So refreshing to see an American with real appreciation of the Australian Auto history. Not once did you say "Yeah, but the ... is better than that car". Respect to you sir. 😎
Grant Page sailing his Kwaka 900 off the cliff into the ocean near Wisdom street at Coogee was pretty impressive! The race between the two bikes happens in the back streets of North Sydney/Neutral Bay. The director (Sandy Harbutt, also the undertaker in the film) lived in Bent Street (along the race route) at the time.
@@leslieayling7932 New at the time Z9s were too valuable to ride off cliffs & drop in the ocean. An early Honda 4 was dressed up to present as a 9 & it was the victim of the "sacrifice". I was crazy lucky to live in Beatrice Street Balgowlah Heights in late 1973 when STONE was filming in the Neutral Bay area. The film crew used HQ Holden 1 Tonners with special platforms & railings over the bonnets. My old man was the A-Grade mechanic at the Balgowlah Heights Ampol servo & was getting info on production schedules for shooting the photography. He took my brother & me over the Spit Bridge as the sun rose one Saturday morning & we parked his FB Holden panel van in a sidestreet near Middle Head Road so we could watch the filming of some of the street race scenes. The public really had no idea of what was going on & I don't recall seeing much unuaual police presence. The crew did the "traffic control" themselves & just stood in the road & blocked the flows of traffic using home made yellow & black wooden temporary barriers for each sequence. The bikes had absolutely bizarre custom paint jobs & this was pretty much a new thing at the time which drew a lot of attention from the few of us who were paying attention. My old man reconned the Z9s were standard. He'd seen plenty of them at the servo as they came in for fuel more often than most other bikes. However, at least half a dozen of them had the guts taken out of their mufflers & they sounded ferocious. The narrow streets where they were filming on the day as we stood stunned watching, were twisty & hilly & the 9s couldn't use much more than first & second gear. I saw a few front wheels leave the ground that day & I saw the Holden 1 Tonners getting thrashed trying to keep up with bikes. I was only 11 at the time & what I saw & heard was like life on another planet. I'd never heard an engine that sounded like a huge jug boiling on idle & I'd never ever seen any machine erupt so fiercely & accelerate so rapidly as these wildly painted Japanese bikes. Triumph Twins & big cube Nortons were fairly common around Sydney as I grew up. They'd blast away in the typical common Sydney traffic light Grand Prixs of the time. These raucus Kawasaki things were totally off the planet & later on you'd see one blasting away & zipping through traffic followed by a police Honda Four with blue light & screaching siren getting left for dead. The original Kawasaki Z9 exploded onto us here in Aus in 1973 & they turned the motor cycling world on it's head. For someone to capture these events on film at the time is nothing short of a miracle. Even seasoned bikers at the time were stunned. Nothing could catch a Z9 on the street & it's amazing that they captured this phenomenon in the movie. Die hard lovers of traditionally superior Pommy bikes hated these invasive million miles an hour Jap/alien weapons & reacted badly towards those who rode them. It took a while, but these fiercely powerful & stunningly handsome Japanese bikes eventually gained greater acceptance. Stone, the movie captures these events beautifully. Stone is a brilliantly devised, cleverly created time capsule which showcases a lot of what was headline material at the time. Australia was still heavily involved in the discusting Vietnam War in 1973 and Stone goes above & beyond in recording how things were in Sydney Australia as history was made. Fittingly, the Z9 went on to prove itself as a worthy & capable animal. Kawasaki had really done their homework & their R&D & ambitious attempt at taking the motorcycling world by storm marched on relentlessly. A healthy Z9 is now one of the most valuable, most respected & most saught after "classic" production superbikes on Earth. The Z9 engine & driveline has proven to be almost indestructible whilst it delivered premium performance to hundreds of thousands of proud owners for nearly 50 years. Sandy Harbutt was an absolute genius to see the need to gather the resources & the people he needed to make such a spectacular film. Stone is raw & could be described as somewhat primitive by present day snowflake critics. For those of us who lived through 1970s Australia & who sampled & experienced the kind of events Sandy recorded for posterity, STONE is absolutely GOLDEN. "THEY DID IT TO US, NOW WE'RE GUNNA DO IT TO THEM, SO WHY DON'T YA JUST PISS OFF!" Or something to that effect. THANKYOU SANDY HARBUTT. THANKYOU KAWASAKI. THANKYOU TO HONDA FOR PROVIDING A BENCHMARK... and a 4Banger to ride off a cliff... Anyone who imagines what Australia was like in 1973 is likely to have their mind blown as they watch STONE. It is a must. . . TAKE THE TRIP...
You know you enjoyed a film when a throwaway line gets so stuck in your head that you still use it years later. The line - "Green is nice" is from Running on Empty and I still find myself saying it. Also you cant go past seeing Aunty Jack playing a Cop!
Madmax cinematography is outstanding. I've seen it a hundred times and it still blows me away. Running on empty gets better the more I watch it. No movies like this anymore. What a damn shame.
The Mad Max movies are just awesome, especially the first and second. All the car and bike scenes were totally authentic, they just went and did all that and filmed it. One of my favourite scenes is Goose just riding really fast on his Kawasaki KZ1000 before they ambush him. Him driving and the camera following him really close produced some of the most legendary motorcycle footage ever!
A lot of that Goose's speed run was filmed by a cameraman riding as a pillion, at real speed, with a full size film camera, no helmet, no safety net, no nothing. Not following close behind- actually on the bike. Absolutely NUTS. There's a photo out there of it.
I did the pilgrimage in my XM falcon to as many of the locations as I could track down online. I have a block mounted, large scale print of it parked in front of the Clunes/ Little Jerusalem garage on my loungeroom wall here in Latvia. Damn , I miss that car!
Some of the Mad Max scenes were filmed about 10 minutes from where I live. They don't look a whole lot different after all this time. I also reckon the car chase in *The Big Steal* with the shonky car salesman Gordon Farkas chasing after Danny and Joanna with a caravan still attached on the back. Friggin hilarious! Terrific Oz movie and cast.
The Big Steal 1990 - Steve Bisley, Ben Mendelsohn, Claudia Karvan, Eve von Bibra, Frankie J. Holden. Bloody good movie, 1 look at Claudia Karvan (Joanna) & You'd want to get a better car for her, & Eve von Bibra, of singing group Chantoozies, quite the little hottie too.
Anyone interested in crazy mad Australian movies about insane "car destruction" must watch... THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS, which was a very early direction exercise for Peter Weir. This is one seriously demented movie & it could affect you deeply... After seeing it, you might think twice about taking any detour off the beaten track...
A great New Zealand car chase movie is "GoodBye Pork Pie" New Zealands 80's favourite movie. If you get a chance to watch the whole movie I highly recommend it.
Fun fact, Mel Gibson's stunt double's name was actually Max. Max Aspin. I went to school with his son Shane who stunt doubled for the feral kid in the movie.
10:41 that's "The Great Ocean Road", a 240km long road with some great sights to see, I bet there's a bunch of videos just about the road you can watch.
With the Uluru car explosion scene, it is also the same camping ground that Azaria Chamberlyn baby was taken by the dingo. Great video once again mate, and congratulations on your upcoming little addition to your family.
In my younger years, back in the days of video rentals the 2 movies that my friends and always hired every weekend were Running on empty and Freedom Fun fact the female lead in Running on empty is Deborah Conway lead singer of Australian 80s rock band Do-Re-Mi
That FJ must have had an HR front xmember conversion for disc brakes and a red motor. I hope that red motor w as a 202 ci with a Yella Terra head, triple 1.75 inch SU's, tuned length Pacemaker extractors, a big ass Tighe solid cam and a Mallory twin point dizzy. Is my age showing?
@@Adam-ik4wf But the final chase in Death Proof ain't too shabby- the bonnet ride- hooooooly shit!!!!!You can't see the wires- cos there aren't any! She's amazing- he made the movie to honour her after she did the mad stunts and sword stuff in Kill Bill.
