Road Games (1981) [Blu-ray]

I have the Umbrella Australia Edition of the Blu Ray and that's fantastic but I only bought cause there was no American release and I am very pleased to Scream Factory add it there amazingly well-curated catalog. People complain about the price but Scream Factory is the criterion of genre classics and NO ONE ELSE in America is taking the chances on the titles they take a chance on - So support them with you dollars. If the price is too high, wait for the sales they have on their website or other sites. Don't disrespect the company cause you feel its too expensive, cause if that's how you feel - start your own company and license the titles and create extras and put them out yourself at any price you please until then shut up.

Came across this gem a few weeks ago while flipping thru channels when it was on the “Charge!” TV network. I’d never seen it nor heard of it before but was so impressed how different it was and the unusual style. Didn’t get to see the ending – which is just as well because I wanted to see the whole movie uncut and in widescreen if it existed. Fortunately I found the blu-ray on here for a decent price.You can tell Keach had a lot of fun making this movie - you can see it in his performance - and he's stated it's one of his personal favorites.As far as the disc itself, for a relatively unknown movie (at least here in the US), it’s got a lot of extra content, much of it very interesting - especially from the director (Franklin) and the production crew interviews. What’s interesting is you get so see multiple interviews from Keach and Franklin done at different periods of their lives and see how they’ve changed each time. Some of this will probably be fascinating for film students, especially the 2-hr crude video segment from a 1980 lecture which includes the director and composer Brian May (who did the original Mad Max movie soundtracks). One of the extras, “Not quite Hollywood Interviews” is mislabeled as it lists Grant Page (the stunt coordinator and the villain in the movie) as one of them being interviewed - he’s not. But they do included an audio interview with him from a different segment. It’s a bit hard to understand however, because it’s done over the phone. Most, if not all of the film’s shortcomings you will see was due to decisions made at AVCO and the bureaucracy level, not the director’s (like the very last shot in the movie), which you can tell he was not real happy about.As far as the disc quality, I really like it except I wish they hadn’t made it as dark and ‘contrasty.’ I actually like the included HD trailer picture quality better and wished they had redone the whole movie the same way. But overall it’s very clean and excellent overall. Bottom line: this is a great blast from the past and lots of fun to watch.

I first saw "Road Games" in the theater during its initial release; a friend and I had bought tickets to "Caveman", but despite the presence of Ringo Starr, it was so boring we left halfway through. We wandered in to the theater next door and caught the balance of "Road Games" beginning with the hallucination of the eyes in the back of the van. We both enjoyed the film, but I never saw the rest of it until I found it decades later on DVD: it was worth the wait. This is one of the few DVDs I would never part with.I am not a fan of slasher movies, but do like psychological thrillers. Despite the US marketing playing on Jamie Lee Curtis' fame as a horror queen at the time, this is not a slasher movie, but is an homage to Hitchcock on the Australian Outback. Stacy Keach as Pat Quid, an American who drives trucks in Australia (Keach actually learned to drive the truck for the shoot, by the way) steals the show. This was just before his Mike Hammer days, and his classical training in Shakespearian drama aids his array of emotions as he tracks a mysterious killer across Australia. To allow dialogue Keach is paired up with his buddy, Boswell, a dingo (actually an Australian Red dog, which is part dingo) to great effect. The film jumps from light (Keach playing classical music on the harmonica) to the macabre (what is the man in the green van doing and what is in his lunch pail?) Jamie Lee Curtis stars as "Hitch" is a relatively small role; the dynamics between Keach and Curtis worked beautifully, and quantifiably added to the tension in the film.As Keach hauls a load of refrigerated hog carcasses to Perth, he crosses paths with numerous other motorists multiple times to great effect, but it's clear early on that his primary nemesis is the lunatic in the green van who opens the movie with a clever garroting of a young girl with a guitar string. Dialogue from Everett De Roche is sharp ("Why does anybody get up at five in the morning to watch the garbage collectors?") Fortunately Keach is up to the challenge of sometimes complicated and long passages of dialogue ("'Quid'...'Q' as in 'Quartermaster', 'U' as in 'Utopia', 'I' as in 'Ice Cream', and 'D' as in 'Death of a young girl, you cretin!'") Interspersed with the serious plotline of tracking the killer and Quid himself being effectively framed for the murder in a very clever way, there are moments of comic relief involving the other highway motorists, most comically "Captain Careful" who is towing his boat, the "Lady Luck II", on a trailer. It turns out you can drive a semi straight through a boat to great comedic effect.After picking up Hitch (Curtis), they banter about the psychological makeup of the killer and ultimately make a pit stop at a dingy roadside gas station where while dealing with another often-encountered character, "Sneezy Rider", Hitch is kidnapped by the lunatic in the green van while trying to see if the murdered girl's remains are inside. As Keach debates about how the back door to the trailer got opened and why are there 352 pig carcasses versus the pre-departure 350 that were counted, he closes in on the van in a chase scene that gets slower and slower and more and more claustrophobic. Even though it was heavily cut due to time pressures, it is one of director Richard Franklin's true masterstrokes, concluding in a dramatic way where Boswell saves the day by revealing himself to be a dog and not a dingo much to Keach's surprise as he barks to signal the final reveal of the plot in a brilliant conclusion, as dingos can't bark. The film has an added stinger at the very end that Franklin didn't want to do but the producers insisted on to be able to market it more as horror than as suspense. I won't spoil it, but it is the one part of the film I am not totally enthralled with.The DVD comes with loads of worthwhile extras, starting with a great "making of' documentary, "Kangaroo Hitchcock: The Making of 'Road Games'" which features interviews with Franklin and Keach and discusses the project at length. Originally the part of Quid was written for Sean Connery, but unfortunately his salary was greater than the entire $8,000,000 budget of the film (which was the biggest budget Australian film to date) but fortunately they ended up with Keach, who I think was born for the role (and who clearly loved it). Franklin is a great director and explains a lot of directorial choices in a very interesting way; the original storyboards are wonderful. The best extra on the DVD is a commentary track with Franklin and Anchor Bay DVD producer Perry Martin. Simply put, it's one of the best commentary tracks I have ever seen. I was interested that Franklin frequently referred to Keach as the most intellectual actor he worked with (which is why, I suppose, Quid gets away quoting "The Canterbury Tales" and the like); the backstory concerning the union issues involved with this picture were also interesting, though from a more logistical standpoint. There are also a ton of posters, stills, original storyboards, and the screenplay on DVD-ROM included, and all of those are recommended. One final extra are the incredibly detailed star and director biographies: Keach is, in particular, a fascinating person."Road Games" may be a challenge to find, but it really is worth it. It does everything a great suspense thriller should do: it gives clues and sets up situations to maximize tension and builds to a fantastic final reveal which rewards the viewer like few other films in the genre. It is definitely underappreciated, and Richard Franklin and Stacy Keach made what was a good thriller truly great. I love this movie.

