On IMDb, an average film actually has a rating of about 6.0-6.5, this this movie's current 3.5 would seem to indicate that it's a terrible film. However, I was surprised that aside from some poor writing here and there, the film was easy to watch and surprisingly good considering its minuscule budget.
Let's talk about budget for a moment. Despite having a budget of about $150,000 and coming from the king of cheapies, Roger Corman, you'd think it would look bad--like his earlier low-budget films "Wasp Women" and "The Last Woman on Earth". But, the film crew clearly spent money in particular places. First, the film is made in color--really nice looking color on the DVD. Second, the movie was filmed in several locations throughout Europe. And, finally, they used Formula One cars and instead of using the usual stock clips, they filmed the drivers very, very realistically. Clearly the movie looks great.
When it came to budget, you can soon see that one way they cut costs was by using no-name actors. William Campbell is a face you might recognize if you are a Trekkie, as he played a couple prominent guest spots in the original series (The Squire of Gothos and a Klingon captain). Handsome, yes....but also a rather obscure actor--particularly when this film was made. The other lead is Mark Damon--and it really threw me when he entered the movie. Why? Well, because evidently someone hated his voice and all his dialog was dubbed by William Shatner! So, once again, for Trek fans, this is an interesting film.
Another way they cut back was on the writing. While the script had bright moments, it also had a decent number of clichés and was far from brilliant. Heck, with a few revisions, the movie could have really been very good. As is, the racing scenes are mostly great (except for the scene where Damon rolls out of his car--it was badly done), the actors competent and the locales lovely. I did not love this film but liked it and see it as a great example of getting a lot of bang for the buck. Too bad later films like "Le Mans" and "Grand Prix" had the big-name stars and polish--they clearly overwhelm what is still a pretty decent film.
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