Customer Reviews

The California Kid

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very good TV movie from the mid 70's. The story is about a small town and it's sadistic sheriff(played by Vic Morrow) who has a unique way of dealing with out of town highway speeders. He just rams them until they go out of control and go over the side a famous cliff on the outskirts of the small town. Saves a lot of time and the tax payers money! right? That is until the "California Kid"(played by Martin Sheen) comes to town looking for his brother, who's missing! I was lucky enough to order this through Amazon when it was available! The DVD transfer is very good, but no extras. I would be happy to have a few classic TV movies on DVD like this, extras or not! Keep them coming! "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark", "Bad Ronald", "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf", "Trapped", "Dark Night Of The Scarecrow" Oh the 70's TV movies were great!

What a pleasant surprise to find this 1974 televison film in pristine condition!

Billed as ABC TVs 200th 'Movie Of The Week'

Martin Sheen is excellent as always and is ably supported by Nick Nolte, Stuart Margolin and Michelle Phillips.
Vic Morrow steals the show as Sheriff Roy Childress.
Look fast for Martin's real life brother Joe Estevez, playing his screen brother, at the beginning of the film.

Awesome early 70s soundtrack - as funky as that car - it's ultra swanky with lots of wah-wah guitar and stuff that could have worked for Soul Cinema or Blaxploitation movies - in a word, it's very well done and contributes a lot to the atmosphere of the film - even though the story is supposedly taking place in the 50s, a good decade or so before music sounded like this! Actually, the movie is a mixed bag for me.

The Good:

Martin Sheen and Vic Morrow put in great performances.
Music is great, as mentioned.
Story has potential, but...

The Bad:

...but kind of falls flat in the end so that when it's over you're like, "That's it?". Anti-climatic.

The Ugly:

Bare bones production. But I didn't really mind.

I never saw this when it originally aired, but it has held up well for it's time. My only critique is that "The California Kid" had a Windsor Ford V8 in it - and does show it in some shots, but when they do a real close-up, it's a small-block Chevy. I guess they weren't as detail-oriented as movies are today. I liked and enjoyed the movie otherwise.

FINALLY after watching this for years on a lousy tape copy, The Kid arrives on DVD!! My only wish is that they would have also included the SPEED CHANNEL 25th Anniversary Special. Hmmm.... perhaps a SPECIAL COLLECTORS EDITION is in the works for a future release that will include this special with interviews with Kid builder Pete Chapouris, producer Howie Horwitz and revisiting the town "Clarksburg, CA" used in the filming. Never got to see this on SPEED CHANNEL.... or any where else for that matter.

I have always dreamed of owning my own Kid someday but sadly I'll have to settle for the movie. This is a MUST HAVE MOVIE for any hot rodder or car nut and is enjoyable over and over!!!

Just popped in the new Blu-Ray version....it looks very very good. Much better than one might expect from a decades old TV movie of the week. Obviously shot on film its a nice 73minute flick that is almost more fun from the standpoint of watching Vic Morrow (between this and Dirty Mary Crazy Larry he corned the market on jerkwater USA Sheriffs in the 70's), and a very young Martin Sheen and Nick Nolte than the story itself. If you are into retro shows or car movies and haven't bought it I'd recommend the extra couple of bucks for the blu-ray.
There are NO bonus features.....

love this move the car the best, could not find this move any where but on amazon it's great!

Got a Hot-Rod heart? Interested in a tale where the bad guy gets undone by his own scheme? 'The California Kid' might just be what you're looking for. Based on actual tales of speed-traps set up in rural areas to bilk unwitting travelers, this film captures the look and feel of one such scenario. Vic Morrow plays the scheming sheriff and quickly earns the scorn of the audience - a mark of a good actor. After he causes the death of two sailors who are only trying to make it back to their base before they're considered AWOL - Martin Sheen shows up in his sharp looking '34 Ford Street Rod, looking for answers to his brother's death. He quickly sizes up the situation and without explanation develops a plan to expose the sheriff. Good co-star performances by Michelle Phillips, and Nick Nolte round out the 'known' actors in this film - but the rest of the cast performs just as well. Better than expected for a made-for-TV movie.

As a car nut, I've always read about the flamed 34 Ford coupe in this movie. The car is an icon in the hot rod world. I had never seen the movie, it's not in the video stores and it never runs on TV. Since it was inexpensive, I decided to buy it. It was a thrill to see the car at last. The movie wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's really dated but was enjoyable.

"The California Kid" stars a young Martin Sheen, a young Nick Nolte, and the ever-popular, late actor, Vic Morrow. When Sheen arrives in a well-known speed trap called Clarksberg, its sheriff, Morrow, becomes suspicious and nervous. While Sheen goes about his business quietly, the sheriff becomes increasingly bothered by the stranger who drives a fast, awesome machine dubbed "The California Kid." The inevitable showdown at the movie's conclusion is a winner, and so is this film. Rent it or buy your own copy today; you'll be glad you did. Jean A., CA