Shaker Run

Cliff Robertson and Leif Garrett both give great performances in this exciting, well made thriller with a decent budget and the best car chase ever filmed.

This film is a fairly original piece of budget wonder. Not to be watched by casual film goers as it won't exactly amaze them. This film has a great mixture of tastes, for starters it has a scientific edge;2 the boy racers out there will love it's realistic(well maybe not) stunts. The acting is awful but this adds to the 80's nostalgia. If you don't see it you will live and if you do nothing will change it's that sort of film

In New Zealand, Cliff Robertson (as Judd Pierson) is an semi-unemployed daredevil race-car driver. Mr. Robertson advertises Budweiser beer on his race-car. His traveling companion is mechanic Leif Garrett (as Casey Lee). Mr. Garrett drinks Budweiser beer when he goes out to pick up women. While Robertson and Garrett are trying to make ends meet, Doctor Lisa Harrow (as Christine Ruben) learns a deadly virus has been discovered by some suspicious characters she works with at a laboratory. Ms. Harrow hires Robertson as her driver then, she steals the virus. Robertson, Garrett, and Harrow take off with the virus, in Robertson's "Helldrivers Auto Circus" car. Bad guys like Shane Briant (as Paul Thoreau) will do almost anything to get the virus back…

Interestingly, the virus stolen by Harrow destroys the body's immune system, like AIDS. It was discovered accidentally, and Harrow seems correct in her assumption about how her government would use the virus; she doesn't trust New Zealand's military. Why she decides to, instead, deliver the virus to the United States CIA has even co-star Robertson baffled! Despite some warming up, there isn't much characterization. The ending gives the film a lift.

*** Shaker Run (1985) Bruce Morrison ~ Cliff Robertson, Leif Garrett, Lisa Harrow, Shane Briant

The critique of this movie will always be divided by 2. #1-Yes, it is a car chase movie in New Zealand (Home of the Hobbits). Shaker Run is a basic, campy movie without all the glamour most Hollywood movies seem to need as their by-lines. The heroes never use guns, yet the bad guys use lots. They incorporate the 'teary eyed' hero when his past emerges. And the good guys win in the end. Nuff said about Hero versus villain (and it is perfectly clean for the youngest of viewers). #2-The flick was made in 1986 during the Retro/Disco era when cowboys wore Pink. But, again, they didn't lead with the stereotypical Hollywood stuff that spoils most of their movies. There were no equally proportioned ethnic groups in the Hero club and no one was an Ex-Special Forces guy (always ruins things). Yes the girl is pretty. But it isn't as if her bones are for jumping. It is just a nice,as I said - Campy movie. Cliff Robertson is 63 - and plays the part well. Casey should have had more of a Hero status driving - to become like his father. All in all, it isn't a stupid movie like so many others in the same Genre. And it sure isn't like most 1986 movies except for the fact that people were quite Pink in that time. Embarrassing, I know - but when cowboys drive Pink cars, then they have to think they're in the gutter and the only way out is look to the stars (or helicopter, in this case).

It was around this time when Cliff Robertson was struggling for work, due to his age and being blacklisted by Hollywood, so that explains what he's doing in a New Zealand movie. Robertson doesn't show much enthusiasm - he seems to be phoning it in and using his charisma to cover his lack of energy. (His co-star, Leif Garrett, actually isn't bad.) Anyway, the main features of the movie are car chases and action sequences. Some of the stunt sequences aren't bad, but the majority of the action is poorly directed, with continuity goofs to boot. On the other hand, the screenplay has some interest, with the N.Z. filmmakers having a cynical view of their government and portraying America in a heroic role. On the whole, the movie is pretty mediocre, but I think some viewers may get more out of it than I did, viewers who want to see the N.Z. countryside and urban environment (we get plenty of both), and who find the idea of a N.Z. action movie intriguing.