IMDb user comments for
The Gumball Rally (1976)

advertisement

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 3:

[1] [2] [3]

Index

29 comments in total

---

9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
The film that best captures the pure joy of open-road driving., 18 junio 2000
Author: roarshock de Oregon USA

So, you've just spent thousands of dollars on a new home entertainment center and you want to take it for a spin around the block... what movie do you watch? 'Gumball Rally' would be a lovely choice. It's pure simple fun filled with raw visceral sights and sounds. Leave the serious films till later, this one will make you feel you've gotten your money's worth. Capturing the heart and soul of the real life "Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash" of the '70s, it's the tale of an unofficial, illegal, recurring race from New York to Los Angeles... anything goes. And what goes? Lapchick, the Mad Hungarian, trying to spend 36 hours non-stop on a motorcycle; a van filled with hundreds of gallons of fuel so they don't have to delay for fuel stops; Raul Julia as the Italian race driver Franco and his famous first rule of Italian driving. And in that over-filmed concrete gully known as the LA River there is the BEST sequence ever shot there when a Ferrari Daytona duels with a 427 Cobra... they didn't rely simply on trick shots and undercranked cameras, often the cars were really driven to their limits. Forget the later, far inferior 'Cannonball' movies; the 'Gumball' people actually knew their cars, and they'll have you craving a powerful engine, a full tank of gas, and the open road.

---

10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Enjoy grins per minute in this joyous flaunt of absurd speed laws, 20 octubre 1998

Author: Jeff Chan de United States

Gumball Rally immortalizes Brock Yates' Cannonball Baker cross-continent (and illegal) street races in a joyously anti-establishment poke at the Nixon/Carter era 55 MPH national speed limit. (I like it far better than Yates' own subsequent Cannonball Run movies.) Gumball Rally features a cast of young stars that includes Raul Julia as the instantly seductive (and fast in multiple senses) Ferrari team driver Franco, a ringer hired by Smith (a Yates-esque scallywag played by Tim McIntyre) to co-pilot their Ferrari Daytona Spyder past Bannon's (Michael Sarrazin) painfully-quick Cobra. The two childhood rivals are joined by Gary Busey and John Durren in a full-race Camaro, a Porsche driven by two beautiful women, and a vintage Mercedes 300 driven by equally vintage old gentleman racers. Rounding out the field with varying success are a van with enough gas to make the three thousand plus mile trip without refueling, a Corvette, Jaguar, Rolls Royce being transported to California for a wealthy individual by Tricia O'Neil's mechanic boyfriend, a stealthy police cruiser, and masochistic motorcyclist.

Along the way the scofflaws outwit radar-bearing police, skirt mechanical failure, encounter a motorcycle gang, and meet environmental hazards like bored-to-sleep 55 MPH drivers in disintegrating cars, ice patches, and L.A. traffic. The fast highway driving is terrific and the start-of-race dawn blast through a waking New York City is grins per second. But the real targets of this automotive lampoon are mediocrity, sheepish conformism, and lowest common denominator laws. The heroes demonstrate complete disdain for safety-nazi rules which in turn embody elitist contempt for individual freedom, responsibility and potential. By rebelling they celebrate a joy of life that's being watered down and restricted by a parent-substitute government that knows what's good for you better than you do.

The fall 1998 Laserdisc and DVD release of Gumball Rally is a treat for freedom-loving car nuts. On the technical side, the widescreen image and digital sound transfer are extremely clean; it never sounded or looked this good in theaters. The sound of Ferrari Daytona V-12, Cobra V-8, Mercedes 300 six, race-tuned Camaro and others running wide open on American highways is authentic and spine tingling. Rapid, efficient driving by a stunt crew that includes '60s Cobra racer John Morton is the real thing too. Freshly found digital fidelity greatly enhances this fun and exuberantly irreverent flick.

---

6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The True Purpose of the Movie, 6 febrero 2006

Author: i002492 de St. Louis, MO

I remember articles about the movie when it was still being shot. It was supposed to be a light hearted romp across the country with the cars being the stars. With that in mind, it succeeds greatly. My son and I have watched the "Garage Scene" over and over again. This movie is to car nuts what a porno is to sex nuts. It's hard to believe you can indulge yourself this much in front of the family without feeling guilty. :^)

Also, I've read a few of the comments and would like to make corrections here. The transmission in the Cobra (yes it was a real 427 Cobra) was a four speed "Toploader" transmission, not a 5 speed Tremec. There were no replica Cobras in those days. Also, the Ferrari was a 365 GTS/4. I also remember reading that the first Ferrari rented for the movie was totaled and they had to get another to take its place. However, that was over 30 years ago.

---

7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
What's Behind Me..., 30 octubre 2004

Author: directoroffantasies de Tampa Bay, Florida

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.

---

7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Made me drool for the cars, and cheer for the antics, 12 mayo 1999
Author: nomercy de Markham, Canada

This is the ultimate anti-Ralph Nader movie.

This movie should be must-see at driving schools, to show drivers-to-be the difference between pointing a car and actually DRIVING.

This movie truly has a sense of humor, as anyone who has owned a sports car can tell you.

From the classic "Lucas-the prince-of-darkness" electrical system of the Jaguar, to the (much cheered by us European car buffs) "corvette incident" (I do not want to give it away).

My favourite is, of course, the motorcyclist, who, if I recall correctly, does not say anything at all during the movie, but steals the show when he is on.

Great fun and several levels above the later copycat "Cannonball Run" series.

Particularly liked by good drivers with a sense of humour.

---

6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Classic Road Race Comedy, 24 agosto 2002
Author: critic_at_large de Hollywood

Somehow this movie came and went on DVD and I missed out. My loss.

