The Chain Reaction

This was a pleasant surprise I caught on cable one day. Opening a year after Mad Max and with 2 actors Steve Bisley and Hugh Keays-Byrne also from Mad Max this little action/thriller is very entertaining. Aussies really know how to put together some great car chases - lots of V8 engine noises and cameras by the wheel, this movie has at least 2 that beat the crap out of several hundred car chases in American movies. The story might be a little far-fetched but nothing that's intolerable. I gave this one an 8/10, without the car chases a 7.

I saw this at the drive in when it was released, but cant find it these days on DVD, I have fond memories of this film, but am afraid it was another Houseboat Horror!!!! Am I wrong?

The worst part is I cant remember Steve Bisley in this film, sorry Steve! Then again, it may have something to do with the girl I was at the drive in with on this particular night!

What really astounded me at the time was the fact that we (Australians), were starting to make films finally that were not about colonial times, or period drama, but films that were truly able to be considered international, in that they really could have been made anywhere, this was an incredible break through.

I saw this movie at the Roxy Cinema,Parramatta, Sydney Australia in 1980. I thought the action stunts and story were good. Steve Bisley who played Goose in "Mad Max" in one of his early lead roles. Watch out for Mel Gibson in an unbilled role as a mechanic at the beginning of the film.

In Australia, an earthquake damages a nuclear waste storage facility and causes a dangerous leak. Engineer Heinrich Schmidt is badly injured as he tries to stop the leak. The plant boss refuses to warn the public due to adverse publicity. Heinrich manages to escape but his head wound leaves him with only memories from before 1957. He stumbles upon Larry Stilson and his wife Carmel in their vacation cottage.

It's Ozploitation and a cult classic. It has great car action especially two extraordinary chases. I love the placements of the cameras. It's kinetic. It's wildly destructive. It's also dangerous on a few instances. It's great stunt work. These guys are riding on the knife's edge. As for the story, it makes little sense to put Larry and Carmel as the central characters. The lead should be Heinrich. He's the one with the info. Maybe if Heinrich passes on the info to the couple before dying, then they would need to contact the outside world. It's easier if Heinrich is the lead. The plot is a muddle despite being relatively straight forward. All in all, this movie has great car chases which accounts for about fifteen minutes. Those parts are exceptional.

A nuclear plant employee is accidentally showered in radioactive waste and his company wants to hush up the fact the water supply has been contaminated. He escapes and quickly falls under the care of race car driver Larry (Steve Bisley) and his wife Carmel (Arna-Maria Winchester) at their vacation home. Since they are corporate guys, the baddies will stop at nothing to silence the escapee and anyone who helps him. It is THE CHINA SYNDROME with car chases! This one is pretty decent but suffers from a sluggish pace at times and making a straight-forward plot convoluted. There are some nice character touches (the deaf hit-man; Hugh Keays-Byrne's eccentric anti-nuke guy). MAD MAX's George Miller was originally supposed to direct, but didn't. He did do the work on the car chases (uncredited), which are really good but the film could have used more of them. Ian Barry directed and has a good eye and stages some nice shocks. Wish it was more even though. Some guy named Mel Gibson has a two-second cameo.