The Cars That Ate Paris

Dir: Peter Weir

1974

*****

Peter Weir is a great director but he is always going to be remembered for his hits such as Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show and Witness. I like Witness to be fair but I would argue that the other two are not his greatest achievements. It’s his early films that I love, obviously Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gallipoli are classics but his debut The Cars That Ate Paris is a Ozploitation/Carsploitation masterpiece. If you were to ask me seriously which of his films I like best I’d have to say either The Year of Living Dangerously or The Mosquito Coast but I would argue that The Cars That Ate Paris his his most culturally significant and the king of cult films. It was made during a fascinating time in Australian cinema when many crazy film makers were risking life and limb in making the most outrageous films they could. The Cars That Ate Paris is a sort of horror comedy, full of satire and in the Midnight Movie/Exploitation vein. The film begins with an urban couple driving through the countryside in what looks like an advertisement. This was a parody of a commercial aired on Australian television at the time of the film's original release. It didn’t make much sense to me when I first saw it and it seems many other viewers took it as blatant product placement for Coke and Alpine cigarettes. At the time it was made, movies in Australia were often preceded by ads for cigarettes and such, so by putting this before the opening credits, Weir was fooling the viewers into thinking this was yet another ad but as the story took shape, it was a clear lure into false preconceptions. I liked its quirkiness when I didn’t understand it, I like it still now I have context and it shows the film’s playful nature – important to remember in some later scenes. The ‘advertisement’ scene comes to a striking halt with a fatal accident. It soon becomes clear that the rural Australian town of Paris, where the couple were approaching, arranges fatal accidents to visitors driving through. Townspeople collect items from the luggage of the deceased passengers whilst survivors are taken to the local hospital where they are given lobotomies with power tools and kept as "veggies" for medical experiments by the earnest town surgeon. The young men of the town salvage and modify the wrecked vehicles into a variety of strange-looking cars designed for destruction – most famously a Volkswagen Beatle covered in spikes (keep your eyes pealed for it in the Mad Max movies). Arthur Waldo (Terry Camilleri Napoleon in the brilliant Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) and his older brother George drive though Paris with their caravan where they meet with an accident that kills George outright. Arthur is spared and looked after by the Mayor of Paris, Len Kelly (John Meillon – Walter from the Crocodile Dundee films), who invites Arthur to stay in his home as one of his family; his two young daughters have been "adopted" after being orphaned in motor accidents in the town. Arthur unsuccessfully attempts to leave Paris but due to a previous incident where he was exonerated of manslaughter for running over an elderly pedestrian, he has lost his confidence in driving and there does not seem to be any public transport. Mayor Len gives Arthur a job at the local hospital as a medical orderly. Beneath the idyllic rural paradise of Paris is a festering feud between the young men of the town who live for their modified vehicles that they terrorise the town with and the older generation. When one of the hoons damages the Mayor's property and breaks a statue of an Aborigine the older men of the town burn the guilty driver's car as he is held down. The Mayor appoints Arthur the town Parking Inspector complete with brassard and Army bush jacket that further irritates the young men. The situation reaches its boiling point the night of the town's annual Pioneers Ball which is a fancy dress and costume party. What was planned to be a "car gymkhana" by the young men turns into an assault on the town where both sides attack each other killing several of the residents. Arthur regains his driving confidence when he repeatedly drives the Mayor's car into his former hospital orderly supervisor who is one of the hoons. The film closes with Arthur, and the town's other residents, leaving Paris in the night. The title of the film isn’t as misleading as it may first appear but I’m sure many a person has watched – and not watched because of it. The Cars That Ate Paris brought Carsploitation to Oz – indeed, Australia created the sub-genre, nurtured it and made it what it is. Without The Cars That Ate Paris there’d be no Stone, The F.J. Holden, In Search of Anna, Summer City, Back roads, The Road Warrior, Midnite Spares, Running on Empty, Dead End Drive-In or any of the Mad Max movies. As well as the great John Meillon and Terry Camilleri it stars personal favorites Chris Haywood (Man of Flowers), Bruce Spence (Mad Max 2) and Max Phipps (The Return of Captain Invincible). It’s a one of a kind, one of many brilliant Australian underground films of the 70s that I adore. As I said, king of cult.

