Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Blistering performances.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Yes, Carradine is back in the driver's seat in this overrated Corman classic. An unruly cross country road race, some of it's contestants that desperate to attain that big windfall, they will stoop to some dirty play, and even murder, one of the contestant's brother's relying on this jackpot to get him out of a jam. A zealous German driver is one such victim, who's car blows up, when he exceeds 160. This fittingly suits the moment, while reaching the crescendo to a familiar anthem he sings at deafening volume. Cannonball has enough color in it's characters to make it entertaining, some of them engaging to watch. Watch for Robert Carradine, before his 'Nerd' days as a Live saver chewing hit-man who takes out a driver on a freeway, and nearly Carradine's girl. This hit, backfires on him, where he get's crushed by a jacked up car that comes off it's springs and falls atop him, in it's only scene of gore, which earns it it's R rating. McKinney is great as Carradine's nemesis, a suicidal driver who doesn't stop, except for beer. He has company in the form of a big country singer, and his agent I think. One scene sees him get tanked, when he's set upon by Carradine and this liquor store is turned upside down, Carradine paying for damages of course, with what little he has. He sabotages Carradine's chances of winning a few times, where in the end, Mckinney meets his deadliest fate. What goes around, comes around. One family guy playing around on the side, has a cargo plane fly his jeep most of the way, so he can afford other luxuries. God knows how he didn't get spotted. I guess you can't have spying eyes on everyone all the time. His bimbo mistress, blurts out something she shouldn't of, resulting in his elimination, I thought was one of Cannonball's few funny moments. Check out the black dude driving this old couple's car to New York. See what becomes left of it, as our driver, void of guilt, meets the couple, then saunters across the city street, all hip too. Not a bad Carradine actioner.

This film is proof positive that you do not need a large budget, an A-list cast, or a complex script to entertain. Some times ya just need Fast cars, beautiful girls, and quirky characters(some played way over the top). Cannonball delivers just that,and becomes a joyride of a film. One of the first two car films based on the real"CANNONBALL SEA-TO-SHINING SEA RACE",(the other being"THE GUMBALL RALLY")it is far better than Hal Needhams "CANNONBALL RUN" films. Where they are goofy,and unintresting, "CANNONBALL" and "GUMBALL RALLY" are funny, and entertaining.The acting,and directing while not awe inspiring is consistent.(comon we have seen much worse). And I love the seventies(porno film) stock that this was shot on. Maybe im just too sentimental, but at two in the mornin,fix some hot pockets, open a cold beer, and start your engines. Unfortunately this film is not available on dvd, and even Amazon doesnt show a copy on vhs.

The story of "Cannonball" is about an illegal coast-to-coast car race in the USA. Of course, also some saboteurs are on the road to guarantee a not smoothly course of events...Obviously not as great as Paul Bartel´s predecessor "Death Race 2000" "Cannonball" is a trash classic and cheese de luxe: cheesy acting, cheesy stunts, cheesy humour, cheesy dialogues... take a lot of car chases, explosions and add some campy humour and you´ve got "Cannonball"! But it´s always great fun to watch! A highly entertaining C-grade movie which is also very interesting for the prominent supporting cast, because Roger Corman, Martin Scorcese, Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante or Sly Stallone have small roles in this funny gem!Fasten your seat belts and enjoy!!!

Director Paul Baurtel's follow-up to his cult hit "Death Race 2000" was this pretty awful little action picture that has all the amateurishness of the previous film but about half the budget - which wasn't so high to begin with! It's a crummy-looking, unfunny, unexciting film, but at least it has some beautiful women and some fast cars..... (*1/2)