The Gumball Rally

source: The Gumball Rally

Trailer—The Gumball Rally

The Gumball Rally

This is a film about driving fast cars, fast. There's enough plot to keep your interest, but not so much that it gets in the way of the action. The tone of the film isn't exactly tongue in cheek, but there's enough humour to be entertaining without really turning it into a comedy. One of my favourite things about this film is the soundtrack, which lets the music of the engines set the mood. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that one scene features a Ferrari Daytona being driven full-throttle through the deserted streets of New York City, with the wail of the engine reverberating from the skyscrapers. The standard of acting is high; the stars for me (apart from the cars) are Raul Julia and Gary Busey as two of the more flamboyant characters. And let us not forget Lapchik, the Mad Hungarian. Well, you don't get normal people participating in endurance events on 350cc two-stroke motorcycles!

Chuck Bail, a stunt performer on Steve McQueen's "Have Gun, Will Travel", contributed some memorable bits of dialogue to this script. I've lost count of the number of times I and others have repeated Raul Julia's judgment on the rear view mirror, "What's behind me is not important". Inevitably, any spectacularly ugly car we come across "looks like a jukebox". And on and on. Julia, whose participation in this film was not generally cited in obituaries, and Gary Busey were performers whose careers took off afterward. The remainder of the cast consists of moderately well known players, some still to be seen on soaps and occasionally in prime time guest shots. Normann Burton as a New York cop on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Harvey Jason as a bizarro motorcyclist stand out. As is usually the case in movies about automobile racing, lots of expert stuntwork is on display here. Scenes of pure speed, though, do not get in the way of funnymen being funny.

When you see this you'll immediately notice the similarities to Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run. With Smokey and the Bandit you'll recognize the plot line about the can't catch anyone police detective. He tries and tries but just can't get the dastardly illegal speedsters. This was obviously a first attempt and recreating, on film, the Cannonball Run road race of the early 70's. Imo, this film is a lot funner than the original Cannonball Run film of the early 80's. There are no stars and a lot fast and really cool cars. A lot of the situations in this have 0 plausibility but I think that wasn't a major focus when this was made. The cars are the stars of this film..and there are some seriously cool ones to say the least. There's no doubt that this film influenced the two 2 above mentioned films in this review so if you want a little fun in your day and fast cars are what gets you going', try Gumball Rally and hang on to your seats...It's gonna be a fast ride.

The driving sequences through the early mourning streets of New York City are some of the best I have ever seen. There are no camera tricks. The drivers really are launching those incredible cars around the corners at full throttle. The movie is worth watching just for the incredible driving. So few films do it correctly, fortunately this is not one of those films.

Just seeing these cars when in 1976 they were still "cheap" enough to not simply be garage queens - a Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadster, 427 Cobra, Ferrari Daytona Spyder, E-Type Jag... This is based loosely on a true race, Brock Yate's original Cannon Ball Run - in which, if I am not mistaken, was in 1971 and like the movie, left Manhattan but ended up in Redondo Beach. Yates and Dan Gurney won in a Ferrari Daytona Coupe at 35:54, and surprisingly a Chevy Van was second some 50 minutes later. Like the actual race there was some contestants who had a specially rigged van with a huge gas tank that was supposed to take them across the country without need for a fill up - nothing said on bathroom breaks. If you are looking for a movie with some deep social message this isn't the one but if you like cars (and listening to the wonderful noises of the Cobra and Ferrari) this is the movie...

If you're looking for non-stop racing, wild chases and more of the old good movies, check out "the Gumball Rally". It's fast and hilarious, it's old but it didn't lose its charm. My personal favorites were Michael Bannon and Samuel Graves and the car they drove - a beautiful, blue Shelby Cobra. To find out who wins is up to you - so watch it! There's one negative point I have to add: during the movie, you will only see freaky, no-limit racing and a speed above 100 mph. Oh yes, enjoy the Ferrari 275 GTB. Beside the 250 GT California in FBDO, this is a unique car you won't see a lot in movies!

Whenever this film is on TV, I always go out of my way to watch it. The script isn't over written, nor is the acting overdone as it had been well cast. Raul julia is excellent as as italian lothario who risks losing the race to make time with a groupie. Michael Sarazzin, here playing a bored tycoon, is always excellent in all the '70s movies he made. Whatever happened to him? Anyone out there know. The many stories and characters intertwine neatly, and don't outstay their welcome. Gary Busey also stars as a lame-brain racer, and later went on to portray many a villian in future films. This film actually inspired a really rich kid to organise an annual gumball around Europe and America. So how's that for an endorsement? Forget The Cannonball Run and it's straining to get laughs. Check this out if you've never seen it before.