@@ronasaurus74 yeah I haven't seen kill Bill yet but I'll get around to it and most of the time I reckon Quinton likes to keep the stunts as real as possible
Another Aussie movie that could be in this list is Heavens Burning starring a very young Russell Crowe. An outrageous movie with an outrageous plot but some really cool cars from the seventies and eighties
The Torana made me Remember reading an Australian Motoring magazine story where they had an Italian Motoring Journalist test the Torana. He enjoyed the Power but when he tested the Braking it went sideways an almost into a Pole. He said something like "You Australians have an Interesting interpretation of Brake Safety". No ABS and Rear drums that would lock up. Stone a Bike movie with Stunts and 70's Bikes.
🤣 that's what Jeremy Clarkson said to Eric Bana aswell about him being crazy driving in Targa Tasmania with leaf springs in his ford coupe and I agree Stone is a good movie
I've ridden in the 57 from Running on Empty and one the trucks from Midnight Spares. I've seen most of the movies and visited a lot of the locations. What a great list. We need to bring back this style of movie. And just on a side note when Fox crashes his Mopar it can be seen to have a 6 cylinder engine under the bonnet or hood for our American friends.
Old "Piss Off" has a lot of bad luck in that film. The Monaro at the start also suddenly turned into a 6 cylinder after it smashed. Got a cool song in it but: ua-cam.com/video/e_jaxJpeVh4/v-deo.html Just realised I just missed the 40th Anniversary Running on Empty Festival in Cobar, bummer that would have been fun.
@@barrycuda3769 Yep and was 15ft from the concrete barrier it was supposed to have crashed into with a straight front end! 😂 😂 I'm easily into the 30's of times watched, not one person I've shown it to hasn't fallen in love with it.
Soooo, was the '57 as much of a beast as it appeared to be in the movie? I'm betting yes! You can't fake that wicked spinning burnout! And yeah, Fox's Mopar Challenger is still around. Doesn't come out much, but it still lives, just like that! I nearly cry every time I see that XM Falcon get wiped during the final race, didn't look like a bad one. Of course, they were worthless back then.
Metal Skin is very much a modern-Shakespearian style of film, with the cars as setting rather than as characters. It's odd, but still good. Two other outstanding Aussie car films I recommend are 1990's "The Big Steal" starring Ben Mendelsohn, and 1974's "The Cars That Ate Paris" directed by Peter Weir
Parts of Metal Skin can be very, very traumatic for anyone who had a mixed, painful love /hate relationship with their Father, as I did. An abusive alcoholic, but I still loved him. He was a sweet man when he wasn't drinking, but a complete character change when he was, total mindflip.(Get into the time slip)I threw a bit of Rocky Horror in there to lighten things a bit, that was all a bit dark.
"Stone" and "Cars That Ate Paris" are worth a look but for quirkier additions I'd add "The Big Steal" and "Malcolm". The former features Steve Bisley as a shonky used car salesman and (in his more inebriated moments) wearer of fine ladies wear, Gordon Farkarse, and a car chase involving a Nissan Cedric complete with caravan attached. The latter involves an eccentric inventor, Colin Friels, and small-time criminal, John Hargreaves, in an escape from a bank heist in a Honda Z which splits in two and continues through places too narrow for the cars pursuing it
Apart from Mad Max? Running on Empty! Worth watching, especially when Rebel tunes the XY and then his 57 Chev. "Man, those Gazzard boys....them cats are the least! They need a seeing eye dog to find their own arse!"
When The first Mad Max movie came out, I saw it at the Drive In with a couple of my mates. I drove because I drew the short straw (not that it mattered back then, in the days before during driving was a problem!) We went to the drive in every Wednesday night to drink an esky full of Fourex and see whatever was showing at our local Drive In theatre. At the time I had a 1972 XB Falcon Wagon. So driving home after the movie I remember feeling like I was Mad Max, drove like a lunatic all the way back to the house the four of us 18 or 19 year olds were renting.
Yeah used to do that myself once upon a time but now I think that I've matured I get someone else to drive or I ride a pushie at least that way I ain't trying to wind my car's of the clock
One Aussie film that had a small car chase was called Malcom, good humour film but personally car chase films like the original Italian Job, Bullit, The French connection, Duel, Convoy, many of the James Bond films, and top of the list The Dukes of Hazzard.
Good to see freedom made the list it was filmed entirely in adelaide and yes it was rough in those times going on what my mates dad told me. And my mates brother played the baby in that movie towards the end of the movie and his dad showed me the scripts and pictures from behind the scenes and met the guy that drove the black phoenix also i heard the woman in the movie had also passed away too like a few years after the guy
You should check out the awesome Australian documentary "Love the Beast". It's a must-see for all car guys. It's specifically about Eric Bana, and, his XB GT race car, and, his decades long love affair with it. But, it's more generally about ALL gearheads, or, "petrolheads", and, what motivates us.
Candalini STILL wants his hand back. The intercepter was discovered in a car wrecking yard by a young guy, that then rebuilt it back to the condition it was in, in the movie. A massive article was written with decent photos, in the magazine "Street Machine" in Australia.
@@Adam-ik4wf Yes Adam, there is - it's called "Road Games". Stacey Keech was the other lead actor. I already commented on this movie earlier (along with "The Cars that ate Paris"). Cheers.
Ian, in 1975 my then boyfriend and I bought a 1974 SLR 5000 Torana (lime green one). Absolutely loved that car only to have an idiot smash into me and wrote it off. I was devastated. Only 2500 of those made I believe. Now I find out those in mint/original condition have a price tag of up to $750,000 😭 More devastated!
Define 'smash into me'. When driving anywhere, always anticipate other drivers mistakes and drive defensively. The roads are full of drivers you don't know. Another classic car that future Australians won't enjoy!
Yeah we have all had car's that are worth a mint now and kicking ourselves for not still having them but a lot of us wasn't thinking of what they would be worth and then you see people driving around in something you had once and thinking that they are king shit but there is no way il be that stupid to pay a fortune for one of them now like others do especially when I had a Torana 17 years ago took the motor and box out of it sold some parts and then cut the rest up and through it to the tip all because I didn't have the money to fix the front end after sticking it in to a bank 😭😭
Thanks mate, Have only seen a couple on this list, but until I’ve watched them all, running on empty has been my favourite Australian car movie to date. Might add that my overall favourite, is The Steve McQueens movie, Bullit 👌👍
That was awesome Ian! A few on that list I never heard of. Running on Empty is still my favourite. Also I remember seeing the Mad Max car with the blower at Oran Park when I used to go down to watch the touring cars and walk through the pits talking to legendary drivers like Peter Brock and Dick Johnson...
used to walk past a wreckers here in adelaide on the way to the pizza shop and could see this black falcon with what looked like gas bottles in the boot,then i found out a young fella bought it for a 1000 bucks restored it the original mad max car.
All those great cars!!! They were all around when I was a teenager😃 there were cool cars everywhere then. The seventies was a great era in Australia 🌏🪐🍀🌕🙏🌸🇦🇺🦋👣🏡🦉🌴🌹🌹🌹
Fun Fact - The band that played in the FJ Holden movie, Ol' 55 was fronted by Frankie J Holden, side fact, the sax player was Wilbur Wilde who was part of the Hey Hey it's Saturday band. If you watch any of these movies, please excuse the B grade acting, all the money was spent on vehicles and props and not acting lessons. One of the reasons Aussie movies didn't go well is all about budget, and the movie theatres promoting high budget US films, so it ended up a vicious cycle. No money to invest in the films, no return on investment, so even less money and investors to invest in the next one.
I live in Australia and the only movie on that list I have seen was Mad Max. My first car was an 1956 FJ Holden (second hand cost me $200), wish I still had it.
One of the strangest car chase scenes is in the movie Malcolm. I think describing the chase would ruin it. Weird inventor joins forces with a bank robber... Not really a car movie, but still good one, and Australian.
Hi Ian. You should check out some New Zealand car movies. There are 3 that I'll mention, which contain great scenery throughout NZ, as well as good chases, and carnage. 1. Goodbye Pork Pie. 2. Shaker run (starring Leif Garrett) 3. Pork Pie ( a modern remake of Goodbye Pork Pie, produced by the original producers son). Happy hunting. 😎
While we're suggesting movies can I register my surprise at the exclusion of one of the greatest ozzie "car" movies from that list? Where was "The Cars That Ate Paris"? Peter Weirs' feature debut?
