The California Kid follows a sadistic small-town sheriff who has a habit of deliberately forcing speeders to their deaths on the mountain roads leading into town. A deranged, desert town sheriff has a murderous habit or forcing speeders to their deaths, until a young man with a souped-up hotrod arrives to possibly end it. Martin Sheen is at his most "James Dean-ish" and Vic Morrow at his most sadistic in the made-for-TV The California Kid.
For those of us Baby Boomers who arrived too late on the scene to appreciate James Dean et. al., Martin Sheen showed us The Way in this great feature. The premise is easy enough: cool hood meets small town sheriff and All-Hell ensues, but the nuts and bolts of this movie enthrall the car nut in all of us. No, this isn't Casablanca, nor is it great Literature, but it IS a serious movie about cars, rebellion, and the genius that is Martin Sheen. Enjoy this and appreciate it for what it is, and for what Martin will become. I loved this movie growing up as a teen in the 70's, and you will too.
Director: Richard T. Heffron
Starring: Vic Morrow, Martin Sheen, Nick Nolte.
Plot:This is Not a Test tells the story of a rural road in the western US where the policeman sets up a roadblock and stops all traffic. When several cars and a big truck have stopped, he tells everyone why: a nuclear attack on the US appears to be underway, and since they have the truck there, thei [...]
Atomic scientist/pilot Doug Martin is missing after his plane crashes on an reconnaissance mission after a nuclear test. Miraculously appearing unhurt at the base later, he is given sodium amethol, but authorities are skeptical of his story that he was captured by aliens determined to conquer the Ea [...]
Great action, good characterisation, superb soundtrack. Cult 80s classic flick Packard Walsh and his motorized gang control and terrorize an Arizona desert town where they force drivers to drag-race so they can 'win' their vehicles. After Walsh stabs the decent teenager Jamie Hankins to death for be [...]
Martin Scorsese's Student filmWhat's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? is a 1963 short film that Martin Scorsese created while a student at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. It is a comedic piece about a writer who becomes obsessed with a picture he has on his wall.Direc [...]
Excellent court room drama! American judge in Germany must decide if the hijacking of an East German plane into West Berlin was justified. Having been stationed at Tempelhof Central Airport in the 1980s, this movie had particular significance. The book is a difficult read--full of legal terminology [...]
Exciting rare film by Cobra director Cosmatos starring Terminator's Linda HamiltonBobby Bishop (Sheen) is a special assistant to the President of the United States. Accidentally, he meets his friend professor Pochenko on the street. Pochenko has time to tell Bishop about some conspiracy in the White [...]