Roadracers

I love many Rodriguez movies (as much as I love Tarentino's movies) for their incredible ideas, they way it goes slowly to a nightmare, the references to other movies, the fantastic music, but I must say that in this movie I didn't find the master who made Desperado, From Dust till Dawn and Sin City.

Examples of Rodriguez touch: the cars colors, the end of the movie (the very end...), the image layout on several scenes...

A must see for all fans who want to understand other Rodriguez movies, and a movie to avoid for people who just want to have fun with an action movie.

Maybe not one of the best movies ever made, but certainly a true masterpiece of entertaining. It's a typical Roderiquez movie, but has a lot more fun added to it than his other pictures. It's made with a lot of pleasure and it's seen with a lot of pleasure. Even if you don't like rock & roll there's enough for everybody to go around. Especially the dialogs are great: over the top but on the cutting edge. And for the rock & roll fans: it has an outstanding soundtrack. It's only a shame that it hasn't been brought out on cd. And I was disappointed that Johnny Reno (the Sax player) doesn't make such cool music in real than in the movie. And all this is just my humble opinion.

For a quickie TV movie 'Roadracers' is a hell of a lot of fun. Robert Rodriguez made this homage to AIP in between his astonishing low budget debut 'El Mariachi' and its disappointing sequel 'Desperado'. David Arquette's performance really makes this one work. I often find Arquette's stoner characters to be irritating but he's quite different here, and really good. His greaser character Buddy must decide between playing guitar in a rock'n'roll band or playing the hand destiny has dealt him in a small town that despises him. Rodgriguez regular Salma Hayek plays Arquette's girlfriend, and his geeky best friend who is obsessed with 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' is played by John Hawkes who you will probably remember from the opening sequence of 'From Dusk Til Dawn'. And then there's William Sadler as the sheriff who detests Buddy. Sadler's always good no matter what he's in. I can't argue that this is a great movie but it is a very entertaining one, and worth tracking down.

Wow! It's very rare to get such an excellent, entertaining film made for TV. It's a cool homage to 50's road movies with David Arquette on top, TOP form as possibly the coolest character ever put to screen. Rodriguez' unmistakable editing and filming style combined with a snappy soundtrack and a nice dark tone to the story make this a must-see. It should have been released in cinemas.

A friend of mine saw this movie on Showtime & recommended it. I had the good fortune to rent - & later buy the laserdisc version which includes a Director's commentary track. The film's good, but RR's commentary makes it MUCH better. Hearing how he ended up getting this gig, what exactly he was given to work with and how he ended up with the film you're watching, is another great story for fans of the director or just film-making in general. On the comment track he alludes to lots of other material that he has from this project, like videos made during production, and makes an offhand comment to the effect that 'someday if this ever comes out on DVD....' Well, I for one would stand in line for a copy. If you enjoy the 10 minute film school features & other extras on RR's DVDs, you too should petition the powers that be to release RoadRacers on DVD - along with the original (&/or new) commentary track & extras.

It's am important step in Rodriguez' evolution from maverick indy to maverick big-league filmmaker. A DVD version would be a must-have for any fan.