*IWrocker, I've had 2 Holden Torana's! My first was a 202ci 6 cylinder LX Torana that was quick, but my 2nd Torry was a 1976 Holden Torana fully chromed 253ci V8 with a Toyota Supra 5 speed manual transmission and a 3.55:1 rear differential. This car was FAAAAAST!!!! (and super fun to boot!)*
I've had 2 SLR's , A HK GTS monaro, An XR falcon GT, numerous XR fairmonts, all with 289's, An XB hardtop , A LJ Torana, A pile of CB750 Honda's and some early Kawasaki's. I currently have A HD holden Ute with a 5 litre V8, AN EJ ute and a EH wagon, also A Z650 Kawasaki and a 1892 GPZ Kawasaki converted into an old school superbike... I wish I still had all the cars I've owned...
Unfortunately I never had access to anything quite like this. Stuck in a tiny armpit of a lake town, on the Missouri/Arkansas border, I always had to indulge my automotive urges with cheap, rusty road zombies. If it was a car someone else gave up on, that's when I would get it. After 20 years of buying, selling, and trading, I ended up with a 76 Chevy Silverado short bed step side. 468,(bored over 454)flat top Pistons, headers, big cam, holley street dominator intake and a 750 demon carb, with a car Saginaw 4 speed. It's rusty, rough around the edges, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
The Leyland brothers 1966 expedition from Australia's far western extremity to its far eastern extreme is another must see! It was done in a pair of very unreliable Land Rovers, and Uluru had record rain that year, making it unusually green. The Leyland brothers were bloody legends! L👀k em up! 🤠👍
Back in the late seventies and early eighties the New South Wales Highway Patrol had Valiant Chargers, they had the E 39 six cylinder engines and the 360 cubic inch V8s. They would never turn them off while on shift as they would not start when hot. They were great in a straight line but they would not go around corners. You could always tell an unmarked highway car, as they all had a mesh metal sun visor fitted. The earlier highway cars were GTR torana's and before that they had Mini Coopers ,later to be replaced by the two door falcon hard top fitted with the old 351cu V8. back in the old days the marked cars were fitted with a single Hella revolving light on top of an illuminated police sign.
I remember seeing the car chase from the movie "Man from Hong Kong" as a young boy of maybe 8 or 10 years old and it scared the crap out of me. The scene seemed so realistic to me at the time, from memory there was no music just the raw sounds of engines and metal on metal. Then the look on drivers' faces one being chased and the other hunting him down sticks vividly in my memory today. It wasn't until this clip that I learned the name of the movie it came from, so now I'm going to have to go back some 45 years later to watch it in full.
The Cars That Ate Paris is another memorable Australian movie that needs a mention. That car covered in spikes like a metal porcupine has to be one of the weirdest cars in movie history.
@@freethinker-- the Movie I'm talking about was shot in Sydney in the late 80's with Johnathan Coleman in it. can't find any reference to it online and yes after searching online I found out about the 1974 original that was shot in California
I'm a little surprised that nobody has made an Australian flavored version of Duel. We have plenty of big trucks and scenery for them to chase cars. It can also be made with a relatively tiny budget.
Yeah, but the original is soooo good, incredibly tight, low budget filmmaking. That truck is sooooo menacing, precisely because it's dirty and old, even for then. It'd almost be sacrilege to remake it. Another American one that's really good, especially good considering it's a TV movie, with a stellar cast, is The California Kid, with a very young Martin Sheen, driving a hot rod that directly influenced how I thought a hot rod SHOULD look, for the rest of my life. "You've got everything under there AND the kitchen sink", I never forgot that line, and the basic story, and I only saw it once , on tv, as a kid, and I'm 55! I just rewatched it, it's on You Tube. That car influenced me even more than Milner's '32, and that's an ask!
My former father-in-law actually owned the Challenger used in Running on Empty before selling it for the movie. Also, one of the Mission Impossible movies (can't remember which one) was filmed in Australia and had Tom Cruise being chased on a motorbike by bad guys in Ford Falcons.
running on empty and midnite spares are my two favourite. another one worth mentioning is a bike movie called shame with a woman on a suzuki katana. one of my favourite american car movies is moonrunners the precursor to dukes of hazzard.
MAD MAX and MAD MAX 2 are my favourite Australian movies. Most of these I have seen as it was in my late teens and early 20's but I highly recomend "midnight spares" and "running on empty". The GTHO rego GTH-351 in running on empty was owned by a guy whom was pretty popular around sydney at the time. Mikes place was near the st george boat club in san souci, dolls point in sydney where I use to hang out with a CB radio club. I know all of the places filmed in both movies as they were my stomping ground. Do yourself a favour mate and try to get a copy of each, very 80's but very much worth the watch 😎👍
Hahahaha sweet. I remember my dad making me watch running on empty when I was little, haven't seen that movie in so a good 20 years. My grandfather owns one of those 71 xygt falcons and he'd kill me for even looking at it
@@robertschrader3941 I remember watching it on a VHS copy over and over again 😅 if I was home sick from school I'd be watching running on empty or old v8 supercar replays
Another car chase movie from downunder (New Zealand) is Goodbye Pork Pie 1981. It was a chase of a Mini from one end of the county to the other. The original was by far the best.
As for other car chases: Bullitt; both versions of Vanishing Point; both of the Blues Brothers movies; both of the Italian Job movies; the Transporter movies; the Bourne movies; and not to forget the James Bond movies, and the list goes on...
Yeah, the late 70's early 80's, were huge for 'car culture' here. Aussie movies tended to be low budget then, so it was often all about the cars and not much else, lol. It's cool to watch them now though. Just want to add that I love that Uluru still impresses you, someone else that was here recently (who may or may not have been referenced here at some point) didn't bother with much of the natural wonders and has voiced concerns over going there on the next visit, as it may be very underwhelming. OK mate 🤣 Love to you and the fam.
The LTD in chase #4 was special. The "popup" headlights were vacumn powered. They wre a real nightmare to maintain. Running on Empty... the 57 chevy did start out life as a 57 210 4 door. They moved the B pillar back about 6". Fun fact about the female star of the movie, Deborah Conway. She would go on to have a fantastic music career here in Australia during the 80s.
One of my favourite chase scenes from down under wasn't Australian but from New Zealand, in a 1980 movie called Goodbye Pork Pie. After running a red light in Wellington, three people in a stolen Mini attract the attention of the local cops, and have a chase through the capital city, past the beehive, through the train station (most likely as a nod to the classic film "The Italian Job"). I won't spoil it from here other than the chase effectively runs from one end of New Zealand to the other off and on, from Kaitaia to Invercargill. If you can find it, watch it!
The NASCAR is most likely borrowed from the Australian NASCAR Championship which ran in the 80s and 90s. Can't remember who drove the Valvoline car here though.
There's a awesome 1977 UK TV Series called "C.I.5 The Professionals" that is one of my favourite tv shows & has some terrific driving scenes. I did hear that the reason the series was canceled was due to the actors not remembering lines while driving so fast.
There is one movie you have to see it has car chases its The Big Steal its a Australian comedy its about a boy named Danny who wants two things in life more than anything else, one is a Jaguar and the other is Joanna Johnson. After Danny's parents give him their beloved Nissan Cedric, Danny works up the courage to ask Joanna out on a date.... One problem! He tells her that he owns a Jaguar, and to prove otherwise, he trades in the Cedric for an early model Jag. At the car yard he is conned into believing he is getting the deal of the century by the salesman, Gordon Farkas
Not on that list is The Cars that ate Paris, and Alvin Purple in his Purple Charger. The documentary mentioned 'Not Quite Hollywood ' is a superb production possibly available on SBS on demand or ABC IView. It features Quentin Tarrentino reviewing Australian Ozploitation films; Quite a new film genre.
Hey mate I’m an Aussie! Just wanted to say thanks for calling it a “Ute” haha spot on.. Plus I’m just answering your interest in the “NASCAR” here in Australia we have V8 Supercars, so in that movie metal skin, I believe it’s a replica v8 supercar of the time, some times guys would copy the trend for drags and other motorsports, it was always a bit try hard to see on the road, so if you looked like that, you would want to be bloody quick! Its great to see some of the old cars even in this re-cap. You wouldn’t believe what a Torana is worth these days.. XU 1 around $150,000 and a genuine STR 5000 Upwards of $180,000. Genuine XY falcon GTHO $300,000 Plus… cool to see but out of my price range… anyways good on ya cheers 🍻
Nah, it’s a real NASCAR, at the time Bob Jane had the Thunderdome running and we had our own NASCAR series as well as AUSCAR that used modified XF falcons and VL Commodores.