Mad Max: Fury Road
Dir: George Miller
2015
*****
George Miller has gone to (development) hell and back to get Mad Max back to the big screen, I for one am eternally grateful. First touted in 1998, Miller's forth Mad Max production has been plagued by problems starting in 2001 when the events of 9/11 saw the American dollar collapse against the Australian dollar and the budget balloon to unrealistic proportions. Leading man and original Max, Mel Gibson, had some quite high-profile negative problems that lead him away from the franchise and just when filming was about to start, War broke out and made it impossible to continue. Miller's other directing project, Happy Feet, came as a surprise to his fans but it seems it was a case of funding his true passion and with the money made, Fury Road, at last, became a reality. After 30 years and a cult following, Mad Max 4 had to be something special, something new but with that element that made the films popular in the first place in-tact. George Miller delivers. Everything that makes the first three films brilliant is present in this continuation of the story, it's not a reboot as such as the only thing that has changed is Max, who is now played by Tom Hardy. Fury Road is Mad Max, Road Warrior and Thunderdrome mixed together and on powerful steroids. The compassion of the first, the chase of the second and the sociological and tribal ideas of the third are the main elements of the 4th film but there is so much more it brings to the franchise. Miller brings back franchise favorite and villain from the original film, Hugh Keays-Byrne, which feels like a thank you for your patience for the fans. There are many things here and there for the hard-core fans, my favorite being a scene whereby Max gets shot through the hand with an arrow which was a nod to a now famous row over cuts the Motion Picture Association of America made to Mad Max: Road Warrior, where a scene involving a character pulling an arrow out of their arm nearly got the film banned. The development of tribalism, almost as a religion is also well handled and a vast improvement on Thunderdrome. I wondered whether a big budget would take the magic away from what was always a creative force done on a shoestring but that isn't at all the case, the effects are amazing, the costumes, make up and Cars are brilliant and CGI is used minimally and only when necessary, the stunts taking centre stage. It is a visual masterpiece, wonderfully inventive and takes the Max Max dystopian future to new realms but then it is no surprise really when you learn that Miller hired the brilliant Brendan McCarthy as co-writer. McCarthy's work is stunning and quite similar to Miller's style, I wonder if both have influenced each other in the past and I for one can think of no better partnership to get the franchise back on track. Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne and Nicholas Hoult are great in the lead roles and a collection of Rock star offspring, negligee models, stunt men and Ozploitation veterans make up a fantastic supporting cast. It's old school, it's high-octane, it's the return of Ozploitation and a magnificent rebirth of a much loved franchise. It's brilliant.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Dir: George Miller
1985
***
For all intents and purposes, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was a difficult and unhappy experience for director George Miller and I think it shows somewhat in the final film. Having lost his friend, producer and co-creator of the Mad Max films, Byron Kennedy, who was killed in a helicopter accident before the third film started, his enthusiasm for the project waned and it very nearly didn't happen. Expectations were high and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior was a tough act to follow. Instead of producing just another road movie, Miller decided to concentrate on what societies might exist in his futuristic universe and he was inspired by the films of Akira Kurosawa (his words, I don't see it myself) and Sci-fi novels of the time, Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker in particular. I believe he also went for the money, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome loosing much of its rugged individuality in favour of a big Hollywood style production with a big name star (Tina Turner) and a questionable accompanying theme song (We don't need another hero). There is much to like about Thunderdome (and I do really like it) and it remains just as much of an influence on modern film as the first two films but it's not quite the Mad Max we'd grown to love and unfortunately it marked the end of a great series of films that could have probably continued for a few more films. Even more puzzling though was that Miller not only hung up his Mad Max hat but went onto directing Babe: Pig in the City and Happy Feet. Luckily Miller returned to the world of Max in 2015 after 30 years and it was well worth the wait.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Dir: George Miller
1982
*****
George Miller's second Mad Max outing is more of what the audience loved about the first and then some. It was only towards the end of the first film that Max became 'Mad' and since the brilliant conclusion of the 1979 classic years have passed and a third world war has savaged the earth further. Law no longer exists and Mad finds himself a loner, searching only for oil (to fuel his Supercharged V8 pursuit special), food and water. The cars, the villains and even Max himself are all suped-up to the nines in this sequel that surpasses the original and cements the Mad Max films in the 'Cult classics' hall of fame. Dialoge is spars, instead it is all about the action in what has to be one of the greatest car chases of all time. The budget is bigger but not at the expense of creativity, far from it, the inclusion of Dean Semler as cinematographer and Norma Moriceau as costume designer help develop Miller's dystopian futuristic universe onto something both horrific but beautiful. Ozploitation, Carsploitation, Apocalypse, Action....Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior tops lists in many a genre and rightly so. It's full on frenzied excitement and the epitome of a cult classic.

Mad Max
Dir: George Miller
1979
*****
George Miller's original 1979 Mad Max is an Ozploitation classic. Set in a (not too distant) post-apocalyptic dystopian future, Mad Max is more a revenge film in the vein of the Spaghetti western rather than the typical vigilante movies of the era that were more concerned about neoconservatism vs. libertarianism than anything else. George Miller combines tribalism and anarchy, adds punk rock and muscle cars and sets it in the harsh Australian outback for what is a beautiful orchestra of chaos. The budget constraints are obvious but that only lead to more creativity in my opinion, the characters, car creations and stunts all being work of mad genius. The last scene, whereby Mel Gibson's Max hand-cuffs the villainous Toecutter (played by Ozploitation legend Hugh Keays-Byrne) to an oil leaking car rigged with a time release fuse and offers him a hacksaw and the option of either cutting through the cuffs (which will take 10 minutes) or his ankle (which will take 5) is now one of the most notorious conclusions of all time. It's ruff around the edges, ballsy as hell and quite magnificent.