I saw this movie on TV years ago, and it is one of those movies that sticks with you. StaceyKeach is outstanding and very believable, as his character takes you on this journey. Sometimes funny, sometimes scary, sometimes claustrophobic. JamieLeeCurtis shows up as a hitch hiker, making the movie even more mysterious. Even at the end of the movie you will wonder, who was really the bad guy.....It is a good mystery movie.

This was a pretty decent flick could have been better but always nice to see Keach do his thangJamie is always a nice addition if you havent seen this one like me it was my first watch its funny in parts and keeps ya guessing but the ending kinda sucks if I recall correctly

I watched this film only because I'm a Jamie Lee Curtis fan. She's not really the star, in spite of her second billing, and is rarely given screen time in it. Stacy Keach does well in a serio-comic role. Not really a thriller. I'm glad I only rented it.

The new blu ray from Australian outfit Umbrella comes with a caveat or two: It claims to be mastered in 4K. That certainly gave me the impression that a very good quality source would be used. It is not. A 35m/m theatrical print, as in a cinema print was used. Not a low contrast print, inter-negative, or inter-positive, etc. But a cinema release print! The results are a far too dark, as you would expect from using a cinema graded print. The contrast is much more extreme than it should be. They assume that with the dynamic range now being far greater than it once was, that they could get away with it. On the plus side, black levels are very good, however, this was not how it should have been sourced in the first place. I can't believe that they could not access the appropriate materials for a proper transfer !? Some worthwhile extras though.

Stacy Keach takes the lead as an american working, with his dingo on the big rigs in Australia, the plot revolves around Keach's encounters with a van driver following the same route across the outback. Throw in several murders of pretty female hitchhikers and it slowly becomes obvious to you and Keech that this van driver is the culprit. Jamie Lee Curtis joins Keach on his adventure as a runaway heiress Hitchhiker and is as charming as ever. Keach has always been a fine actor, better than people give him credit for and with the help of an excellent script he makes a believable lead, theres no point in the film that any of the actors do or say anything that a real person wouldn't do or say in that self same situation. All in all this is a lovely little Ozzy film, full of the kind of little touches that can make an average film into an excellent film, even the moments with just Keach driving through the deserts of Australia that could be just blank moments he keeps the interest up with his constant dialog with his pet Dingo. Give road games a chance, you won't regret it.

I was expecting something different regarding the contents, this probably why I am disappointed. Having more knowledge about this film I would not have bought it.

Love this film, watch it a couple of times a year. Terrific thriller with the vastly underrated Stacy Keach. Hitchcock would've been proud.

ROAD GAMES is a very entertaining Australian thriller from the always interesting director, the late Richard Franklin. It is basically a Hitchcock homage and has a nice light tone to go with the suspenseful situations. Lots of good lighting and interesting camera angles as well - As good as any of the early thrillers from John Carpenter and Brian DePalma. The Anchor Bay US disc quality is excellent and features include a good documentary and a very interesting commentary from the director. Very recommended.