This is one of the great outlaw road race comedies - better than Cannonball

Run, better than most of the Smokey and the Bandit movies. Time-warp

yourself back to America in 1976 with its national 55 mile-per-hour speed

limit and a recent history of gas rationing, and you will better appreciate

the spirit of this film. The incomparable Raul Julia is superb as the ringer Italian race car driver hired to win for the Ferrari team. Norman Burton

defines for generations the frustrated cop role in this film, and a youthful

Garey Busey tears up the screen as a rebel hick in a Camaro. I still get a

chill when I see the Cobra and Ferrari tearing down the Long Beach flood

control channels with no speed limits, lots of water and smooth concrete,

and the California sun shining down, and I still can't visit the Queen Mary

without seeing the Gumball Rally finish line and the lovely young insurance

policy hired by Michael Sarrizin. Mindless fun, but like a Sunday drive up

the coast, well-worth the trip. And if you find an extra copy of the DVD,

please send it my way!!!

---

3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
"What's behind me is not important!", 14 enero 2003

Author: Anthony Bannon (bannonanthony) de Annalong, N. Ireland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I first saw this film some years ago, and recently, I recorded it. Fans of racing movies will not be disappointed as the actions on display here is brilliant! This film came before the CANNONBALL RUN films but is every bit as enjoyable as those films are. There are no real big name stars here (apart from the late Raul Julia) but the performances are all great.

SPOILER WARNINGS:

Candy tycoon Michael Sarrazin is the arranger of the illegal race from New York to Long Beach, California (naturally). He presumably does this as he has nothing better to do with his time. He and long-time rival Tim McIntire are the two main racers. Unlike the Cannonball Run, there is no cash prize up for grabs, just a trophy shaped like a gumball machine. I guess the main prize for the racers is the fun they have along the way. Of course, the racers are a lovable bunch of eccentrics. Sarrazin races in a Shelby Cobra with a Harvard professor as his partner. McIntire and Julia (a real race driver brought in as a ringer) race in a red Ferrari. A Southern daredevil driver and his mechanic (a young Gary Busey) race in a yellow Camaro. Two elderly upper-class gentlemen drive a Mercedes. Two LA cops drive in their police cruiser (complete with cop car badges for every state they drive through). Two attractive ladies drive a Porsche and the main group is completed by a psychotic Hungarian motorcyclist. There are some other cars involved in the race, but none of them get really far (One car, a Jaguar, doesn't even get started!). Unofficially taking part in the race is the young mechanic Jose who is transporting a Rolls-Royce to California, and brings his crazy girlfriend along for the ride.

Trying to stop the racers every step of the way is Lt. Roscoe. He tries just about anything to try and stop the racers, but they more often than not dance rings around him. There are plenty of laughs in the film, but there are times when the humour doesn't always work. One example of this is when the two cops are pulled over by a Highway patrolman and they convince him that they are shooting a movie. I just didn't like that part. Also, the character of Angie, Jose's girlfriend is rather odd. At one point, a bunch of bikers leer at her and get ready to make trouble but she still goes and gets a soda, placing herself in danger. She must REALLY be nuts!

All in all, the film is great entertainment. The cars are all great looking and the driving is excellent. The performances are also very good, with Julia, McIntire, Sarrazin, Burton(who played Felix Leiter in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER), Jason and Busey being real standouts. Watch this one if you want a good time!

---

8 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
A Dumb Movie In A Dumb Decade, 3 octubre 2007

Author: ccthemovieman-1 de Lockport, NY, United States

These long races were a bit a of rage back in the '60s and '70s with "Smokey And the Bandit," and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines," "The Cannonball Run," etc. Many of them were entertaining. They also were also somewhat sleazy and sordid in the anything-goes new freedom of the '70s. Unfortunately, this film ranks in the latter category: it wasn't as funny as hoped and it was too grungy in spots.

Fast cars, pretty women and a long auto race don't always add up to a good movie. "The Cannonball Run" was a lot funnier, albeit just as sleazy. At least you had some characters you could laugh at (Dom DeLuise and crew) but here, after an hour, you wind up not caring who wins the stupid race.

The film is okay but doesn't provide the laughs it should have....sorry, petro--heads. Just look at the cast: basically no-name actors along with two so-so names. And no -the '70s, unlike what one reviewer wrote - are not "kind of neat." They were the dumbest years in our history with the dumbest hairstyles, dress and Presidents. This movie captures some of that incredibly stupid mentality of that decade.

---

2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Driving Scenes, 25 febrero 2001

Author: woofthebark de Salem, Oregon

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.

---

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Internal Combustion Orgy, 6 octubre 2001

Author: Ray de USA

If you are a true gearhead, then this movie is for you! Although the plot doesn't leave much to write about, the fantasy of ramming through the gears of a high performance car across the country in an illegal race is more than enough to make you sit through the campy '70's look and feel of this movie. The Cobra's 427 and the down-shifting of the Tremec 5-speed transmission is music to my ears and the Ferrari's 365 V-12 complete throaty growl of these two beasts duking it out for the last few miles of the race. Don't forget the supporting arsenal which includes a Porsche 911, a Z-28, the two fogies in a Mercedes, the fake cops in a souped-up Dodge police cruiser, and the maniacal Hungarian on a Kawasaki! Not many real laughs or substance, but the engines and cars are priceless. I hope this comes out on DVD soon.

---

---

Page 1 of 3:

[1] [2] [3]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	Newsgroup reviews
External reviews	Plot keywords	Detalles principales
Your user comments	Your vote history