Ohhh really! There you go, it’s a bit before my time, plus I’m in WA so I’m just relating to the local scene, I wasn’t aware of NASCAR/AUSCAR situation! Always learning 👍
Excellent … many a smile and memory watching these all great movies no matter how many times I have seen them and lived it… the only movie from that ilk was “Stone…by Sandy Harbutt” one of the all time classics just on bikes and your uncle would cream his jeans as they used kawaki Z1 900 bikes (Stone rode a a Norton) Quentin Tarantino loved this movie….bloody magical…..
An Australian pioneering motorcycle movie from 1974 was Stone. Lots of Kawasaki 900 machines in it. A summary of the film better than I could possibly do : ua-cam.com/video/UWp5hJMegXQ/v-deo.html Lots of connections with later films.
I love running from the guns I thought it was a great movie especially as it had Jon Blake in it.. as not long after he was in a terrible car accident when he was coming back from doing the movie The Light horsemen in 1987…
Hi Ian, awesome video, I've seen all of the movies, they are all classic Aussie movies, Mad Max is awesome, being a Ford man, if you haven't seen Mad Max 2. I highly recommend it, and Running on empty. I have that movie to. I highly recommend it as well. They are all great movies. I had a Kawasaki 900 too worked to a 1000, I wished I never sold it,. This was about early 90's . If you want to see an Aussie movie with a lot of those Kawasaki's you have to watch the movie, Stone. Keep up the good work from Dave in Australia.
G'day IWrocker - just come across your channel and been binge watching. Great stuff. You've done a few on Isle of Man TT and have probably seen Guy Martin, but if not his 'Guy looks back at his legendary lap of the TT' is worth a watch. Awesome vids man, cheers from Adelaide.
Running on empty is definitely a must see movie. Keep an eye out in one of the opening scenes when a V8 Holden Monaro crashes in a drag race, the bonnet flies off and you can clearly see a single chrome rocker cover on a straight six engine. The star car in this movie is a now almost priceless XYGT (SHAKER) Falcon which is destroyed. I have heard this was in fact a genuine GT, not a replica. The other star car in this movie is one of the meanest 57 Chevs One could only dream of owning.
You're right to lust after Toranas. I only owned a 202ci 6cyl LX Hatch, but because they were so lightweight 1215kg (2678lb) the performance and handling are excellent 👍 On long trips I'd sit on 140kmh (87mph) on back roads for hours and it drove like a dream. Miss the hell out of that car !😭
I used to drive tow trucks part time back in the eighties ( in Australia) and if I was lucky I got to drive a 308cu V8 Holden one toner four speed manual, ran rings around my usual slant six powered long wheel base Dodge.
It was a long wheel based four speed no synchro first gear beast. But it started every time. It was probably the slowest tow truck in Blacktown. On a side note , back in the day the old highway boys would be out for a few favours and ring the opposition they were in cahoot's with, I was doing a trade tow and had one on the hook when I drove up on an accident. The highway boys were already there and I pulled up. The foresaid highway guy said 'who rang you ?', I replied I was just driving by. He told me to keep going as I had one on the hook. I said not a problem I will just drop it and do the paperwork to pick up one of the damaged cars. As I had already radioed back to base two other trucks turned up and we got them both. But I had to endure a full tow truck drivers authority check and towing authority book check. Looks like he missed out on his bonus.
So refreshing to see an American with real appreciation of the Australian Auto history. Not once did you say "Yeah, but the ... is better than that car". Respect to you sir. 😎
Stone is an interesting Aussie movie, from 1974. Another Tarantino favourite. It has one of the great motorcycle stunts of all time.
George Miller before Mad Max. Stone is a must-see if you love Aussie cinema.
That funeral profession in stone is gold
Oh! I had forgotten this film! Thankyou for the reminder.
Grant Page sailing his Kwaka 900 off the cliff into the ocean near Wisdom street at Coogee was pretty impressive! The race between the two bikes happens in the back streets of North Sydney/Neutral Bay. The director (Sandy Harbutt, also the undertaker in the film) lived in Bent Street (along the race route) at the time.
@@leslieayling7932
New at the time Z9s were too valuable to ride off cliffs & drop in the ocean. An early Honda 4 was dressed up to present as a 9 & it was the victim of the "sacrifice". I was crazy lucky to live in Beatrice Street Balgowlah Heights in late 1973 when STONE was filming in the Neutral Bay area. The film crew used HQ Holden 1 Tonners with special platforms & railings over the bonnets. My old man was the A-Grade mechanic at the Balgowlah Heights Ampol servo & was getting info on production schedules for shooting the photography. He took my brother & me over the Spit Bridge as the sun rose one Saturday morning & we parked his FB Holden panel van in a sidestreet near Middle Head Road so we could watch the filming of some of the street race scenes. The public really had no idea of what was going on & I don't recall seeing much unuaual police presence. The crew did the "traffic control" themselves & just stood in the road & blocked the flows of traffic using home made yellow & black wooden temporary barriers for each sequence. The bikes had absolutely bizarre custom paint jobs & this was pretty much a new thing at the time which drew a lot of attention from the few of us who were paying attention. My old man reconned the Z9s were standard. He'd seen plenty of them at the servo as they came in for fuel more often than most other bikes. However, at least half a dozen of them had the guts taken out of their mufflers & they sounded ferocious. The narrow streets where they were filming on the day as we stood stunned watching, were twisty & hilly & the 9s couldn't use much more than first & second gear. I saw a few front wheels leave the ground that day & I saw the Holden 1 Tonners getting thrashed trying to keep up with bikes. I was only 11 at the time & what I saw & heard was like life on another planet. I'd never heard an engine that sounded like a huge jug boiling on idle & I'd never ever seen any machine erupt so fiercely & accelerate so rapidly as these wildly painted Japanese bikes. Triumph Twins & big cube Nortons were fairly common around Sydney as I grew up. They'd blast away in the typical common Sydney traffic light Grand Prixs of the time. These raucus Kawasaki things were totally off the planet & later on you'd see one blasting away & zipping through traffic followed by a police Honda Four with blue light & screaching siren getting left for dead.
The original Kawasaki Z9 exploded onto us here in Aus in 1973 & they turned the motor cycling world on it's head. For someone to capture these events on film at the time is nothing short of a miracle. Even seasoned bikers at the time were stunned. Nothing could catch a Z9 on the street & it's amazing that they captured this phenomenon in the movie. Die hard lovers of traditionally superior Pommy bikes hated these invasive million miles an hour Jap/alien weapons & reacted badly towards those who rode them. It took a while, but these fiercely powerful & stunningly handsome Japanese bikes eventually gained greater acceptance. Stone, the movie captures these events beautifully. Stone is a brilliantly devised, cleverly created time capsule which showcases a lot of what was headline material at the time. Australia was still heavily involved in the discusting Vietnam War in 1973 and Stone goes above & beyond in recording how things were in Sydney Australia as history was made.
Fittingly, the Z9 went on to prove itself as a worthy & capable animal. Kawasaki had really done their homework & their R&D & ambitious attempt at taking the motorcycling world by storm marched on relentlessly. A healthy Z9 is now one of the most valuable, most respected & most saught after "classic" production superbikes on Earth. The Z9 engine & driveline has proven to be almost indestructible whilst it delivered premium performance to hundreds of thousands of proud owners for nearly 50 years.
Sandy Harbutt was an absolute genius to see the need to gather the resources & the people he needed to make such a spectacular film. Stone is raw & could be described as somewhat primitive by present day snowflake critics. For those of us who lived through 1970s Australia & who sampled & experienced the kind of events Sandy recorded for posterity, STONE is absolutely GOLDEN.
"THEY DID IT TO US, NOW WE'RE GUNNA DO IT TO THEM, SO WHY DON'T YA JUST PISS OFF!" Or something to that effect.
THANKYOU SANDY HARBUTT.
THANKYOU KAWASAKI.
THANKYOU TO HONDA FOR PROVIDING A BENCHMARK... and a 4Banger to ride off a cliff...
