Landspeed (2002)

Please don't spend money on this.

Am I Missing Something?

A Brilliant Conflict

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

What an oddly endearing film. Added to my ZipQueue a while ago when I was obsessing over Ray Wise, I was taken by what I expected to be a dull, plodding, lifeless low budget piece of crap action movie (based on the plot and those involved in the production and financing areas), which turned out to be a warm, inviting, odd little humorous adventure with some decent 'action' bits. It's not a great film, its flaws plain to the eye, but it is really quite well-made for something of this sort, and many of the cast members are very charming and fun to watch, especially Zane and Wise. A movie which was probably fun to make and was definitely fun to watch, and something of a little hidden gem in that vast cinematic world, an unexpected surprise. I don't know if this is a full-on recommendation, but if you're looking for something light and fun and not-so-well-known, or if you're a fan of one of the actors, there are worse things to do with your time.

This movie has a LOT of flaws- the plot is thin, the graphics are toe-cringingly cheesy in some parts and there was an accuracy issue, but let me just say this: There was something warm and natural about some of these characters that was so nice to feel and see.(alternately there were a few characters that were so wooden it was hard to watch them) It made me want to know them, the elite little "gang, not a club" of race car drivers that devote their lives to the love of the game. Another review mentioned it wasn't very realistic that competitors of a 50 million dollar prize would go to strip clubs and scooter race with each other, but that didn't strike me as unrealistic, that was the nice part of the movie- the warmth of their camaraderie. I figure that's worth a little something...some of the actors, particularly Billy Zane, did a great job of warming their characters in spite of the some of overly cheesy lines and plot.

I was subjected to this movie the other night after being unable to choose the movie that me, my roommate, and my roommate's girlfriend were to watch that night. I have learned never to let my roommate or his girlfriend pick a movie again! The story involves a man trying to break the landspeed record and his past creeps up on him. While there were some fine actors in the movie (Ray Wise being the best in my opinion), Billy Zane looked like the wooded Ken doll he so desperately wants to be. The script felt like it was written for a ten year old and the movie looked like it ran out of money while shooting it. The effects looked so lame. Thank god my roommate's girlfriend likes the Ken doll look on Mr. Zane or I would have pulled this out of the DVD player and used the DVD as a coaster for my can of soda. Do yourselves a favor: rather rent "Istar." At least it is so bad you can laugh at it's badness.

Why couldn't someone like Spielberg or Zemeckis have picked up on this theme? This is the ONLY film out there that deals with the topic of land speed records. Instead, we are treated to this straight to video delight.Ok, the cars were really cool and it had decent special effects, but the acting was a little cheazy. I'm guessing that they tried to mold the lead character after Vin Diesel's Dominic in Need for Speed, but Zane is no Diesel.They did the right thing in releasing this straight to video. It might have been a great network or cable movie. Minor spoiler......One of the characters makes a remark about flying the B2 Bomber in desert storm. Anyone who followed the war as close as I did knows the B2 didn't see any action until the Bosnia incident, unless he was hinting toward some top secret mission in which he commited treason and should have been shot on site.CIAO