make only two more films after "Red Line 7000" before calling it a day. "Red Line" is a soap opera racing flick from 1965 that tries a bit too hard to be hip (no doubt on account of Hawks' previous film "Man's Favorite Sport?" being criticized as "old-fashioned"). It's corny at times and melodramatic at others, but it's fun and highlighted by some truly bizarre dance numbers, including clever usage of public domain music (be on the look out for the rockin' rendition of "The Old Gray Mare"). The picture is generally considered to be one of Hawks' worst films, if not THE worst, but it's redeemed by the dynamic chemistry between James Caan and Marianna Hill, who plays a French girl. Caan displays the intensity and talent that would make him one of the better actors of the early 70s. And Hill's performance, on par with other memorable Hawks discoveries Lauren Bacall and Angie Dickinson, makes you wonder why she didn't become a bigger star before fading into obscurity. Particularly notable are Hill's two lusty dancing sequences, at the nightclub and later at the Holiday Inn Pepsi machine, as Caan observes her from afar. If you're not familiar with the incredibly gorgeous Marianna Hill, she played Dr. Helen Noel on the original Star Trek episode "Dagger of the Mind" from 1966 (1st season). Believe it or not, Hill was arguably the MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN to appear on the series (which is saying A LOT in light of the fact that Star Trek is highly noted for it's over-abundance of stunning beauties). She appeared in NUMEROUS television shows throughout the 60s and 70s (e.g. Batman, Kung Fu, Bonanza, Mayberry RFD, etc.) and also quite a few films like Elvis' "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" (1966), Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter" (1973) and even STARRED in the underrated atmospheric horror flick "Dead People" (aka "Messiah of Evil" 1973). BOTTOM LINE: Hill and Caan redeem "Red Line 7000" and make it a mandatory purchase or viewing. The film should have focused exclusively on these two characters and gotten rid of everybody else (!), yet even with its weaknesses "Red Line" is still more intriguing than the more popular mid-60s race drama "Grand Prix." Unfortunately the film is only available used on VHS for WAY too much money. Hopefully it will be released on DVD some time soon! Allow me to close by repeating: MARIANNA HILL IS IN THE FILM!

Pure Archie Americana, fast cars, sexy girls, people drinking screwballs, dream world. Every now and then a dose of horrific reality enters this dream sphere, such as instant fiery death and amputation of limbs. Such is the universe this movie exists in. Enioy with mind turned off. Captures an America that may never have existed. The true American dream?

As a die-hard racing fan and a lover of the sport's history, not to mention early-mid 1960s vintage, I thoroughly looked forward to watching this film. And it first, it was quite good. The opening scenes at the Daytona International Speedway, highlighted by the kind of horrific, fiery accident that was all-too-commonplace during that era are well done. So are the rest of the racing scenes, save for one rather ridiculous bit of action at Daytona later in the film. Unfortunately, once the characters get away from the track, the movie starts to go downhill. The dialogue is uncomfortable and often downright bad, and the whole soap opera plays out rather disappointingly. Like most racing films, it shows great promise, but winds up well off the pace. I rate it 4 out of 10 thanks to the great racing scenes and the performance of James Caan. The rest, unfortunately, is all very forgettable.

Just like any "gear head" film, the humans are always supporting cast. The real stars are the cars. Within the first 21 minutes, you will see plenty of classic race tracks, cars, motorcycles, trucks, socket wrenches, loud pipes, race posters, cool sunglasses, beautiful girls, and everything else that excites the average auto buff. Yes, the acting isn't great, but do you really care about Caan's love life more than that beautiful split-window '63? Of course not. This movie was made in the heart of the 1960s, the genesis of true sports cars. There are other gear films out there that are better, but 7000 is worthwhile.

Howard Hawks legendary director worked with the greatest stars in Hollywood: John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Kate Hepburn Rock Hudson,, Barbara Stanwyck Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, etc. He must have decided to use a cadre of young actor and hoped that they would drive this race car film to the finish line of success. Hawks failed. James Caan heads a cast of young actors. Hindsight is always 20/20 but Hawks should have taken this film to MGM which had the following under contract: Richard Cjhamberlain, George Peppad, Jim Hutton and 2 beauties Yvette Mimieux and Paula Prentiss who starred in Hawks Man's Favorite Sport on loan out to Universal. This would have been a stronger film. I feel this film had potential to be a great movie.