Halo taxi (1983) User Reviews (2)

For lovers of excellent trash

[bsuncana · 10/10 · 7 April 2020]

I recently came across a site with a lot of old Yugoslavian movies and decided to randomly watch some. I wasn't alive back then, but it's always nice to see the culture and cinema that your parents were raised on.

I actually had a blast watching this movie. It was such an unexpected and fun experience. If you're a fan of so-bad-that-they-are-good movies, definitely watch this one. It's like watching a Serbian Gerard Depardieu lookalike going around beating up people all Jason Seagal style. It was obviously filmed on a low budget, but that only adds value to this gem.

The movie centers around a taxi driver and the close-knit community of taxi drivers in Belgrade. After finding out that his wife got tied up with some seriously shady people, he goes on a rampage, finding everyone involved and beating them to pulp, never being too busy to stop for a cigarette and drink.

Admittedly, there are some plot holes, and I'm not sure if most of the comedy in the movie was intentional or could be thanked for to limited budget, but it doesn't even matter. What surprised me the most was that the film succeeded in transferring an emotion to me. I was dying of laughter all the time and then felt a sense of pride and happiness for the characters during final scenes, and I don't usually get involved in movies to that extent.

Shuger is gonna get you

[andrejvasiljevic · 23 April 2012]

As I mentioned in some of my previous reviews, early 1980's brought thrillers into Serbian cinematography. In this case, it is a purely Belgrade style story - A tough guy raised on the street who's not afraid to exchange fists with bad boys. He can take a hit, but hits back just as hard...

"Halo Taxi" is a classic action thriller wrapped around Shuger (played by Bata Zivojinovic), an old-school boxer who found his bread in the Taxi business. As it turns out, his wife (Svetlana Bojkovic) gets involved in drugs. Her marriage suffers just as much as her health, and yet Shuger is not willing to let her go. As an experienced Taxi driver he manages to track down the drug dealing gang and so the final firefight can begin. It is a tricky business going against drug cartels, and Shuger will feel it on his skin quite some. Fortunately, he's not alone in this fight, and the tide is about to turn when his friends and colleagues from the Taxi business jump up and help.

"Halo Taxi" is nothing special in any cinematic way, and it surely won't end up in the silver screen hall of fame. Still, I liked seeing it for some different reasons - the spirit of old Belgrade. You see, Belgrade has changed quite some during the last 30 years. It made me remember the good old times when the word "neighborhood" had some meaning, when the city wasn't dug upside down and ruined with cheap real estate, when the soul of Belgrade was very much alive. Above all that, "Halo Taxi" is naturally a story with a lot of old vehicles involved, and personally I always enjoy seeing aged four wheelers in a major role. It also brings back the memories of a time when narcotics were just a mere sporadic discomfort, reserved only for a narrow group of people, whereas today you can buy any kind of drug in a schoolyard nearby.

That pretty much sums up "Halo Taxi" - nice old film placed in good old times.