Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981)

Touches You

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This movie was actually photographed in New Zealand and certainly contains some spectacular action footage (which cost the lives of no less than three of the crew), but alas this aspect is somewhat mitigated by some of the worst acting ever seen and heard in a mainstream motion picture. Admittedly, George Peppard hams it up rather amusingly, but the rest of the players were obviously not aware of this Joker in the deck. My thought is that the director left them all to their own devices. In fact, overall they behave as a group of rank amateurs. Some of them even indulge in all sorts of irritating eye-rolling and mouth-gurgling mannerisms. True, the script with its juvenile plotting, its amateurish dialogue and its pasteboard characterizations is no help. To add to her woes, Lesley Ann Warren is very unattractively photographed and costumed. On the other hand, Vincent Monton's photography of the New Zealand backgrounds is both outstanding and utterly breathtaking.

Scruffy rough'n'tumble helicopter pilot Barney (a likable turn by Ken Wahl), his boozy and crotchety hunter buddy Gibbie (delightfully played with deliciously hammy gusto by Donald Pleasence), and Gibbie's feisty daughter Sally (a fine Lesley Ann Warren) venture into the scenic New Zealand wilderness in search of the Yankee Zephyr, a downed American World War II Navy cargo plane containing valuable medals and $50 million dollars worth of gold bullion. Meanwhile, snooty, yet ruthless businessman Theo Brown (nicely essayed to the suavely slimy hilt by George Peppard) and his pernicious flunkies also try to get their wicked hands on the booty. Director David Hemmings, working from a witty, eventful and blithely silly script by Everett De Roche, relates the lively story at a constant snappy pace, maintains an engagingly breezy and lighthearted tone throughout, and stages the exciting action set pieces with a substantial amount of skill and flair (a thrilling boat chase rates as the definite heart-racing highlight). Moreover, the enthusiastic cast have a field day with their colorful roles: Wahl, Warren and Pleasence make for appealing protagonists, Peppard has a ball as the fey villain, and Bruno Lawrence does well as Brown's equally no-count partner Baker. Brian May's spirited score hits the stirring spot. Vincent Monton's sumptuous widescreen cinematography offers plenty of lovely shots of the exquisitely lush and verdant New Zealand countryside. The movie's overall amiable sensibility and infectiously giddy sense of good-natured goofy humor add considerably to the film's cheerfully inane charm. A neat little flick.

I thought that the boat chase was exceptional, all of the scenery and locations were terrific. i believe that their should have been a sequel to this movie, or a lead in. This movie is a great tribute to the adventure writers of our time. The story is a bit slow at first but picks up in the typical movie manner. I believe that it could have been brightened by a deeper subject matter. i enjoyed all of the movie from start to finish and would like to see more of these brought to the screen for everyone's enjoyment. I truly was pleased with the action that takes place in this movie and would like to know more about the vehicles that were used, such as: i would like to know what type of boats were being used.

On the one hand, it is possible to view this film only as an attempt to make a star out of Ken Wahl, whose "The Soldier" had some box-office success. However, the film is infinitely more intresting if taken as an action-adventure in the mold that Spielberg would adopt for "Raiders of the Lost Ark", a film which when released around the same time, served to bury "Race" for all but the dilligent. Certainly the film is similar in certain respects, and may be seen as the first of the imitators, its plot and characters anticipating Robert Zemeckis' hit adventure, "Romancing the Stone". But it is individual enough to warrant some attention.It was a US/Australia/New Zealand co-production, made by English actor/director David Hemmings on marvellous New Zealand locations. The story focuses on two helicopter pilots and hunters who search for the wreckage of an American plane reported missing during World War II, and carrying a large amount of gold and money. Naturally as the villains appear (led by dapper George Peppard), the film becomes a chase scenario in an agreeably old-fashioned mode, populated by eccentrics.Donald Pleasance effortlessly steals his scenes, with a characterization resembling that in John Sturges' western epic comedy, "The Hallelujah Trail" some fifteen years earlier. And tpical of the movie's allusive nature, the music score by Brian May ("Mad Max") pays tribute to the theme from John Sturges' "The Great Escape", in which Pleasance also starred.With sundrenched visuals, and a Europeanized use of open-frame compositions, this adventure is used by Hemmings to explore the lengths to which people are prepared to go to to justify their self-image and self-indulgence. It is less about obsession than about pride. Spielberg would also examine this theme in his later films, as would Hemmings, but to vastly different results.In many respects, it is a minor film, and unlikely to come under any retrospective scrutiny. But for what it sets out to be, it is lean, charming and entertaining in a way that many film's strive for, but rarely achieve. A curiosity, for completists.