Anyone who imagines what Australia was like in 1973 is likely to have their mind blown as they watch STONE. It is a must. . . TAKE THE TRIP...
You know you enjoyed a film when a throwaway line gets so stuck in your head that you still use it years later. The line - "Green is nice" is from Running on Empty and I still find myself saying it. Also you cant go past seeing Aunty Jack playing a Cop!
Aunty Jack. I’ll rip your arms off stick em in your ears and ride ya like a motorbike. 😂😂
Who brought the Spag
@@glen.d6435 another great line. Also - Don't burn the snatch.
"Don't give me the shits boy!"
I love to dig the hue …….
Madmax cinematography is outstanding. I've seen it a hundred times and it still blows me away. Running on empty gets better the more I watch it. No movies like this anymore. What a damn shame.
I completely agree. What a blast this movie is after all this years.
My kid's stole my box set of Mad Max and claimed them for them selves I think that they have worn-out the DVDs 🤣
Spotto a 57 Tchevy tudor, a blown 57 Tchevy tudor......
The Mad Max movies are just awesome, especially the first and second. All the car and bike scenes were totally authentic, they just went and did all that and filmed it.
One of my favourite scenes is Goose just riding really fast on his Kawasaki KZ1000 before they ambush him. Him driving and the camera following him really close produced some of the most legendary motorcycle footage ever!
At Silverton a little town near Broken Hill , where they filmed the parts of the first Mad Max there is a Mad Max museum.
A lot of that Goose's speed run was filmed by a cameraman riding as a pillion, at real speed, with a full size film camera, no helmet, no safety net, no nothing. Not following close behind- actually on the bike. Absolutely NUTS. There's a photo out there of it.
@@ronasaurus74 Exactly! Doesn't get more original than that!
Kick it in the guts Barry !
I did the pilgrimage in my XM falcon to as many of the locations as I could track down online. I have a block mounted, large scale print of it parked in front of the Clunes/ Little Jerusalem garage on my loungeroom wall here in Latvia. Damn , I miss that car!
Some of the Mad Max scenes were filmed about 10 minutes from where I live. They don't look a whole lot different after all this time. I also reckon the car chase in *The Big Steal* with the shonky car salesman Gordon Farkas chasing after Danny and Joanna with a caravan still attached on the back. Friggin hilarious! Terrific Oz movie and cast.
The Big Steal 1990 - Steve Bisley, Ben Mendelsohn, Claudia Karvan, Eve von Bibra, Frankie J. Holden. Bloody good movie, 1 look at Claudia Karvan (Joanna) & You'd want to get a better car for her, & Eve von Bibra, of singing group Chantoozies, quite the little hottie too.
There's another weird Aussie car movie which has some memorable vehicles. The Cars That Ate Paris.
The Cars that ate Paris was shot in Sofala NSW not far from Bathurst
Not a car chase movie but worth a watch, very weird! lots of insane car mods.
And don't forget Malcolm
I tried twice to watch it and only lasted about 10 minutes each time as it was so boring.
@@cshep1531 bad boy bubby is a great movie🤣👉
Aussie made cars were great, wish manufacturing would come back
Anyone interested in crazy mad Australian movies about insane "car destruction" must watch...
THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS, which was a very early direction exercise for Peter Weir. This is one seriously demented movie & it could affect you deeply... After seeing it, you might think twice about taking any detour off the beaten track...
A great New Zealand car chase movie is "GoodBye Pork Pie" New Zealands 80's favourite movie. If you get a chance to watch the whole movie I highly recommend it.
Fun fact, Mel Gibson's stunt double's name was actually Max. Max Aspin. I went to school with his son Shane who stunt doubled for the feral kid in the movie.
What a cool and super random thing!! 👍🏻🖤🏴☠️
growing up, my parents said i looked like that feral kid!
10:41 that's "The Great Ocean Road", a 240km long road with some great sights to see, I bet there's a bunch of videos just about the road you can watch.
With the Uluru car explosion scene, it is also the same camping ground that Azaria Chamberlyn baby was taken by the dingo. Great video once again mate, and congratulations on your upcoming little addition to your family.
In my younger years, back in the days of video rentals the 2 movies that my friends and always hired every weekend were Running on empty and Freedom
Fun fact the female lead in Running on empty is Deborah Conway lead singer of Australian 80s rock band Do-Re-Mi
That FJ must have had an HR front xmember conversion for disc brakes and a red motor. I hope that red motor w
as a 202 ci with a Yella Terra head, triple 1.75 inch SU's, tuned length Pacemaker extractors, a big ass Tighe solid cam and a Mallory twin point dizzy.
Is my age showing?
I saw that interview with Quentin Tarantino where he said, 'The Aussies do the best car crashes in films.'
Is the interview in the special features of his death proof movie
A little bit of Quentin Tarantino talking about The Man from Hong Kong ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
@@anthonypirera7598 and I've got that on my saved list
@@Adam-ik4wf But the final chase in Death Proof ain't too shabby- the bonnet ride- hooooooly shit!!!!!You can't see the wires- cos there aren't any! She's amazing- he made the movie to honour her after she did the mad stunts and sword stuff in Kill Bill.
@@ronasaurus74 yeah I haven't seen kill Bill yet but I'll get around to it and most of the time I reckon Quinton likes to keep the stunts as real as possible
Another Aussie movie that could be in this list is Heavens Burning starring a very young Russell Crowe. An outrageous movie with an outrageous plot but some really cool cars from the seventies and eighties
The Torana made me Remember reading an Australian Motoring magazine story where they had an Italian Motoring Journalist test the Torana. He enjoyed the Power but when he tested the Braking it went sideways an almost into a Pole. He said something like "You Australians have an Interesting interpretation of Brake Safety". No ABS and Rear drums that would lock up. Stone a Bike movie with Stunts and 70's Bikes.
🤣 that's what Jeremy Clarkson said to Eric Bana aswell about him being crazy driving in Targa Tasmania with leaf springs in his ford coupe and I agree Stone is a good movie
@@Adam-ik4wf nothing wrong with leaf springs, We Aussies know how to make 'em work.
@@neilf1059 yeah I've had them in a lot of cars from v8 Valiant's, Holden's, Ford's and to hilux's and LandCruiser's
Midnite Spares also featured a Leyland P76 4-door sedan - urguably the most unusual vehicle to feature in an Australian movie car chase scene.
Very underrated and undeservedly-maligned car. Very light and great handling and power for the day, very nice car!
And can fit a full 44 gallon drum in the boot 😂
I've ridden in the 57 from Running on Empty and one the trucks from Midnight Spares. I've seen most of the movies and visited a lot of the locations. What a great list. We need to bring back this style of movie. And just on a side note when Fox crashes his Mopar it can be seen to have a 6 cylinder engine under the bonnet or hood for our American friends.
Old "Piss Off" has a lot of bad luck in that film. The Monaro at the start also suddenly turned into a 6 cylinder after it smashed. Got a cool song in it but: ua-cam.com/video/e_jaxJpeVh4/v-deo.html
Just realised I just missed the 40th Anniversary Running on Empty Festival in Cobar, bummer that would have been fun.
I think the Challenger turned into a VJ valiant ' didnt it?
and the monaro in the first race with the magic on,off bonnet.lol
@@barrycuda3769 Yep and was 15ft from the concrete barrier it was supposed to have crashed into with a straight front end! 😂 😂 I'm easily into the 30's of times watched, not one person I've shown it to hasn't fallen in love with it.
Soooo, was the '57 as much of a beast as it appeared to be in the movie? I'm betting yes! You can't fake that wicked spinning burnout! And yeah, Fox's Mopar Challenger is still around. Doesn't come out much, but it still lives, just like that! I nearly cry every time I see that XM Falcon get wiped during the final race, didn't look like a bad one. Of course, they were worthless back then.
Metal Skin is very much a modern-Shakespearian style of film, with the cars as setting rather than as characters. It's odd, but still good.
Two other outstanding Aussie car films I recommend are 1990's "The Big Steal" starring Ben Mendelsohn, and 1974's "The Cars That Ate Paris" directed by Peter Weir
Parts of Metal Skin can be very, very traumatic for anyone who had a mixed, painful love /hate relationship with their Father, as I did. An abusive alcoholic, but I still loved him. He was a sweet man when he wasn't drinking, but a complete character change when he was, total mindflip.(Get into the time slip)I threw a bit of Rocky Horror in there to lighten things a bit, that was all a bit dark.
