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It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Doug McClure was Trampas on The Virginian. This was the highlight of his career. He played a reckless pretty boy. Well, what do you know. He is doing it here again. Except for the fact that this film has no foundation and is about as dull as a movie can be. It's a series of desert races that go nowhere, build no suspense, and when over, don't matter at all. Apparently, there is a gas shortage, but these guys are able to burn gas. When I saw Waterworld, I wondered what the end game was. At least they sort of had one. Nothing doing here.

Full disclosure: I watched this movie because I saw it on "The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made" DVD, so I was looking for a bad movie. I was hoping for some campy, 70s/80s post-apocalyptic fun, like Warriors of the Wasteland, or numerous other low budget movies from around the same time. This thing, however, was not bad in a fun way, but bad in a horrible and boring way. So, if you're looking for "so bad it's good", this is not the movie you seek.You get the basic idea: it's the distant future (of 2015), and gas burning cars have been outlawed. This was supposedly done because there was a fuel shortage, but of course it was really just a way for the Evil Government to control the people. These laws are enforced by the "Department of Vehicular Control" or DVC, and they're resisted by a colorful cast of characters who live in the desert and conserve gas by driving the the lowest mileage cars possible. They're not trying to start a revolution or anything, just driving around in the desert having fun. They're called "burners", which is actually the most interesting thing in the movie. I really think they might have come up with that name and then tried (unsuccessfully) to write a movie around it. The DVC are roughly as good at their jobs as the stormtroopers in Star Wars. The burners drive around in broad daylight through the open desert, surrounded by hills, kicking up clouds of dust that could be seen for miles, and talking on CB radios, but the DVC still seems to only find them by complete accident. Also, like the stormtroopers, they can't hit the broad side of a barn with their guns.Doug McClure is the head of the local DVC patrol. He's conflicted about his job and trying in vain to control his subordinates, who have a tendency to get get all murderous and rapey when left to their own devices.The burners aren't really organized, but they all defer to Red, played by Darren McGavin, who owns the eponymous vehicle. He lives in a secret location, which appears to be the only building for miles around, but of course the DVC is unable to find it. The action of the movie is precipitated by the arrival of his estranged son, Cam - played by an actor desperately trying to hide his English accent. That's basically the plot. It's not a spoiler to tell you there are plenty of pointless (and not very exciting) car chases and explosions, and not to expect too much of a payoff at the ending. In fact, it doesn't so much "end" as get to 90 minutes and stop. Perhaps the only amusing thing are their attempts to titillate the audience without losing their PG rating. There's the randy girl-burner, Jill, who has to work ridiculously hard to seduce the clueless Cam. This culminates in a millisecond long topless shot (don't blink or you'll miss it). There's also a weird scene where a female DVC agent takes a very sensual shower - fully clothed! Probably the worst thing about the movie is the soundtrack - a bunch of terrible songs written just for this. I had to turn the sound down every time one started playing. Speaking of music, here's a little bit of trivia: this movie came out the same year Rush released Red Barchetta, which has basically the same theme. Red Barchetta is much better, and of course rock songs don't have to make sense.

This is one of those movies that even if you don't agree with the concept, the director does a splendid job of making you think, much like "Unforgiven", in which you are compelled to side with a "murderer or women and children". Here, you are compelled to side with self righteous mechanics of the future. This is extremely difficult since mechanics pretty well control America today. But the writing and directing is very clever. In the future, the government controls gas and motor vehicles. One young man is part of a small family type group that rebels against this and has their own vehicles. He agrees with the government. The girl he is interested in, insists otherwise. Meanwhile, McClure has the catalyst role. He leads some soldiers in the area who are responsible for keeping the regulations. One of the soldiers is an extremely macabre, deranged man. Here again, the film is cleverly drawn to show how the truly dangerous and deranged men are often not the ones who paint their faces, but rather pulling strings. Unlike other movies in this genre, the action is very realistic, and the people react in a way that doesn't make you roll your eyes. They are human and make mistakes. No comically choreographed fight scenes here. This is both a thinking man's piece, and a movie with action. The characters present an upside. One of the best movies of this genre.

Mind you, it does sport some fine Alberta Badlands scenery. Still, I wonder why the creators of this film overlooked a shining opportunity for an approximation of wit. In the fascist America of 14 years hence, private use of petroleum is not allowed. Who enforces this? Why, the DVC, the Department of Vehicle Control, represented by the surly chief, a plainly psychotic lackey, the woman who's secretly sympathetic to the rebels and a couple of other nondescript guys. Did nobody think that instead of the DVC, it should be have been... the DMV?Ponder that, if you're ever bored enough to watch this.