Speed Zone

I read that "Speed Zone!" is a semi-addition to the "Cannonball Run" movies; I don't know those at all, so I just have to take the movie at face value. It's basically another flick in the wacky race genre - others include "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and "The Gumball Rally" - a litany of silliness for silliness's sake. I didn't derive any hidden meaning or anything (even "IAMMMMW" was all about greed). Totally pointless, I guess. Sort of an excuse to have a bunch of stars. There were some funny scenes, but not enough to merit any real recognition. The cast members have all done better than this. Starring John Candy, Donna Dixon, Peter Boyle, Shari Belafonte, Tom Smothers, Dick Smothers and Brooke Shields.

Yes, it isn't Cannonball Run. No, they couldn't get the cast from Cannonball run to return or the production budget. Otherwise, this would have likely been the 3rd in the series. It's not perfect.. not by any stretch. But, neither was Smokey & the Bandit 3. Go into This film with no expectations as. You may be surprised at how enjoyable some of it is. Any fan of this kind of film, should.

I know people have debated this but this movie IS part of the Cannon Ball Run series. Its only tie however is a brief appearance by Jamie Far as The Shiek within the first few minutes of the movie. After that the movie severs most of its ties with the first two save for the race. Here a new crop of Cannon Ballers run the race while being pursued by Spiro T. Edsel a sheriff in the mold of Bufford T. Justice (a character played by the late Jackie Gleason on the Smokey and the Bandit series). Now believe it or not this is actually a decent movie when viewed outside of the Cannon Ball Run series. However when lined up with the first two Cannon Ball Run movies this just seems like a blatant rip off of them and to a lesser extent Smokey and the Bandit.

I'm a big fan of the Cannonball Run movies of which this is the "unofficial" last installment. Jaime Farr reprises his role as the Shiek in an uncredited spot, the only role continued from the series. The movie does make a mark with me as having four of my top favorite actresses; Donna Dixon AND Melody Anderson, Alyssa Milano AND Brooke Shields. Unfortunately, the movie bogs down in places, especially where the Smothers brothers are concerned, and the fact that the comedy, as in the other two, plays second fiddle to the racing. There may be one REALLY good movie in merging all of these films together, but as it is, this movie really suffers in that none of the characters really get to do any real comedy.

I thought Speed Zone was an excellent film to watch. I keep watching this film again and again. This movie has comedy, cool chase scenes, hot cars, and famous actors. I believe this film was one of the best I've seen in a long time and I encourage people to see this film.