I watched a couple heavy hitting trucker movies recently and felt I ought to write about the experience.
Rolling Vengeance - 1987
In a rural farm town a group of local drunken rednecks terrorize the streets. The judicial system has turned a blind eye to the reckless and deadly behavior. American trucker Little Joey, son of trucker Big Joey has had enough. After losing nearly all that he cares about in life, he decides to take matters into his own hands by building an armored, fire-spitting monster truck with a giant drill/auger on the front. Fueled by rage to seek revenge for his loved ones, he rampages through town crushing and rolling through all who have done him wrong. Scenes from this movie that are noteworthy: Ned Beatty throws a mash potato tantrum; a good montage of chains, sparks and welding torches when Little Joey, while in a productive rage, pieces together salvaged parts from his scrapyard to build his monstrous rig; tons of monster truck crushing action. This movie is highly entertaining and is definitely worth the watch for all you monster truck fanatics. It's not justice, it's rolling vengeance!
A little side trivia: The Monster Truck in this movie was constructed by professional Monster Truck driver Mike Welch from Bellingham, WA.
A little side trivia: The Monster Truck in this movie was constructed by professional Monster Truck driver Mike Welch from Bellingham, WA.
Trailer
Thunder Run - 1986
On the desert highways and backroads of Nevada a group of middle-aged terrorists have been hijacking shipments of government plutonium. So instead of using the military to combat these mischievous highway marauders the government employs Charlie to deliver the goods. Charlie is your average, friendly, down-on-his-luck grandfather and Korean war veteran. Although Charlie may be old, he still has a few tricks up his sleeves --which he proves by arming his 18-wheeler with flame throwers, a heavy duty cattle guard and a few other weapons to make sure he gets the job done right. To make it more touching, his rebellious grandson Chris has snuck along for the ride.
Once on the road, the duo meet the onslaught of the terrorists wielding shotguns on motorcycles and VW bugs armed with missile launchers. Other cool scenes in the movie are when Charlie drives his truck & trailer off of a jump and flies airborne over a stalled train. At one point in the movie, as the team passes through a secret tunnel, Charlie uses a high tech CB Radio integrated with special crystals to somehow disarm the random cartoon laser beams shooting at them in all directions. In yet another random scene taking place inside a bar, a country band is covering “Cotton Eyed Joe." The band then rallies all of the patrons into a sing-a-long repeatedly shouting “bull shit!” This goes on monotonously for about 30 seconds. Something I also found perplexing was despite the amount of killing and violence, the movie manages to somehow maintain the innocence of a family comedy. Charlie and his rather naive friends never seem to grasp that their lives are at stake. Such as every time someone falls victim to one of Charlies booby traps (usually resulting in being burned to death) the main characters just seem to react with a goofy expression as if they had pranked someone with a whoopee cushion. In another scene Grandpa Charlie demands a piece of warm apple pie from his wife but forgets to mention that he has just agreed to drive a semi-truck carrying plutonium that is going to be under attack from heavily armed, murderous terrorists! It is as if he is just making a run to the grocery store and back. Maybe this lack of emotion was more of a lack of caring by the cast who really didn’t give a damn about the movie aside from making a few extra bucks. This a good movie to put on for your pets when you leave the house to run errands.
Once on the road, the duo meet the onslaught of the terrorists wielding shotguns on motorcycles and VW bugs armed with missile launchers. Other cool scenes in the movie are when Charlie drives his truck & trailer off of a jump and flies airborne over a stalled train. At one point in the movie, as the team passes through a secret tunnel, Charlie uses a high tech CB Radio integrated with special crystals to somehow disarm the random cartoon laser beams shooting at them in all directions. In yet another random scene taking place inside a bar, a country band is covering “Cotton Eyed Joe." The band then rallies all of the patrons into a sing-a-long repeatedly shouting “bull shit!” This goes on monotonously for about 30 seconds. Something I also found perplexing was despite the amount of killing and violence, the movie manages to somehow maintain the innocence of a family comedy. Charlie and his rather naive friends never seem to grasp that their lives are at stake. Such as every time someone falls victim to one of Charlies booby traps (usually resulting in being burned to death) the main characters just seem to react with a goofy expression as if they had pranked someone with a whoopee cushion. In another scene Grandpa Charlie demands a piece of warm apple pie from his wife but forgets to mention that he has just agreed to drive a semi-truck carrying plutonium that is going to be under attack from heavily armed, murderous terrorists! It is as if he is just making a run to the grocery store and back. Maybe this lack of emotion was more of a lack of caring by the cast who really didn’t give a damn about the movie aside from making a few extra bucks. This a good movie to put on for your pets when you leave the house to run errands.
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