Aw yeah- Cars That Ate Paris. Semi veggies, and Full veggies- unforgettable stuff!
"Stone" and "Cars That Ate Paris" are worth a look but for quirkier additions I'd add "The Big Steal" and "Malcolm". The former features Steve Bisley as a shonky used car salesman and (in his more inebriated moments) wearer of fine ladies wear, Gordon Farkarse, and a car chase involving a Nissan Cedric complete with caravan attached. The latter involves an eccentric inventor, Colin Friels, and small-time criminal, John Hargreaves, in an escape from a bank heist in a Honda Z which splits in two and continues through places too narrow for the cars pursuing it
Apart from Mad Max? Running on Empty! Worth watching, especially when Rebel tunes the XY and then his 57 Chev. "Man, those Gazzard boys....them cats are the least! They need a seeing eye dog to find their own arse!"
I like the lines.
"What's your name mate?"
"PISS OFF!!!!"
Pisoff??, pisoff's a polish name isn't it?.
@@watsisbuttndo829 Rammer.
Don't burnt the snatch Kev.
Midnite Spares is worth a watch , Quentin Tarantino loves it , one of his faves . I luv it .
Quentin Tarantino talking about The Man from Hong Kong ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
When The first Mad Max movie came out, I saw it at the Drive In with a couple of my mates. I drove because I drew the short straw (not that it mattered back then, in the days before during driving was a problem!) We went to the drive in every Wednesday night to drink an esky full of Fourex and see whatever was showing at our local Drive In theatre. At the time I had a 1972 XB Falcon Wagon. So driving home after the movie I remember feeling like I was Mad Max, drove like a lunatic all the way back to the house the four of us 18 or 19 year olds were renting.
Four X (XXXX) because Queenslanders couldn't spell beer lol
You must be an old schooler, like me 😂
Yeah used to do that myself once upon a time but now I think that I've matured I get someone else to drive or I ride a pushie at least that way I ain't trying to wind my car's of the clock
Saw it at the Taree drive in, not a stock car in the place. A magic night burned into my memory.
One Aussie film that had a small car chase was called Malcom, good humour film but personally car chase films like the original Italian Job, Bullit, The French connection, Duel, Convoy, many of the James Bond films, and top of the list The Dukes of Hazzard.
Good to see freedom made the list it was filmed entirely in adelaide and yes it was rough in those times going on what my mates dad told me. And my mates brother played the baby in that movie towards the end of the movie and his dad showed me the scripts and pictures from behind the scenes and met the guy that drove the black phoenix also i heard the woman in the movie had also passed away too like a few years after the guy
Hi Ian, just as a matter of interest, the Chrysler Valiant was also known as a "Greek Mercedes"
You should check out the awesome Australian documentary "Love the Beast". It's a must-see for all car guys. It's specifically about Eric Bana, and, his XB GT race car, and, his decades long love affair with it. But, it's more generally about ALL gearheads, or, "petrolheads", and, what motivates us.
Yes, a nice one.
I've seen Fj Holden, Dead-End Drive-in, The Man From Hong Kong, Midnite Spares, Running on Empty, and of course, Mad Max. All were fun movies.
The first few minutes of FJ Holden are funny as fk in a perverted way. Classic Oz.
The Liam Neeson movie ‘Black light’ had its car chase scenes shot in Canberra. I remember looking out the window at work and watching them
Candalini STILL wants his hand back.
The intercepter was discovered in a car wrecking yard by a young guy, that then rebuilt it back to the condition it was in, in the movie.
A massive article was written with decent photos, in the magazine "Street Machine" in Australia.
An all time international favourite has to be the American flick "Duel".
There's another one similar to that I think that was made in Australia with Jamie Lee Curtis in it
@@Adam-ik4wf Yes Adam, there is - it's called "Road Games". Stacey Keech was the other lead actor. I already commented on this movie earlier (along with "The Cars that ate Paris"). Cheers.
Ian, in 1975 my then boyfriend and I bought a 1974 SLR 5000 Torana (lime green one). Absolutely loved that car only to have an idiot smash into me and wrote it off. I was devastated. Only 2500 of those made I believe. Now I find out those in mint/original condition have a price tag of up to $750,000 😭 More devastated!
😭😭😭 from Adelaide 🐨
Define 'smash into me'. When driving anywhere, always anticipate other drivers mistakes and drive defensively. The roads are full of drivers you don't know.
Another classic car that future Australians won't enjoy!
Yeah we have all had car's that are worth a mint now and kicking ourselves for not still having them but a lot of us wasn't thinking of what they would be worth and then you see people driving around in something you had once and thinking that they are king shit but there is no way il be that stupid to pay a fortune for one of them now like others do especially when I had a Torana 17 years ago took the motor and box out of it sold some parts and then cut the rest up and through it to the tip all because I didn't have the money to fix the front end after sticking it in to a bank 😭😭
Thanks mate, Have only seen a couple on this list, but until I’ve watched them all, running on empty has been my favourite Australian car movie to date. Might add that my overall favourite, is The Steve McQueens movie, Bullit 👌👍
About time, Running on empty! Is the best
hell yes!
"Green...green is nice!"
@@kevkoala beat me to it lol 👍
My first pic then fj Holden and mad max 3rd
@@sandgroperwookiee65 There's a lots of good lines from Running on Empty..."What's your name?" "Piss off!" "Piss Off? Isn't that a Polish name?"
That was awesome Ian! A few on that list I never heard of. Running on Empty is still my favourite. Also I remember seeing the Mad Max car with the blower at Oran Park when I used to go down to watch the touring cars and walk through the pits talking to legendary drivers like Peter Brock and Dick Johnson...
used to walk past a wreckers here in adelaide on the way to the pizza shop and could see this black falcon with what looked like gas bottles in the boot,then i found out a young fella bought it for a 1000 bucks restored it the original mad max car.
If you can find it. Shaker Run. From New Zealand.
Damn this brings back my misspent youth sigh the good old days, fast cars and fast girls and heaps of wasted money. But it was fun fun fun.
Running on empty is my all time favourite Aussie chase movie
All those great cars!!! They were all around when I was a teenager😃 there were cool cars everywhere then. The seventies was a great era in Australia 🌏🪐🍀🌕🙏🌸🇦🇺🦋👣🏡🦉🌴🌹🌹🌹
Fun Fact - The band that played in the FJ Holden movie, Ol' 55 was fronted by Frankie J Holden, side fact, the sax player was Wilbur Wilde who was part of the Hey Hey it's Saturday band.
If you watch any of these movies, please excuse the B grade acting, all the money was spent on vehicles and props and not acting lessons.
One of the reasons Aussie movies didn't go well is all about budget, and the movie theatres promoting high budget US films, so it ended up a vicious cycle. No money to invest in the films, no return on investment, so even less money and investors to invest in the next one.
Death Cheaters is best opening chase scene done by Grant Page. Very hard to get.
Not Quite Hollywood is also a great documentary about Australian cinema - which is referenced in this video
Just a little bit more about The Man from Hong Kong with Quentin Tarantino ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
I watched metal skin at the drive inn when it came out, and I drove my 1977 LX Torana to get there. That was MANY moons ago.
I live in Australia and the only movie on that list I have seen was Mad Max. My first car was an 1956 FJ Holden (second hand cost me $200), wish I still had it.
Another unmentioned classic Aussie car chase movie has to be Welcome To Woop Woop, featuring an old mine dump truck and a VW kombi
Hey, what happened to "The Cars that ate Paris" and "Road Games" ??????????
One of the strangest car chase scenes is in the movie Malcolm.
I think describing the chase would ruin it.
Weird inventor joins forces with a bank robber...
Not really a car movie, but still good one, and Australian.
Yeah that is a good movie Ian would enjoy
Hi Ian. You should check out some New Zealand car movies.
There are 3 that I'll mention, which contain great scenery throughout NZ, as well as good chases, and carnage.
1. Goodbye Pork Pie.
2. Shaker run (starring Leif Garrett)
3. Pork Pie ( a modern remake of Goodbye Pork Pie, produced by the original producers son).
Happy hunting. 😎
good bye pork pie the 1st one truly some up the word freedom
Shaker run is awesome
Cool, I'll try to find 'em. Thanks!
