Used
Cars
(1980/Sony/Columbia Pictures/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)
Picture:
A Sound: A Extras: A Film: A
PLEASE
NOTE:
Used
Cars
is now only available from Twilight Time, is limited to only 3,000
Blu-ray units and can be ordered from the link below.
Before
Back
to the Future,
before Forrest
Gump,
Cast
Away,
and even Romancing
The Stone,
legendary director Robert Zemeckis made Used
Cars
starring Snake Plisken himself, Kurt Russell. Along with
writing-producing partner Bob Gale, the two young filmmakers made an
explosive and hilarious comedy that has been beautifully restored by
Twilight Time in this Limited Edition release of 3000 units.
Kurt
Russell is a charming/ devious used car salesman named Rudy Russo
caught up in a war between two feuding car lot owners who happen to
be brothers named Roy and Luke Fuchs (both played beautifully by Jack
Warden). The two brothers though they look alike could not be any
different. Luke is caring and understanding while Roy is evil,
twisted, and will stop at nothing to see his lot the successful one.
Rudy has aspirations of being a politician and Luke agrees to invest
ten grand into Rudy's campaign if he promises to keep his business
alive after his death.
Luke's
biggest fear is that his younger brother Roy will take his life
insurance money and his lot in an evil attempt to expand his empire.
Roy hires his mechanic and ex-demolition derby driver Mickey (Michael
Tabbot) to recklessly test drive Luke around the block into an
accident until he has a heart attack. When Rudy comes across Luke
back after the staged accident
which results in a car wreck, Luke dies and Rudy decides to hatch a
plan to keep his word to Luke. Rudy has his superstitious co-worker
Jeff and mechanic Jim help him bury Luke in the lot's backyard and
when questioned say that Luke has went to Miami on vacation.
The
plot thickens when Rudy and his friends make an illegal live
broadcast of their commercial in the middle of an important football
game. A freak accident with a beautiful blonde exposes her on live
television and visitors to the once struggling car lot suddenly rise.
The re-appearance of Luke's beautiful daughter Barbara (Deborah
Harmon) changes the course of Rudy's life when he gets himself into a
tall tale about the truth behind Luke's absence. Another forced
television broadcast destroys some of Roy's cars and the war starts
to wage higher.
Roy
storms into New Deal Car Lot (Luke's lot) where he discovers the
resting place of Luke in the back lot. Once Rudy finds out that Roy
is onto their plot, he rigs an elaborate death for Luke hooked up to
a power transformer that causes his car to explode upon impact. The
love between Rudy and Luke's daughter Barbara thickens until she
finds out that Rudy had a hand in the secret behind Luke's elaborate
death, causing Barbara to take New Deal back under her ownership.
Roy's last stand comes from when he re-edits Barbara's television
commercial for the lot and makes her sound like she has a mile
of cars to sell.
Roy sues her for false advertising and its up to Rudy to get 250
cars (equaling a mile long) to show the Judge that her advertising
was truthful and that she shouldn't be charged. Will Roy reach this
insane goal and get the girl? You'll have to see this fabulous film
to believe it!
It's
incredible to me the scope of this film. The first few scenes play
out like an excellent short film and then it takes over and gets
bigger and bigger as it goes. The production all around is fantastic
and it has great characters and an original concept. It was only
made for an astonishing 8 million dollars, which is pretty impressive
when you see the exciting climax to the film even for the time that
it was made. I hadn't seen this film prior to this review and have
to say that I am now a huge fan!
The
HD 1080p High Definition transfer preserves in a 1:85.1 aspect ratio
is flawless. Along with the audio in an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master
Audio (MA) mix that is loud and fills the room with every little
sound to make sure you feel like you are there. There are also
English subtitles. Keep in mind that this edition is limited to only
3,000 units so you better snatch yours up quick!
Special
features include an Isolated
Score Track
and Unused
Score,
Audio
Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis, Writer Bob Gale, and Actor
Kurt Russell,
Gag
Reel
and Outtakes,
Radio Interview and Radio Spots,
and a peek at the Twilight
Time Catalogue
to the date of this release. It also comes with a nice insert
booklet with cool photos and production notes, which I may add is
refreshing in a new release.
To
order the Used
Cars
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and more Twilight Time exclusives
while supplies last at this link:
www.screenarchives.com
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart