Product Details

• Actors: Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Mary Hatcher, Michael O'Shea, Spring Byington
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: First Look Home Ente
• VHS Release Date: January 27, 1998
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304680996
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,194 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Item Name: The Big Wheel; Studio: Good Times Video

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Those were the days!, August 20, 2003

By 

skinnyrobbie (NC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Racing Movies (The Fast And The Furious / The Big Wheel / Hot Rod Girl) (DVD)

This collection will mainly appeal to fans of the genre of late 50's, juvenile delinquent flicks with a bent for fast cars and kids who are just out for kicks.

Mind you, these are not high quality digital remasters or anything like that, but at least the fragile condition of these films is explained in the disc's opening. I can live with that (although I'd gladly pay for pristine copies of any films from this camp...) The worst print of the lot is "Hot Rod Girl", which has what appears to be drop-out lines heavily in the first 10 minutes which are not present in the Goodtimes VHS print. Regardless, I was happy to replace that horrid tape version with this superior DVD edition. The other two films, "The Big Wheel" and "The Fast and the Furious", look fine as can be expected. I can understand the difficulty in obtaining good prints of such old drive-in flicks, but it was very disappointing that neither trailers nor poster art could have been dug up, since I know for a fact they are out there. I have to assume these were put together from 16mm TV prints, so another diappointment is the full-screen format. (sigh)

Usually, these budget compilations are abominable quality and I am happy to say that these are at least watchable and there are no technical distractions. The movies are great and the price is right.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Big Wheel gets the Green Light!, March 8, 2001

By 

Rae73 (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Wheel (DVD)

"The Big Wheel" is a must see for all racing fans. This classic story of a son living up to his fathers name and reputation is as relevant today as it was in the Forties.Mickey Rooney gives a fine performance in his own imitable style aided by a strong support cast including Thomas Mitchell, Michael O'shea and Mary Hatcher and starring the legendary Indianapolis Raceway as the backdrop. Even if you aren't a race fan you'll enjoy the classic racing footage that'll have you on the edge of your seat.5 cheers for "The Big Wheel".

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 1 great movie & 2 good ones!, February 6, 2004

By 

Robert M. Bratcher Jr. (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Racing Movies (The Fast And The Furious / The Big Wheel / Hot Rod Girl) (DVD)

The Big Wheel is the best of the 3. Good acting by all the stars & plenty of that edge of your seat exciting auto racing! Bought this disc because of this movie as I like Mickey Rooney and he was very good in this role.

Hot Rod Girl is part drag racing part teanage JD movie. It was interesting to watch. Decent acting by all.

Fast And The Furious is the Roger Corman 1954 original about a man who breaks out of jail then joins a race to Mexico in order to not get caught by the police.

All 3 movies are in black & white and seem to come from 16mm sources. Expect mono sound and some scratches and occasional splices which are very normal for older film prints.

Sound is very good on this DVD but the picture looks slightly soft (like VHS does) due to the compression needed to fit 3 movies on one disc. Still I enjoyed watching this disc and I'm sure you will to if your a racing fan as I am.