Hot Rod (1979) (original) (raw)
Synopsis
A freewheeling drag racer enters a local championship meet and finds himself head-to-head with the tyrannical town boss who has already arranged for his own son to win.
Cast
Popular reviews
This gem of a 70s TV movie has really grown on me over the last couple years. A Quentin Tarantino favorite (which is how I first discovered it), that was written and directed by George Armitage (MIAMI BLUES, GROSSE POINT BLANK). It stars a wonderfully charismatic Gregg Henry (a Brian De Palma regular) as a freewheeling racer who shows up in a Northern California town for the drag racing nationals only to find himself almost immediately drawing the ire of hotshot local root beer baron T.L. Munn (a gleefully diabolical heavy turn from Robert Culp) who owns the town and the cops. Munn’s son is the odds on favorite to win the nationals and T.L. will stop at nothing to…
This was… a TV movie… 💀
I was more into the soundtrack than the movie itself
A drag racing TV movie by the underrrated George Armitage that might seem rather unambitious at first, but highlights his many strengths as filmmaker with plenty of good character detail, a strong sense of community and a consistent anarchic energy.
Hot Rod is a made for T.V. movie but please don't let that dissuade you from being interested in checking it out. Made in 1979, Hot Rod (aka Rebel of the Road) is placed in that last year of the 70's ushering in the 80's & does a good job reflecting the changing attitudes not only of those two decades but through the characters hints at the attitudes from the 50's & 60's as well using well placed lines from the characters. The history of drag racing is subtly given to the audience through dialogue through out the movie, its roots, its sub culture, and even its anti-hero rebel appeal. Some pretty good vintage drag racing footage and a decent story line. Street racing, crooked cops, money hungry promoters,almost more of a documentary of early drag racing. what more could you want!
Controversial take - this movie is actually about root beer.
Now here's a film I not only dig, but respect. Filmed on a Roger Corman schedule of 15 days, and with footage shot on-location at the Fremont racetrack, George Armitage's Hot Rod is a definitive nostalgia trip on the small screen. Set in 1979, the film follows a drag racer who blows into town and sets his sights on winning a national drag championship run by a root beer magnate, and rigged in favor of the magnate's son. The film feels designed to be an echo the late 1950s and 1960s, as much as it overtly references it through the radio DJ's animated performance. Michael Simpson's original score consists of jazz solos on saxophone, the soundtrack is loaded with legendary…
Early George Armitage TV movie about a very charming Gregg Henry who gets embroiled in a root beer magnate’s corruption when he tries to enter a national drag racing competition. For mostly good, the racing is barely relevant and rarely exciting. Much of the film is Henry gathering up a motley crew to help him actually get into the race without being arrested or killed by the magnate, his racing son, and the sheriff in his pocket. Lots of good vibes come through the gentle nostalgia for simple people trying just for the sport of it - he drives that retro car less for plot and more for some sense of honour. Aside from an early impressive car crash, Armitage forgoes excitement for quiet character work and community portraiture.
The romance is real sweet.
Heard about this on the recent (great) Pure Cinema Podcast with Tarantino.
Decent TV movie with racer/saxamaphone player Gregg Henry trying to win drag races at a corrupt town run by evil Robert Culp 'The Root Beer King.' Nice cars and a crazy OST littered with classic R'n'R tunes. Gearheads will like it most.
I mean it’s nice and car are nice but…
Like many others, discovered this recently after listening to Quentin gush about it on the Pure Cinema Podcast. Loved the honesty of it all -- there's just something bare bones about it. Felt like a Dukes of Hazard episode, in a way, but better. A great discovery. Avail on Youtube.
Chance to see the '41 Willys coupe street rod in all her glory!
Well, I mean, I'm in it - so 5 stars!