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The Junkman
As film-maker Harlan Hollis drives to a James Dean festival, he's unaware that killers are tracking his every move. The fast and furious race to avoid their net, stay alive and discover who is behind this lethal plan, will take Hollis through a fiery battle, turning highways and city streets into a blazing junkyard.
Release : | 1982 |
Rating : | 5.4 |
Studio : | H.B. Halicki Mercantile Co., |
Crew : | Director of Photography, Director of Photography, |
Cast : | H.B. Halicki Christopher Stone Lang Jeffries Lynda Day George Hoyt Axton |
Genre : | Action Comedy Thriller Crime |
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Reviews
Too many fans seem to be blown away
To me, this movie is perfection.
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
The Junkman is set in California where stuntman, actor, director & businessman Harlan B. Hollis (H.B. Halicki) has just finished a re-shoot for his new film titled Gone in 60 Seconds which premieres in days. On his way to a James Dean festival Hollis comes under attack from a couple of bi-planes & a couple of cars driven by assassins who have orders to kill Hollis in a very public & spectacular way. Using grenades & machine guns Hollis has to use his driving skills to outrun the planes & cars, as the local police join the chase things get messy as Hollid drives for his life. The chase ends with the car Hollis was driving crashing into his ranch & blowing up, but not before he managed to jump out to safety. Now the police, local news reporters, his family & friends & the assassins think Hollis is dead so he sets out finding out the truth behind who wants him dead in secret as everyone thinks he is...Written, produced & directed by stuntman H.B. Halicki who stars in it & did much of the stunt work The Junkman is a strange sort of follow up to his earlier car chase action thriller Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), I say sort of follow up because while Gone in 60 Seconds is referenced & mentioned many times The Junkman takes place in a world where it is just a film & Halicki plays the guy who starred & directed it which he did back in 1974. So Halicki is playing himself, in a strange sort of fictional way as the script was apparently based on his life. I'm not sure the assassination attempt was based on actual events but the guy's massive toy & car collection, his memorabilia, the fact he started out running a junkyard the ranch location used for filmed was actually owned by him & was where he lived. Now, I only watched Gone in 60 Seconds yesterday so it's still fresh in my mind & all the little references, props, cinema posters & gags didn't pass me by but it does make The Junkman feel a little bit like a self obsessed vanity project at times. Overall I didn't think much of Gone in 60 Seconds despite it's good reputation & I found The Junkman to be more of the same, sure it has a few great individual moments, some cool stunt work & a much better story but I was still left feeling empty when it had finished. The humour missed the mark for me, the action while plentiful didn't excite me & the basic story about Halicki's publicist hiring assassins to kill him & proclaiming at the end that he 'wants it all!' is pure Scooby-Doo silliness. The script is a lot more light hearted this time around with some very dated humour. At 100 odd minutes the pacing is better this time around & it's certainly not boring but I can't say I was particularly amazed by it, look it's slightly better than Gone in 60 Seconds but only slightly.Like Gone in 60 Seconds the only reason to watch The Junkman is because of the vehicular action & carnage, this time around we get some planes & a Goodyear blimp join the action to spice things up a bit. Apparently The Junkman is in the Guinness Book of Records as the film that has the most number of vehicles wrecked in it, I am not sure that's true today but it probably was back when it was made. The stunt-work is great & the editing is a lot tighter this time around without the film cutting to needless secondary character's every couple of minutes, the chase through Los Angeles at the end is probably the best sequence. It seems that all the recent DVD releases have had the entire soundtrack replaced with an awful, generic & dull score that really is dreary.According to the IMDb this took two years to make, filmed in California by Halicki probably with his own cars & friends & family helping out. It was probably a real labour of love & the guy obviously had a passion for cars & stunt-work. The acting is slightly better than the original but not by much although the production values are miles better & The Junkman actually looks like a film with decent colourful photography & good location work.The Junkman is an odd film, it's a film born out of Halicki's love for destruction, stunts & cars & he chooses himself to star in it as himself. Halicki is the director & star of The Junkman playing the director & star of Gone in 60 Seconds which he was in reality, does anyone else find that slightly strange? Was to be followed by a sequel but star & director Halicki was killed in a crash with a water tower during filming.
I bought the original a couple years back when the DVD first came out. Until a couple months ago i never knew of a sequel. Then one day i was at a discount department store on the Gold Coast when i found the original VHS copy of GONE IN 60 SECONDS PART II THE JUNKMAN. It was only $2 so i bought it. Later i found that it had been shipped up to Queensland from an old video store in Brompton South Australia. Any way, when i arrived home i chucked the movie on and watched it. I knew it was from the 80's and the styles were a bit off, but i enjoyed the movie. What else i enjoyed was the music, The fact that it was upbeat during the fast paced chase scenes and that the singers included the movie name and one of the major events that the movie was set around. The video wasn't in great condition so most of the middle to end of the movie was very fuzzy. This propelled me to go forth and find a remastered copy on DVD. Weeks later i found one and ordered it in. When it arrived i was excited, i was expecting soo much. But when i was watching it i noticed that something was removed from the original and replaced with something inferior. It was the music, the music that was written for THE JUNKMAN, gone, replaced with INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC??? So, i will rate the original 10 out of 10. But for the DVD 5 out of 10. H.B. "Tony" Halicki would be disappointed with what has become of one of his masterpieces.Knowing this makes me wonder what the original music was like in the original GONE IN 60 SECONDS.
yeah, thats true "The Junkman" is wonderful. This is one of the best movies with... what i talking about, it is the best movie with CARS.So men, boys also you ladies Watches this film it's horrible good!!! No really i'm not kidding, if you see it you'll never forget it. I promise. What only 67 votes SHAME OF YOU!!! And it's much better than the Dominic Sena's "Gone in sixty seconds"(2000) with Nicolas Cage. I think it's also better than the first part "Gone in 60 seconds"(1974). It's the best role of H.B. Halicki. Like you see now i'm big fan on this film, but my all family and friends love it. So what is conclusion? You must see it with you own to understand.
I just picked up this little gem on DVD. If you are a fan of 1980's era car chase flicks then this a fun, cheesy ride. While not as gritty as the legendary GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS(a true classic of outlaw filmaking,) this one boasts slicker production values and the World's Record for most vehicles wrecked in a movie. Full of thrilling stunts, gratuitous car crashes, sexy eighties ladies and a prize winning pig. By the way, the DVD is great. Great picture and lots of bonus footage(A peak at H.B. Halecki's car and toy collection is a treat.) Have fun.