Arrow Films, out now

A futuristic car heist movie… written by John Carpenter.

Although Carpenter is best known for his directorial skills, he penned a number of scripts which were developed (i.e. rewritten) and directed by others. The Eyes of Laura Mars, The Philadelphia Experiment and Black Moon Rising are all based on Carpenter screenplays, although how far they deviate from his original concepts differs from film to film. On this, there are still some thematic traces… but not a lot else.

It was released in 1986, and there’s no mistaking that – co-star Linda Hamilton’s hair deserves a superstructure of its own, Lalo Schifrin’s score feels generic 80s action, and the whole Knight Rider-esque concept pegs it completely. Tommy Lee Jones – whose every crag and wrinkle you can see in glorious high definition on this new release – doesn’t look like he’s putting much effort into the role, and there are numerous “reaction” shots from him and others that don’t actually depict any reactions.

The movie is based around an amazing car that can… er… go fast… and that’s about it. It then spends the vast majority of the time locked up in villainous Robert Vaughn’s headquarters. Vaughn doesn’t give much of a different performance from his turn in Superman III, but here there’s no Richard Pryor to give us a break – just repeats of footage of Linda Hamilton pretending to be a bad girl who’s been picked up off the streets. There are lots of familiar faces from movies and TV of the period who, pretty much without exception, have given better performances elsewhere – director Harley Cokeliss has a couple of good sequences in him (the death of one particular character) but he’s let down by some truly appalling editing… one part, where Jones’ character is skulking around the villains’ lair, I had to “rewind” to check that the long shot and close ups were meant to be of the same person, given the change in lighting, background etc.

But – and it’s a but as big as Hamilton’s hair – this Arrow release is worth adding to your collection for the extras alone. The commentary is fascinating, if sometimes rather off topic; the interviews with Cokeliss and producer Douglas Curtis occasionally cover the same areas, but each has his own perspective on what went right, and what went wrong; Lalo Schifrin is always worth listening to when talking about his own scores; and the video essay on Carpenter focuses on Carpenter the writer, rather than director, with some interesting insights.

Verdict: Arrow provide the best version visually and aurally we’ll get of this otherwise forgettable caper movie – and surround it with some great special features. 7/10

Paul Simpson