Speed Driver (1980) deals with Rudi Ruffo (Fabio Testi) who's an illegal and freelance street racer . This time Testi is a motorbike racer and reckless driver who gets involved with the usual gang of goons who proceed to make his life painful . Rudi rides bikes and cars , whose reputation in the area becomes so strong that he is hired to compete professionally on the circuit . He is a hot shot stunt driver/racer who has his heroin-crazed brother treated in hospital . Then he catches the eye of a suspicious promoter called Lucky Esposito (Francisco Rabal) . Lucky is all full of encouragement and invites him to come , being contracted to compete on the circuit to be his star racer on the international track , but Fabio soons finds out that the job that isn't too good . Along the way , Rudi is interviewed by a beautiful reporter (the German Senta Berger) and he falls in love for her . Non basta arrivare primo , devi arrivare vivo...!
Formula thriller with noisy action , suspense , thrills , crisply edition , tension , intrigue , and loads of Formula 1 races . This is a mostly Italian film , in the early 1960's they made movies about Gladiators known as Peplum or Sword and Sandals , then they made Spaghetti Westerns , then Spy Movies , Gothic Horrors , War Flicks , Giallo Slashers , Crime Trash Epics or Poliziotto , Sex comedy , Rampaging Shark thrillers , Star Wars ripoffs , and eventually Racing Movies . This belongs to bike/car riding sub-genre in which competing riders trying to force each other off the road combined with a drug smuggling subplot . Stars Fabio Testi as a brave racer whose role gets involved in a drug smuggling plot and who's blackmailed into dropping off a shipment in between races. There is a good stuntwork with cars , pursuits and motorcycles jumping here and there . This is another collaboration between Fabio Testi and filmmaker Stelvio Massi, and inferior than the same year's Speed Cross (1980) about an undercover cop infiltrates the world of motocross racing , being shot back to back with similar artistic and technical team . A nice cast in this one doing their bit , but the story is rather small scale and slightly dull and tiring in parts . It makes up for the excellent races taken from real competitions , though the car crashes are lousy stock footage , as well as the exciting climax of the movie in which a hit man attempts to kill our starring . Good buddy role for Fabio's sidekick, Orazio Orlando , and being a Spanish co-production shows up Francisco Rabal and Manuel Zarzo, and another gem of an appearance by the late Romano Puppo , a prolific secondary in a large number of Spag Westerns and other Latin sub-genres.
It contains atmospheric and evocative cinematography by cameraman Domingo Solano . Likewise , thrilling and moving musical score by Stelvio Cipriani . The motion picture was written by four screen writers from Spain : Luis Maria Delgado , Germany : producer Artur Brauner , Italy : director Massi himself and Massimo de Rita , being regularly shot by Stelvio Massi in his peculiar style . Here he delivers frenetic action , thriller and violence enough along the nail-biting flick . Stelvio is considered to be one of the best Italian cameramen , then he moved to directing , making a nice career, shooting all kinds of genres , such as : Thriller : Taxi Killer , Ready to Kill , Balkan Runner , Black Angel . Wartime : Hell's Heroes , War Dogs . And specially Poliziesco : Poliziotto solitudine e rabbia , Dirty Gang, Fearless Fuzz , Commissario di Ferro, Speed driver , Poliziotto va e uccidi , Hunted City , Speed Cross, among others . Rating : 4.5/10 . Mediocre European thriller .