While we're suggesting movies can I register my surprise at the exclusion of one of the greatest ozzie "car" movies from that list?
Where was "The Cars That Ate Paris"? Peter Weirs' feature debut?
*IWrocker, I've had 2 Holden Torana's! My first was a 202ci 6 cylinder LX Torana that was quick, but my 2nd Torry was a 1976 Holden Torana fully chromed 253ci V8 with a Toyota Supra 5 speed manual transmission and a 3.55:1 rear differential. This car was FAAAAAST!!!! (and super fun to boot!)*
I've had 2 SLR's , A HK GTS monaro, An XR falcon GT, numerous XR fairmonts, all with 289's, An XB hardtop , A LJ Torana, A pile of CB750 Honda's and some early Kawasaki's. I currently have A HD holden Ute with a 5 litre V8, AN EJ ute and a EH wagon, also A Z650 Kawasaki and a 1892 GPZ Kawasaki converted into an old school superbike... I wish I still had all the cars I've owned...
Unfortunately I never had access to anything quite like this. Stuck in a tiny armpit of a lake town, on the Missouri/Arkansas border, I always had to indulge my automotive urges with cheap, rusty road zombies. If it was a car someone else gave up on, that's when I would get it. After 20 years of buying, selling, and trading, I ended up with a 76 Chevy Silverado short bed step side. 468,(bored over 454)flat top Pistons, headers, big cam, holley street dominator intake and a 750 demon carb, with a car Saginaw 4 speed. It's rusty, rough around the edges, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Only one question, where the hell is The Cars that Ate Paris? when we got to number 4 I was sure that would be number 3 followed by the actual top 2.
The Leyland brothers 1966 expedition from Australia's far western extremity to its far eastern extreme is another must see! It was done in a pair of very unreliable Land Rovers, and Uluru had record rain that year, making it unusually green. The Leyland brothers were bloody legends!
L👀k em up! 🤠👍
Back in the late seventies and early eighties the New South Wales Highway Patrol had Valiant Chargers, they had the E 39 six cylinder engines and the 360 cubic inch V8s. They would never turn them off while on shift as they would not start when hot. They were great in a straight line but they would not go around corners. You could always tell an unmarked highway car, as they all had a mesh metal sun visor fitted. The earlier highway cars were GTR torana's and before that they had Mini Coopers ,later to be replaced by the two door falcon hard top fitted with the old 351cu V8. back in the old days the marked cars were fitted with a single Hella revolving light on top of an illuminated police sign.
I'm still coming to terms with the fact a Toyota Crown was in one of those movies 😆
I remember seeing the car chase from the movie "Man from Hong Kong" as a young boy of maybe 8 or 10 years old and it scared the crap out of me. The scene seemed so realistic to me at the time, from memory there was no music just the raw sounds of engines and metal on metal. Then the look on drivers' faces one being chased and the other hunting him down sticks vividly in my memory today. It wasn't until this clip that I learned the name of the movie it came from, so now I'm going to have to go back some 45 years later to watch it in full.
A little bit more about The Man from Hong Kong and with Quentin Tarantino ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
Man from Hong Kong had one of the first hang gliding filming over the city of Hong Kong and had a hit theme song that went to number one.
The Cars That Ate Paris is another memorable Australian movie that needs a mention. That car covered in spikes like a metal porcupine has to be one of the weirdest cars in movie history.
It was used as inspiration for the arena war vehicles in GTA 5
@@jamesaustralian9829 I didn't know that but I am not surprised. Once you see it you can never forget it.
Hurts what happens to that beautiful DeSoto though 😢
The Echidna VW Beetle featured heavily in the film promotion but is hardly seen in the movie itself.
there's a movie missing from the list, the original "Gone in 60 seconds" filmed in Sydney with Johnathan Coleman
Didn't know that was filmed in Sydney
It was filmed in California on a low budget, I've seen a documentary about the film, anyway it does have an awesome car chase.
@@freethinker-- the Movie I'm talking about was shot in Sydney in the late 80's with Johnathan Coleman in it. can't find any reference to it online and yes after searching online I found out about the 1974 original that was shot in California
My first car was an XB v8 Coupe because of the Mad Max Movie. if only I still had it : (
I'm a little surprised that nobody has made an Australian flavored version of Duel. We have plenty of big trucks and scenery for them to chase cars. It can also be made with a relatively tiny budget.
Yeah, but the original is soooo good, incredibly tight, low budget filmmaking. That truck is sooooo menacing, precisely because it's dirty and old, even for then. It'd almost be sacrilege to remake it. Another American one that's really good, especially good considering it's a TV movie, with a stellar cast, is The California Kid, with a very young Martin Sheen, driving a hot rod that directly influenced how I thought a hot rod SHOULD look, for the rest of my life. "You've got everything under there AND the kitchen sink", I never forgot that line, and the basic story, and I only saw it once , on tv, as a kid, and I'm 55! I just rewatched it, it's on You Tube. That car influenced me even more than Milner's '32, and that's an ask!
@@ronasaurus74 The legendary Vic Morrow played the crooked sheriff.
@@partymanau That's the guy! Like I said, stellar cast!
My former father-in-law actually owned the Challenger used in Running on Empty before selling it for the movie. Also, one of the Mission Impossible movies (can't remember which one) was filmed in Australia and had Tom Cruise being chased on a motorbike by bad guys in Ford Falcons.
What did it start out as? A V8 R/T, a slant six etc?
@@CycolacFan 440 with 6 pack carb.
@@noelinsley8057 was it stock when he sold it and then modified for the film?
@@CycolacFan the blue charger was a hemi six, probably a 265. 4 speed.
Running on Empty is definitely worth a watch.
Chain reaction was filmed in Glen Davis NSW,and Capertee Valley, the power plant is the old shale mining plant
running on empty and midnite spares are my two favourite. another one worth mentioning is a bike movie called shame with a woman on a suzuki katana.
one of my favourite american car movies is moonrunners the precursor to dukes of hazzard.
MAD MAX and MAD MAX 2 are my favourite Australian movies. Most of these I have seen as it was in my late teens and early 20's but I highly recomend "midnight spares" and "running on empty". The GTHO rego GTH-351 in running on empty was owned by a guy whom was pretty popular around sydney at the time. Mikes place was near the st george boat club in san souci, dolls point in sydney where I use to hang out with a CB radio club. I know all of the places filmed in both movies as they were my stomping ground. Do yourself a favour mate and try to get a copy of each, very 80's but very much worth the watch 😎👍
Hahahaha sweet. I remember my dad making me watch running on empty when I was little, haven't seen that movie in so a good 20 years. My grandfather owns one of those 71 xygt falcons and he'd kill me for even looking at it
I’ve got it on DVD. Fat load of good when our DVD players died years ago 😂
@@robertschrader3941 I remember watching it on a VHS copy over and over again 😅 if I was home sick from school I'd be watching running on empty or old v8 supercar replays
@@alec7568 cool, every time I’ve watched it, I discovered more things revealed in the film, than I did in previous viewings. Strange but true 🤷♂️
@@robertschrader3941 the only detail I can remember is the blind driving guru 😅 ahhh I've got to watch it again
@@alec7568 actually now you’ve said that, I’ll see if it’s on Netflix or Stan. Wouldn’t mind watching it again 👍
Another car chase movie from downunder (New Zealand) is Goodbye Pork Pie 1981. It was a chase of a Mini from one end of the county to the other. The original was by far the best.
As for other car chases: Bullitt; both versions of Vanishing Point; both of the Blues Brothers movies; both of the Italian Job movies; the Transporter movies; the Bourne movies; and not to forget the James Bond movies, and the list goes on...
I will add "Ronin" and "Taxi" to the mix.
Yeah, I like MFP, the channel has some great takes on movie and tv based car chases from across the globe.
Damn out of my 47 years of being Australian I’ve only seen the top two on this list. The other 8 I haven’t even heard of.
Just a little bit more about The Man from Hong Kong with Quentin Tarantino ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
Yeah, the late 70's early 80's, were huge for 'car culture' here. Aussie movies tended to be low budget then, so it was often all about the cars and not much else, lol. It's cool to watch them now though. Just want to add that I love that Uluru still impresses you, someone else that was here recently (who may or may not have been referenced here at some point) didn't bother with much of the natural wonders and has voiced concerns over going there on the next visit, as it may be very underwhelming. OK mate 🤣 Love to you and the fam.
