There will always be movies that try to make a quick cash grab at something that was/is popular and Speed Zone is one of many. Without 99% of the original cast, this "Cannonball Run" fails to capture what made the first two movies special.
Actually, the actors they do have aren't bad at all, they all seemed to have fun with their parts and all were some pretty big name actors. The problem is the plot, it seems to go all over the place and it never really decides what direction it wants to go.
Essentially, you have a police chief who is obsessed with stopping the Cannonball at all costs and you have everyone else who is trying to keep in the race. That's about as much of the plot you're going to understand because the movie likes to throw in little sub-plots that literally go no where (I swear it feels like I'm writing driving puns at this point).
For example: You have a scene of the two female racers who happen upon a lone Chevy S-10 in the middle of nowhere, the driver of which is coaxed into racing them. This scene serves no purpose as it only last about a couple minutes and is never brought up again.
Another glaring "sub plot" is when Cronan suddenly veers into oncoming traffic and almost hits a semi head on. The semi turns and gives chase. On and off again, we're treated to a chase between Cronan and the truck with some eerie horror movie style music. The entire tone of the scenes does not mix well with what is supposed to be a fast-paced car movie and once again, like the previously mentioned scene, it abruptly ends and we never figure out what happened to the truck or why the driver chased Cronan in the first place.
You will find lots of scenes like this that don't actually have a beginning or an end and really only feels like they were filmed from other movies then cut together as filler, which at only 112 minutes, they could have had a lot more story.
The movie also loses focus on who the main characters are as it jumps around between everyone equally and other characters not so equally, like the scene with Richard Petty (who I don't believe was really him, even though it says it was, but unaccredited).
The entire movie is just a major failure of random mini plots that has almost no climax and an ending that is by far, sub-par. It literally ends with the Smothers Brothers (skiing?) into the water with circus music.
That being said, despite it's glaring errors and no real direction, it's still a fun movie to watch if you just want something to turn your brain off during and I did get a couple chuckles here and there from some of the silliness. I certainly wouldn't add it to my collection as part of the Cannonball Run movies, but if I find a copy of it for a good price, I may have to acquire it.
Actually, the actors they do have aren't bad at all, they all seemed to have fun with their parts and all were some pretty big name actors. The problem is the plot, it seems to go all over the place and it never really decides what direction it wants to go.
Essentially, you have a police chief who is obsessed with stopping the Cannonball at all costs and you have everyone else who is trying to keep in the race. That's about as much of the plot you're going to understand because the movie likes to throw in little sub-plots that literally go no where (I swear it feels like I'm writing driving puns at this point).
For example: You have a scene of the two female racers who happen upon a lone Chevy S-10 in the middle of nowhere, the driver of which is coaxed into racing them. This scene serves no purpose as it only last about a couple minutes and is never brought up again.
Another glaring "sub plot" is when Cronan suddenly veers into oncoming traffic and almost hits a semi head on. The semi turns and gives chase. On and off again, we're treated to a chase between Cronan and the truck with some eerie horror movie style music. The entire tone of the scenes does not mix well with what is supposed to be a fast-paced car movie and once again, like the previously mentioned scene, it abruptly ends and we never figure out what happened to the truck or why the driver chased Cronan in the first place.
You will find lots of scenes like this that don't actually have a beginning or an end and really only feels like they were filmed from other movies then cut together as filler, which at only 112 minutes, they could have had a lot more story.
The movie also loses focus on who the main characters are as it jumps around between everyone equally and other characters not so equally, like the scene with Richard Petty (who I don't believe was really him, even though it says it was, but unaccredited).
The entire movie is just a major failure of random mini plots that has almost no climax and an ending that is by far, sub-par. It literally ends with the Smothers Brothers (skiing?) into the water with circus music.
That being said, despite it's glaring errors and no real direction, it's still a fun movie to watch if you just want something to turn your brain off during and I did get a couple chuckles here and there from some of the silliness. I certainly wouldn't add it to my collection as part of the Cannonball Run movies, but if I find a copy of it for a good price, I may have to acquire it.