Stunt Rock
Dir: Brian Trenchard-Smith
1980
****
The epitome of 'Cult film'. Stunt Rock is very honest in its title, it is a mixture of stunts and Rock. It's been titled as a "stuntsploitation" film but that is a genre I've never heard of and I'm a big fan of Exploitation films. It is however, one of the better Ozploitation films but then that goes almost without saying as it is written and directed by the one and only Brian Trenchard-Smith who I imagine is the first point of call for "stuntsploitation" if it does in fact exist. What can I say, it has to be seen to be believed, if you can find it, watch it. It's by no means a great film but I loved it and if you're in to that kind of thing, it is probably the ultimate stoner movie ever. Grant Page rocks!

Death Proof
Dir: Quentin Tarantino
2007
****
I just want to start this review by saying I sometimes really hate Tarantino. He thieves others ideas and claims them to be his own. His ego is as big as his forehead and if he went fishing he would probably cast himself. I really hate his cameos in his own films, he can't act to save his life and sometimes he can be a real Hitch cock.
I also hate the way people act in his films now. Ever since the scene in the cafe at the beginning of Reservoir Dogs, everyone in his films acts the same and they read out his scripts like he would, even though no one else sounds as desperately manic as he does.

So...I was quite surprised when I watched Death Proof and found that I loved it. It had the feeling of the 70's exploitation film about it that he sought after, as much as he annoys me, he knows his stuff and knows how to build on ideas. Death Proof turns out to be everything Jackie Brown wasn't. I liked the calm scenes in between the action, in fact, I preferred them. If the two films Vanishing point and Maniac had sex, Death proof would be their child.
I really wanted to hate this one but I have to admit, I love it!

Bellflower
Dir: Evan Glodell
2011
****
I'm really not sure how I feel about Bellflower. I'm not sure the final result is as good as the initial idea but it is original and strangely captivating. It's kitchen-sink melodrama for testosterone fueled men with immature tendencies. It's a strange fish, you either like it or you don't. I cursed it a few times while watching but it engaged me enough for me to say I enjoyed it and appreciated its originality. When I wasn't shouting "Get a job" that is. Destined for cult status for sure, and I love that Car!

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry
Dir: John Hough
1974
****
For a film that is essentially one long Car chase, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry starts off with a fairly well conceived idea. It is all about the Cars, the attitude, Susan George in a bikini top and not giving a damn about anything and taking what you want but there is a poignant message to learn from the film that comes in the form of a short sharp shock. It couldn't be more cult if it tried. It's no Vanishing Point but it's more credible (not as lovable) as Smokey and the Bandit. A must if you like your American muscle Cars and the fact that Quentin Tarantino says it's one of his favorites tells you all you need to know.

Hooper
Dir: Hal Needham
1978
****
Fueled on high-testosterone, beer and pride, this Smokey and the Bandit side-step is a mix of cheese, action, unnecessary violence and irresponsible stunts. They don't make these types of films anymore, mainly because assaulting policemen, drink driving and head-butting fruit-machines is now generally frowned upon and rules of averages say if they'd carry on much longer people would die and at best loose limbs, but it doesn't half make me wish I could be a grown up for just one day in 1978. Where are you Burt Reynolds, the world needs more of you!

Hit & Run
Dir: Dax Shepard
2012
****
Hit and Run is Dax Shepard's loving ode to the Muscle Car and every 70's road movie that it has appeared in. It is not a parody, that has been done, it is not a remake, that has been done too, instead Shepard does what many in Hollywood find hard to do and that is write an original film that is brilliantly scripted and wonderfully realised. The cars and the car chases are there, the humor is there, the characters are there and relationships between said characters are there. Shepard's passion is obvious and he gets it right. Any cliche or expected story-line is absent. making this film refreshing and rather special. I thoroughly enjoyed it for all the right reasons.

Used Cars
Dir: Robert Zemeckis
1980
****
Big, brash, utterly over the top and ridiculous. It's the mother of all 80's movies. John Milius and Steven Spielberg both produced it, and you don't get anymore big brash 80's than that. There is Kurt Russel, cars, sexism, cars, nudity (female only), cars, casual racism, cars, twins played by the same actor, cars and more cars. Some of the stunts would be illegal in this day and age I'm sure, a few are shockingly dangerous. It's a great example of carsploitation too although it never seems to appear on those sorts of lists, it definitely has an exploitation feel about it, I bet Brian Trenchard-Smith wished he'd made it! It's impossible not to enjoy.