Colibel
Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Cristal
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Woodyanders
A not half bad chase/survival thriller concerning six easygoing California teens on a cross country fun trek who run afoul of a lethal drug dealer gang led by suave, assured, laid-back smoothie Peter Graves and cranky, severe, uptight old bastard Ray Milland when their van breaks down in the middle of the desert. Larry Spiegel's snappy direction keeps the compact narrative zipping along at a reasonably punchy tempo, keeping exposition to a bare minimum, staging the action scenes with praiseworthy vigor (there's an especially stirring and well-mounted motorcycle chase towards the end of the movie), and creating a fair amount of gritty tension. Alex Phillips, Jr.'s slick cinematography makes expert use of expansive helicopter shots and sweeping pans, thus lending this tightly self-contained outing an unexpectedly substantial sense of scope and polish. The remote desert location is likewise finely utilized; it naturally evokes a feeling of grim hopelessness and utter desolation. Moreover, the dope peddlers are a suitably gross and scummy lot, with reliable old pros Graves and Milland making for a perfectly hateful pair of nicely contrasting head slimeballs (Graves in particular shines as a calmly malevolent jerk who hides his true pernicious nature behind a deceptively pleasant and polite veneer). The kids, who include "Hell Night" 's Vincent Van Patten, are a genuinely likable bunch. However, the film never fully develops the necessary hard, sleazy edge required to measure up as a complete trashy exploitation feature contender, but overall still makes for a satisfyingly brisk and efficient item just the same.
The Alexorcist
"Survival Run" has all the elements of a whimsical teen flick: likable young characters get out on their own by taking a road trip, only to be faced with a tough situation that they must overcome as friends.But wait, this ain't no regular teenybopper fare. Enter Peter Graves and Ray Milland, two cantankerous old dudes doing some kind of shady deal out in the desert--not far from where our heroes have lost their van in an offroad accident.Well, push comes to shove. Stuff happens. Gunplay ensues. Will the kids be able to kill the killer old guys? You've gotta watch it to find out.Now, I did enjoy it. But I like these kinds of movies. And I can easily see how someone might not enjoy it. So you've got to judge this one for yourself. If you have low standards and are pre-disposed to liking stupid 80s action/teen movies, I am positively sure you will not completely hate "Survival Run." But if you're a movie snob...stay away from this at all costs. Don't say I didn't warn you.
matt-81
I had the great [mis]fortune to find this on local tv at 3 in the morning this week - and what a treat! At those wee hours of the night, something like this becomes a surreal, dreamlike oddity instead of the bleeding ulcer it would seem in daylight hours. This is a film that is too bad even for MST3K - it makes its own laughs. Your jaw will drop at how absolutely bad - BAD - this things is, and poor Ray Milland is on hand, sleepwalking like Im Ho Tep through this mess. Actually, he just sits in a lawn chair and mumbles much of the time. There is an incredible moment halfway through where the director seems to have gone berserk, asking for all 5 of his protagonists to spout the entire range of tragic pathos: where the film has just had lazy, bad performances, at this point they seem to turn on a dime and try to re-enact scenes from The Trojan Women. It's unbelievable, and I honestly can't figure out how Graves and Milland ended up in it. They were frequently in bad movies, I know, but this is ridiculous! Amateur hour is too good for this, it seems like this was made by a bunch of junior high kids on a weekend. Check it out.
emm
DULL is the word to describe this lost little film made by a studio on poverty row. I'm surprised this had some airplay on TV, but that ain't the point! Boring would be another word to use. Yes, SURVIVAL RUN starts off with a 70s van that is soon going to crash into the deserted wasteland. The lucky teens survive, but fall victim to canyon drug smugglers where they cannot escape alive. Sounds like an exciting thrill, doesn't it? Nope! Not even the action elements would make this any better, which were kinda fun. Like other suspense-action movies of yesteryear, the plot was fair and simple: seeing good win over evil, which has recently become constantly boring this day in age. The lack of superior excitement and a basic plot drowns SURVIVAL RUN into the abyss. Thousands more action films like this one managed to be far better, but this title has easily been dated!