Yeah he said that he don't want to get there and it not be what he expects but I guarantee that it would be
The LTD in chase #4 was special. The "popup" headlights were vacumn powered. They wre a real nightmare to maintain.
Running on Empty... the 57 chevy did start out life as a 57 210 4 door. They moved the B pillar back about 6". Fun fact about the female star of the movie, Deborah Conway. She would go on to have a fantastic music career here in Australia during the 80s.
Not really a car chase movie, but I always like The Big Steal - starring a young Ben Mendelsohn
Yes The Big Steal was the movie that I was thinking of that didn't made the list
That's why you NEVER lend cars to ANYBODY!
One of my favourite chase scenes from down under wasn't Australian but from New Zealand, in a 1980 movie called Goodbye Pork Pie.
After running a red light in Wellington, three people in a stolen Mini attract the attention of the local cops, and have a chase through the capital city, past the beehive, through the train station (most likely as a nod to the classic film "The Italian Job").
I won't spoil it from here other than the chase effectively runs from one end of New Zealand to the other off and on, from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
If you can find it, watch it!
The NASCAR is most likely borrowed from the Australian NASCAR Championship which ran in the 80s and 90s. Can't remember who drove the Valvoline car here though.
The Kwaka 900 kept the smile on the undertaker.
Dropping a sneaky G’day at the start of your video Ian… We see you 😇 Sounding very natural. Well done
There's a awesome 1977 UK TV Series called "C.I.5 The Professionals" that is one of my favourite tv shows & has some terrific driving scenes. I did hear that the reason the series was canceled was due to the actors not remembering lines while driving so fast.
Body & Doyle & DS2000 Mexico Ford Escorts etc. Excellent stuff for sure. Great Uk retro cop show.
There is one movie you have to see it has car chases its The Big Steal its a Australian comedy its about a boy named Danny who wants two things in life more than anything else, one is a Jaguar and the other is Joanna Johnson. After Danny's parents give him their beloved Nissan Cedric, Danny works up the courage to ask Joanna out on a date.... One problem! He tells her that he owns a Jaguar, and to prove otherwise, he trades in the Cedric for an early model Jag. At the car yard he is conned into believing he is getting the deal of the century by the salesman, Gordon Farkas
I certainly remember amanda dole in midnight spares more than anything else in the movie.(natural too)
Not on that list is The Cars that ate Paris, and Alvin Purple in his Purple Charger. The documentary mentioned 'Not Quite Hollywood ' is a superb production possibly available on SBS on demand or ABC IView. It features Quentin Tarrentino reviewing Australian Ozploitation films; Quite a new film genre.
A little bit more about The Man from Hong Kong with Quentin Tarantino ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
Hey mate I’m an Aussie! Just wanted to say thanks for calling it a “Ute” haha spot on..
Plus I’m just answering your interest in the “NASCAR” here in Australia we have V8 Supercars, so in that movie metal skin, I believe it’s a replica v8 supercar of the time, some times guys would copy the trend for drags and other motorsports, it was always a bit try hard to see on the road, so if you looked like that, you would want to be bloody quick!
Its great to see some of the old cars even in this re-cap.
You wouldn’t believe what a Torana is worth these days.. XU 1 around $150,000 and a genuine STR 5000
Upwards of $180,000.
Genuine XY falcon GTHO $300,000
Plus… cool to see but out of my price range… anyways good on ya cheers 🍻
Nah, it’s a real NASCAR, at the time Bob Jane had the Thunderdome running and we had our own NASCAR series as well as AUSCAR that used modified XF falcons and VL Commodores.
Ohhh really! There you go, it’s a bit before my time, plus I’m in WA so I’m just relating to the local scene, I wasn’t aware of NASCAR/AUSCAR situation!
Always learning 👍
I think that he gave Metal Skin a bit of a rough critique, that movie is great. The frantic craziness, really makes it.
Pretty sure Ben Mendleson used his own car in Metal Skin if I remember correctly.
Check out Shaker Run , Cliff Robertson amazing car chase
Maybe not the best "car" film but The Man from Hong Kong is the most entertaining for me.
This is a little bit more about The Man from Hong Kong with Quentin Tarantino
ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
Excellent … many a smile and memory watching these all great movies no matter how many times I have seen them and lived it… the only movie from that ilk was “Stone…by Sandy Harbutt” one of the all time classics just on bikes and your uncle would cream his jeans as they used kawaki Z1 900 bikes (Stone rode a a Norton) Quentin Tarantino loved this movie….bloody magical…..
No way an FJ gets anywhere near the back bumper of a VC Valiant.
An Australian pioneering motorcycle movie from 1974 was Stone. Lots of Kawasaki 900 machines in it.
A summary of the film better than I could possibly do :
ua-cam.com/video/UWp5hJMegXQ/v-deo.html
Lots of connections with later films.
Just a little bit more about The Man from Hong Kong with Quentin Tarantino ua-cam.com/video/W5whNUVF8zs/v-deo.html
I love running from the guns I thought it was a great movie especially as it had Jon Blake in it.. as not long after he was in a terrible car accident when he was coming back from doing the movie The Light horsemen in 1987…
Hi Ian, awesome video, I've seen all of the movies, they are all classic Aussie movies, Mad Max is awesome, being a Ford man, if you haven't seen Mad Max 2. I highly recommend it, and Running on empty. I have that movie to. I highly recommend it as well. They are all great movies. I had a Kawasaki 900 too worked to a 1000, I wished I never sold it,. This was about early 90's . If you want to see an Aussie movie with a lot of those Kawasaki's you have to watch the movie, Stone. Keep up the good work from Dave in Australia.
Stone is good. Lots of Kawasaki's.
G'day IWrocker - just come across your channel and been binge watching. Great stuff. You've done a few on Isle of Man TT and have probably seen Guy Martin, but if not his 'Guy looks back at his legendary lap of the TT' is worth a watch. Awesome vids man, cheers from Adelaide.
I tried to purchase a Ford Falcon, but 50.000 Euros were too much. But what a badass-looking car.
Running on empty is definitely a must see movie. Keep an eye out in one of the opening scenes when a V8 Holden Monaro crashes in a drag race, the bonnet flies off and you can clearly see a single chrome rocker cover on a straight six engine. The star car in this movie is a now almost priceless XYGT (SHAKER) Falcon which is destroyed. I have heard this was in fact a genuine GT, not a replica. The other star car in this movie is one of the meanest 57 Chevs One could only dream of owning.
You're right to lust after Toranas.
I only owned a 202ci 6cyl LX Hatch, but because they were so lightweight 1215kg (2678lb) the performance and handling are excellent 👍
On long trips I'd sit on 140kmh (87mph) on back roads for hours and it drove like a dream.
Miss the hell out of that car !😭
Oh man you have to watch running on empty. Don't miss out on that enjoyment. When that blown 57 chevy comes into the film it gives goose bumps.
Doco well narrated.
Always thought that the car chase in the movie "the French connection" with Gene Hackman was very good
I used to drive tow trucks part time back in the eighties ( in Australia) and if I was lucky I got to drive a 308cu V8 Holden one toner four speed manual, ran rings around my usual slant six powered long wheel base Dodge.
But the old slant is probably still going 👍
It was a long wheel based four speed no synchro first gear beast. But it started every time. It was probably the slowest tow truck in Blacktown. On a side note , back in the day the old highway boys would be out for a few favours and ring the opposition they were in cahoot's with, I was doing a trade tow and had one on the hook when I drove up on an accident. The highway boys were already there and I pulled up. The foresaid highway guy said 'who rang you ?', I replied I was just driving by. He told me to keep going as I had one on the hook. I said not a problem I will just drop it and do the paperwork to pick up one of the damaged cars. As I had already radioed back to base two other trucks turned up and we got them both. But I had to endure a full tow truck drivers authority check and towing authority book check. Looks like he missed out on his bonus.
@@richardcrowell284 the bastard wouldn't of liked you after that
I remember when Mid Night spares was made in Parramatta and the seen at the Great Western HWY and Church st near the old Auto Alley .