It shouldn’t be a big secret to most that I absolutely LOVE a good auto race. Especially when it takes place on actual streets/roads, and not on tracks. It also helps if the cars are street-legal as opposed to [NASCAR-type] stock or F-1s that you’re not allowed to drive off the track. Also, I’m a huge fan of taking road trips. This may be because I used to take them all the time with my mother growing up and got used to the peacefulness of the open road. Unfortunately, these are still just pipe dreams at this point in my life as despite having a lifelong interest in cars, I’ve never once had the chance to own one. However, my attraction in this area has never waned and I have become a fan of a number of automobile-based TV series and
movies, including The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, Speed Racer (live-action movie), The Fast and the Furious, Wacky Races, Initial D (live-action movie), and even the solar car race movie, Race the Sun. What really caught my attention, though was when USA Network aired a reality show called Cannonball Run 2001. In it, multiple teams of 3 people competed in a cross-country automotive race with no rules as to the conduct of how it was done. I became extremely engrossed in the show – it was finally a chance to fulfill a goal that I’d had (I was still a virgin and didn’t have a license then).
movies, including The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, Speed Racer (live-action movie), The Fast and the Furious, Wacky Races, Initial D (live-action movie), and even the solar car race movie, Race the Sun. What really caught my attention, though was when USA Network aired a reality show called Cannonball Run 2001. In it, multiple teams of 3 people competed in a cross-country automotive race with no rules as to the conduct of how it was done. I became extremely engrossed in the show – it was finally a chance to fulfill a goal that I’d had (I was still a virgin and didn’t have a license then). Since the name of the show was Cannonball Run 2001, I had a hunch that this probably wasn’t the first time that there had been a Cannonball Run. Since it was a show that year, I wrongly assumed that I had missed a previous season (I wasn’t then, nor am I currently too hip to reality shows), so that I could participate in a future season. Howev
er, this was not the case. What I found out was even more amazing – the Cannonball Run had been a very real (albeit ILLEGAL) race back in the 70s. Despite the fact that the race itself was kept under wraps, it still gained a level of fame. In fact, a number of movies were made about it. The most famous of these are the Cannonball Run movie series starring Burt Reynolds, the late Dom DeLuise, and a number of other celebrities of the era. While I’m a fan of Cannonball Run II, I would have to say my personal favorite of the Cannonball Run-based movies would be the first: Cannonball!
er, this was not the case. What I found out was even more amazing – the Cannonball Run had been a very real (albeit ILLEGAL) race back in the 70s. Despite the fact that the race itself was kept under wraps, it still gained a level of fame. In fact, a number of movies were made about it. The most famous of these are the Cannonball Run movie series starring Burt Reynolds, the late Dom DeLuise, and a number of other celebrities of the era. While I’m a fan of Cannonball Run II, I would have to say my personal favorite of the Cannonball Run-based movies would be the first: Cannonball!Unlike the more famous Cannonball Run movie series, Cannonball! is a more serious take on the race starring the late David Carradine. He plays a freshly 
paroled racer named “Cannonball” Coy Buckman who gets talked into competing in a trans-American race despite his wishes by his brother (Dick Miller or “Murray” from the Gremlins movies) because he owes the mob. Luckily, Coy happens to be dating his parole officer, played by Veronica Hamel, so she ends up coming along without too much of a fight. While it is serious, there are some comedic elements of the film – mainly among the other contestants. There’s a family man who takes a plane to NY & spends most of the race in a hotel room with his bimbo girlfriend, a girl-crazy black guy who was hired to transport a rich man’s limo to NY, a trio of girls that use their sexuality to get ahead any chance they get, and Coy’s rival – a vicious racer who is being sponsored by a country singer and his mother. There are other contestants, such as David’s [real-life] half-brother, Robert, whom most of us might remember as Lewis from the Revenge of the Nerds series (and the younger generation may know him as Sam McGuire – Lizzie’s dad from Disney’s Lizzie McGuire) but those are the more amusing ones. What we find out though, is that Coy’s brother is so desperate for Coy to win that he is sabotaging everyone that shows a hint of beating him. Unfortunately for Coy, though, most of his brother’s sabotaging efforts end up being wasted on him.
paroled racer named “Cannonball” Coy Buckman who gets talked into competing in a trans-American race despite his wishes by his brother (Dick Miller or “Murray” from the Gremlins movies) because he owes the mob. Luckily, Coy happens to be dating his parole officer, played by Veronica Hamel, so she ends up coming along without too much of a fight. While it is serious, there are some comedic elements of the film – mainly among the other contestants. There’s a family man who takes a plane to NY & spends most of the race in a hotel room with his bimbo girlfriend, a girl-crazy black guy who was hired to transport a rich man’s limo to NY, a trio of girls that use their sexuality to get ahead any chance they get, and Coy’s rival – a vicious racer who is being sponsored by a country singer and his mother. There are other contestants, such as David’s [real-life] half-brother, Robert, whom most of us might remember as Lewis from the Revenge of the Nerds series (and the younger generation may know him as Sam McGuire – Lizzie’s dad from Disney’s Lizzie McGuire) but those are the more amusing ones. What we find out though, is that Coy’s brother is so desperate for Coy to win that he is sabotaging everyone that shows a hint of beating him. Unfortunately for Coy, though, most of his brother’s sabotaging efforts end up being wasted on him.All in all, I find it to be a pretty enjoyable movie. Whenever I notice that it is coming on premium movie channels, I would watch it every chance I could get. It’s got drama, action, comedy, and most importantly, for any automotive fan, lots and lots of car scenes, whether the cars are exploding, racing, crashing, there’s even a chase scene near the end. Even though new race movies keep coming out (like Speed Racer and Fast and the Furious), this will always have a small place in terms of interest. Honestly, I believe this is because of the fact that it was based on a real race and therefore I maintain the hope that one day it may start up again and I may have an opportunity to race across the nation.
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