Road Games is not for everyone with many loving it, but I’m not one of those, however I did enjoy Stacy Keach’s performance at least and the Australian setting was interesting, just the story never came together.
Road Games
— Collector’s Edition —
(1981)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Shout Factory | PG – 101 min. – $29.99 | November 12, 2019
Date Published: 11/17/2019 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.5/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: Pat Quid (STACY KEACH) is a lone trucker who plays games to keep his sanity on long hauls through the desolate Australian Outback with his dedicated dingo pet. Along the way he picks up hitchhiker Pam (JAMIE LEE CURTIS), a free-spirit looking for excitement with a game of her own. And somewhere up ahead is a maniac in a van whose game may be butchering young women along the highway. But when the killer decides to raise the stakes, Quid’s game becomes personal… and the rules of this road are about to take some very deadly turns. Quick Hit Review: On paper, the premise of Road Games was intriguing, especially for someone who generally enjoys crime-thrillers. In practice, however, this quirky film was rather slow in its build-up but the payoff wasn’t nearly worth the wait, although I will say, it kept me entertaining if only for Stacy Keach’s enjoyable performance. Jaimie Lee Curtis, I guess finding stardom following Halloween, The Fog and The Prom, has a smaller role than expected, appearing in full about the 36 minute mark before disappearing (character is kidnapped by the serial killer), so any fans of Curtis might be disappointed with the amount of screen time she had. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.5/5 |
|
This release comes with a matted slip cover and the inner sleeve is reversible with the original poster artwork. Audio Commentaries:
Interview with Stacy Keach (13:25) is new to this release as the actor talks about his memories working on the film and what drew him to it. 1980 Script Read (1:56:30) is audio of the script read with Richard Franklin and Actors Stacy Keach and Marion Edwards. Composer Brian May Music Demos (4:15) is composition of May’s score and is accompanied by stills and a poster gallery. Kangaroo Hitchcock: The Making of Road Games (20:23) is a vintage featurette from 2003 with interviews by Richard Franklin and Stacy Keach. Uncut Interviews from Not Quite Hollywood (1:03:19) is some raw interview footage from the documentary by Mark Hartley featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, Stacy Keach, Richard Franklin, Stunt Coordinator Grant Page, Screenwriter Everett De Roche, Vincent Monton and Assistant Director Tom Burstall. From 2008. Vintage Lecture on the Making of Road Games (2:10:22) — Incredibly lengthy Q&A/discussion with Richard Franklin, Barbi Taylor and Brian May recorded in 1980. Audio Interview with Producer/Director Richard Franklin (23:28) — In this interview from 2001, Franklin discusses the production. Vintage Profile on Producer/Director Richard Franklin (24:35) — From 1981, gives a background on the filmmaker and on the movie itself. Kind of droll in spots, but worth checking out if you’re interested in the man. Audio Interview with Stacy Keach (9:10) recorded in 2016 and over the phone, so quality not the best. Audio Interview with Grant Page (32:48) was also recorded in 2016. Far lengthier and goes a bit more in-depth. Photo Gallery (32:13) — Stills, Production Shots, Storyboards and Promotional Material. Theatrical Trailer (2:11) |
VIDEO – 4.0/5 |
| No mention on the back or Shout’s site, so it doesn’t appear this received a new transfer so probably taken from another one of the releases, but whatever the case, the picture does look pretty good, detail is decent enough but nothing extraordinary while colors are on the natural spectrum in keeping with the vastness of the Outback. It’s nothing great but very likely a solid upgrade over any DVD release. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| Despite what the back cover says, there is only a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track (sorry, no 5.1 option), but even so the lossless audio still sounds rather good, outputting clear dialogue, a bit of depth when it came to the sounds of the road and all around was fairly clean, with no obvious hisses or pops. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
|
Overall, Road Games is not for everyone with many loving it, but I’m not one of those, however I did enjoy Stacy Keach’s performance at least and the Australian setting was interesting, just the story never came together and characters’ actions didn’t make a whole lot of sense. This Collector’s Edition release from Shout Factory has good video/audio transfers and a great selection of bonus features. |