Customer Reviews

Eat My Dust (Supercharged Edition)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

One fun thing to do with movies under the Roger Corman banner is to try to notice all the film school-y things in them. *Eat My Dust!* turns out to be an American B-movie hommage to Godard's *Breathless*, which itself was a French B-movie hommage to American B-movies. In this movie we're given the Godard-brand of existential, rebellious hero who's main aim is the pursuit of kicks. Granted, Ron Howard ain't no Jean-Paul Belmondo, but he'll do in a pinch. We're also given the exact-same type of Grade-A American b---h/goddess that Jean Seberg perfected in Godard's movie: but here, she has the added virtues of hot yellow short-shorts accompanied by thigh-high white boots. She can be counted on to take a powder when things start to become a drag. But director Charles B. Griffith adds a number of elements missing from *Breathless*, such as the insistence on creating an interesting cast of supporting characters (goofballs and wackos every one), as well as consummately executed scenes of slapstick action that's reminiscent of silent-film chase comedies. Although Griffith never really accomplished anything else as a director, he's brilliant here, starting with the hypnotic opening credits: the camera is atop a car's hood, giving us an unseen driver's POV as the car eats up the country miles in revved-up fast-motion. There are also some well-executed smash-em-ups: police cruisers sailing through the air; muscle cars barreling down a 500-foot hill with a 45-degree grade. The ending strikes a surprisingly bittersweet note. It turns out that Opie's afternoon of playing hide-and-seek from the cops will serve as an apprenticeship: awaiting him is the lonely, dangerous, but exciting life of the professional racer. But regardless of all that, the bitchin Camaro rolls on with the final credits, and that's the important thing. Altogether, *Eat My Dust* is yet another dim-witted masterpiece from the Corman Factory.

Ron Howard stealing a racing style 1967 Camaro and running away from the cops led by his own dad. Very funny and original, cool car. Hot chicks + fast cars + good casting = good buy.

This is the movie I would tell my freind about as an adult,and he had never heard of it. Then one night at Holliwood vid I saw it in the vhs section. Man I was excited!! Couldn't wait to get it in the player. Well it wasn't as good as I had rembered. But that isn't the point. Dukes of Hazzards not as great as it was when we were kids, but you still have to watch it every once in awhile! Anyways you get to see Ron Howard with a full head of hair lol and I think his brother is in it to. Car chases and a cute girl. What more could you ask for! Buy it

One thing you will always get when you watch a Roger Corman film, whether the man produced or directed it, is a healthy helping of cheese. It doesn't matter who stars in the film or what sort of genre film it is, you just know what you're about to see will exude that instantly recognizable low budget fragrance. "Eat My Dust!" probably ranks in the top ten of Corman classics, not because it is better than any of the other schlock productions carrying the Corman tag but because Ron Howard stars in it. In case you just arrived on the planet, Howard played Opie Taylor in the rural themed series "Andy Griffith" before moving on to an even more successful stint as Richie Cunningham on "Happy Days." Nowadays, he's a big shot director and producer in Hollywood. Ron Howard's film career may never have gotten off the ground if it weren't for Roger Corman casting the young man in "Eat My Dust!" Moreover, the actor used his success in this picture to pressure Corman into letting him direct his first film, the quasi-sequel "Grand Theft Auto" a year or two after this picture. The rest, as they say, is history. Regrettably, although I've had some enjoyable experiences with a few other Corman films-"Humanoids From the Deep," as an example-I found "Eat My Dust!" an exercise in extreme boredom. The only reason to watch the film in the first place is to see Ron Howard in an early role, and even then it is barely enough of a reason.

Howard plays Hoover Niebold, a rip roaring young man just aching to stir up trouble in his hometown. Unfortunately, Hoover has several problems in his life. He's the son of Sheriff Harry Niebold (William J. Kemmerling), which is a bad thing to be when you're looking to date town cutie Darlene (Christopher Norris-yes, a girl). Harry Niebold is always riding Hoover about speeding around town or not working at his job delivering toilet paper to local businesses. Things come to a head when Hoover turns up at the local stock car track only to endure a withering rebuke from his father. Annoyed, Niebold the Younger spots Darlene sitting with her parents. He once again attempts to set up a date with the pretty gal, but she brushes him off with a statement to the effect that Hoover doesn't have a nice set of wheels with which to ferry her around town. Well, Howard's character spies a very nice car just a few feet away on the track, a car that just won the race. For some reason never adequately explained in the script, Hoover hijacks the car from under the nose of its incredulous driver (Dave Madden of "The Partridge Family" fame) and roars off with Darlene and a few friends.

