Monday 2 November, 8:30pm
Death Proof
(USA, crime, 2007)
MA15+
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson
What's it about?
Death Proof, which was conceived as part of Grindhouse, a two-film project that also included Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, is Quentin Tarantino’s homage to Australia’s dusty, violent V8-fuelled exploitation films of the '70s. Action legend Kurt Russell (Escape from New York) stars as Mike, a psychopathic stuntman who stalks his voluptuous victims in his "death proof" car, which he uses as as murderous weapon. But when he sets his sights on a group of young beauties led by stuntwoman Zoë Bell (who did the stunts for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill), he is met with furious retaliation.
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Source: SBS Movies
Road Games
(Australia, adventure/crime/mystery, 1981)
M
Director: Richard Franklin
Starring: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward, Grant Page
What's it about?
Australian director Richard Franklin, an avid Hitchcock fan, was inspired by Rear Window for this road movie, which in turn, became a significant influence on Quentin Tarantino's work, the latter often citing Franklin as his favourite Australian director. Road Games follows Pat, a truck driver (Stacy Keach) on his way to Perth through the desolate Australian Nullabor Plain to deliver meat. Pat and "Hitch", a young hitchhiker (scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis), suspect a strange-acting van driver to be a serial killer and start playing with him a dangerous game of cat and mouse, with deadly stakes.
Monday 9 November, 8:30pm
Thunderbolt
(Hong Kong, action/comedy/drama)
Director: Gordon Chan
Starring: Jackie Chan, Anita Yuen, Michael Wong
What's it about?
Strap yourself in for the ride that is Thunderbolt. Jackie Chan explores his more dramatic side playing mechanic and family man, Chan Foh To. When Chan's sisters are kidnapped by a criminal car racer named Cougar, Chan has no choice but accept Cougar's racing challenge in Japan. There is plenty of car chases and fight scenes in this action movie that will please both petrolheads and martial arts fans alike.
Strap yourself in for the ride that is Thunderbolt. Jackie Chan explores his more dramatic side playing mechanic and family man, Chan Foh To. When Chan's sisters are kidnapped by a criminal car racer named Cougar, Chan has no choice but accept Cougar's racing challenge in Japan. There is plenty of car chases and fight scenes in this action movie that will please both petrolheads and martial arts fans alike.
Source: SBS Movies
Go Fast
(France, action/crime/drama, 2008)
MA15+
Director: Olivier Van Hoofstadt
Starring: Roschdy Zem, Jocelyn Lagarrigue, Jil Milan
What's it about?
Based on true events, this French thriller will take you on a frenetic ride in the world of drug traffickers employing the "Go Fast" technique: convoys of high-speed cars that transport tons of cannabis and cocaine, racing on Spanish and French highways. Roschdy Zem, Point Blank), stars as a French crime squad officer who, after witnessing the murder of his partner during a police operation, sets out to avenge his death by taking part in an undercover mission to infiltrate a drug gang, and becomes a driver in one of their fleets.
Source: SBS Movies
Monday 16 November, 8:30pm
Motorway
Available after broadcast at SBS On Demand
(Hong Kong, action/crime/drama, 2012)
MA15+
Director: Pou-Soi Cheang
Starring: Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Shawn Yue, Xiaodong Guo
What's it about?
This gritty, adrenaline-fuelled movie should more than satisfy your need for speed. Produced by Hong Kong legend Johnnie To, who was responsible for hits like Election and Mad Detective, Motorway follows Sean, a reckless young cop who works for a police unit consisting of the best drivers in the force who tackle underworld racing and criminals on the run. One of their targets is Jensen, a legendary escape driver for criminals, who has never been caught. As the body count and wrecked cars begin to pile, Sean turns to veteran cop Lo who almost lost his life years ago while chasing Jensen, and together, they work to bring him down.
This gritty, adrenaline-fuelled movie should more than satisfy your need for speed. Produced by Hong Kong legend Johnnie To, who was responsible for hits like Election and Mad Detective, Motorway follows Sean, a reckless young cop who works for a police unit consisting of the best drivers in the force who tackle underworld racing and criminals on the run. One of their targets is Jensen, a legendary escape driver for criminals, who has never been caught. As the body count and wrecked cars begin to pile, Sean turns to veteran cop Lo who almost lost his life years ago while chasing Jensen, and together, they work to bring him down.
Source: SBS Movies
Black Lightning
(Russia, action, 2009)
MA15+
Director: Dmitriy Kiselev, Aleksandr Voytinskiy
Starring: Grigoriy Dobrygin, Valeriy Zolotukhin, Ekaterina Vilkova, Viktor Verzhbitskiy
What's it about?
A Moscow college student finds out that the car his parents gave him for his birthday is not an ordinary car, when he realises it can fly, the result of a top secret invention of a soviet laboratory. He uses these newfound powers to become both a city guardian and a speedy floral delivery boy under the moniker "Black Lightning", which helps increase his popularity with girls at school a great deal. But soon, the extraordinary car attracts the greed of mal-untentioned people, who will do everything to get their hands on it. Embark on this slavic superhero adventure with great special effects and vertigo-inducing aerial scenes.
Monday 23 November, 8:30pm
Drive
Available after broadcast at SBS On Demand
(USA, action/drama, 2011)
MA15+
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston
What's it about?
A Hollywood stunt driver by day moonlights as a top-notch getaway driver-for-hire in the criminal underworld. He finds himself a target for some of LA's most dangerous men after agreeing to aid the husband of his beautiful neighbour, Irene. When the job goes dangerously awry, the only way he can keep Irene and her son alive is to do what he does best: drive. Despite its graphic violence proving too much for some critics and viewers, Refn's neo-noir quickly obtained cult status for its '80s esthetics and soundtrack, as well as great performances by Ryan Gosling and his co-stars.
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The Cars That Ate Paris
Available after broadcast at SBS On Demand
(Australia, comedy/horror/mystery, 1974)
MA15+
Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Terry Camilleri, John Meillon, Kevin Miles
What's it about?
Before Mad Max embodied the Australian car culture and brought it the world, director Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli) had already placed radically transformed cars at the centre of his creepy first feature film, The Cars That Ate Paris. Disturbing things have been happening in the small town of Paris, Australia, which no new visitor seem to be able to leave. The inhabitants deliberately cause fatal car accidents, then sells or salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy, while the crash survivors are used as guinea pigs for medical experiments. Don't miss this Australian gem of dark humour and horror, which includes this fantastic spikey car, whose almost exact twin was recently seen in Mad Max: Fury Road.
Before Mad Max embodied the Australian car culture and brought it the world, director Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli) had already placed radically transformed cars at the centre of his creepy first feature film, The Cars That Ate Paris. Disturbing things have been happening in the small town of Paris, Australia, which no new visitor seem to be able to leave. The inhabitants deliberately cause fatal car accidents, then sells or salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy, while the crash survivors are used as guinea pigs for medical experiments. Don't miss this Australian gem of dark humour and horror, which includes this fantastic spikey car, whose almost exact twin was recently seen in Mad Max: Fury Road.
Source: SBS Movies