Hoover and company never go anywhere except through the streets of this small town, endlessly pursued by his father and a passel of inept deputies. The kids destroy property, wreck cars, and generally terrorize the town over the next few hours. In one series of scenes, Niebold and his friends level a small farm while trying to escape from a deputy sheriff. So many townspeople fall prey to this group of hellions that the police station fills up with screaming citizens demanding action. Harry Niebold doesn't have a clue about what to do with his out of control boy, so he generally sits around the station pushing his hat up on his head, sighing, yelling at people, and watching tow trucks haul in the shattered hulks of his deputies' cruisers. After an interminable amount of time goes by, Niebold the Elder and a few of the stock car drivers finally formulate a plan of attack. What follows is about what you would expect from a crash 'em dash 'em derby movie: lots of over the top chase scenes, dumb good old boy dialogue, and the requisite feel good conclusion. A subplot concerning Hoover's unrequited love for Darlene has not only been done better a billion times before, but ultimately goes nowhere here.

The opening credit sequence of the film, where we see a car tearing up a country road from the point of view of the driver of the automobile, and Ron Howard's performance constitute the only two worthwhile things in this movie. Well, Christopher Norris's character, who looks a lot like a young Nancy Allen, strutting around in short shorts helps a bit too. But a movie cannot subsist on two or three small points if it wishes to succeed. The main problem in "Eat My Dust!" is the script: a tired, decrepit old dishrag of a thing dripping with so many clichés that it bored me to the point of exhaustion. The editing was sloppy, too, as was some of the acting. Too, for a movie that relied on car chases and crashes, "Eat My Dust!" is almost chaste in crunching metal and squealing tires. I guess I expected too much. At least we get to see several familiar faces: Clint Howard turns up in a small role, as does Ron Howard's father Rance. Paul Bartel and Corbin Bernsen also turn up in bit parts. It's unfortunate in the extreme the film fails to make adequate use of its talent.

Extras on the DVD consist of a short Roger Corman interview conducted by Leonard Maltin and a bunch of trailers. A movie full of unfunny gags, barely competent car chases, and pedestrian production values, "Eat My Dust!" is a film that only Ron Howard or Roger Corman completists need bother with. Looking back on the experience now, I am sure I spent more time looking at my watch than I did at the screen. 'Tis a pity, I say.

THIS MOVIE IS A BLAST FROM THE PAST FOR ME, LOST OF MEMORIES AND LOSTS OF FUN.
IF YOU LIKE MOVIES FROM EARIER TIMES LIKE THIS FILM, YOU WILL ENJOY IT.
I GIVE IT A 4 STAR OUT OF 5.

Ron Howard was his usual boring self. His cute girlfrriend Darlene was basically the only reason to watch this otherwise dumb movie. I saw it on Speedvision last night where Bruce Dern gave his usual misplaced comments re: Roger Corman, Peter Fonda, Laura Dern, Dianne Ladd et al. They sure wrecked up a bunch of old police cars though. In the end sweet darlene just up and walked away. What a rack. Somehow his orange '67 Camaro survived to race again.

This is merely another one of those many 70s car-chase films. It's fun & mindless and features some beautiful rural California locations. Plus, how can you go wrong with the likable Ron Howard?

The film was a box-office success for producer Roger Corman, which naturally led to the demand for a sequel. But Ron Howard didn't want money to perform in the sequel, he just wanted the opportunity to write and direct it (not to mention act in it). Thus came the hugely popular "Grand Theft Auto," Howard's first REAL stab at directing. The rest is history.

This flick is merely okay, nothing special; what makes it worth purchasing for any red-blooded male is the supremely gorgeous Christopher Norris (yeah, it's a woman not a man). She's got some incredible God-given curves, to say the least, and she shows them off well in her skimpy hot-pants!

Of course, if you're a "Brokeback Mountain" fan there's always Ron Howard. (LOL!!)

HERE IS THE RON HOWARD'S FIRST MOVIE... WITH MANY AUTOMOBILE(AUTOMOTIVE) PURSUITS... BOTH MOVIES ME MADE DIVE BACK IN THE GOOD MOMENT OF A CINEMA WHICH I KNEW IN MY YOUTH OR WE PRESENTED 4 MOVIES FOR 0.99 hundred TO EVERY END OF THE WEEK, THE CINEMA ITS NAME WAS "CINEMA CHOMEDEY".

( VOICI LE PREMIER FILM DE RON HOWARD ... AVEC BEAUCOUP DE POURSUITES AUTOMOBILES ... LES DEUX FILMS ME FAIT REPLONGER DANS LE BON MOMENT D'UN CINÉMA QUE J'AI CONNU DANS MA JEUNESSE OU ON PRÉSENTAIT 4 FILMS POUR 0.99 CENTS À CHAQUE FIN DE SEMAINES , LE CINÉMA SON NOM ÉTAIT " CINÉMA CHOMEDEY " . )

I purchased this for my husband for Christmas. We have not watched it yet, but are looking forward too.
The DVD looks new, so I can only assume that it is:) I didn't have to wait long to receive it.

I just saw this movie on cable. WOW. I can't believe that I hadn't seen this movie before. I've always been a big fan of Ron Howard's movies (Apollo 13, Cocoon, Backdraft), and I expected something pretty decent. This movie was quite good. I admit it's not quite as good as Apollo 13, but considering it was made in the mid 1970's, it's damn good. For a comedy, the action scenes were really well done. The stunt driving and high speed chases were really impressive. I wish I had discovered this movie back then. I have to give this a 5 stars for being made in the 70's.