Hacker Cinema
The Cannonball Run
1981 · Film · 95 min
Directed by Hal Needham
A cross-country road race is based on an actual event, the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, organized by Brock Yates to protest the 55 mph speed limit then in effect in the U.S. The Cannonball was named for Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, who in the roaring 20's rode his motorcycle across the country. Many of the characters are based on ruses developed by real Cannonball racers over the several years that the event was run.
1 positive2 negative8 neutralfrom 11 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
Videos commenters linked
From YouTube links in the comments below. Most are clips and trailers; “Full” means the uploader says so.
11 comments on Hacker News
It's probably more a reference to The Cannonball Run film[1], which the designer of Out Run mentioned[2] inspired the original game.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cannonball_Run
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_Run#Development
You really need to watch the documentary on Cannonball Run - its fascinatingly full of historic tidbits that you didn't know that you knew, and those you didnt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b7erU_DOfE
I think streaming services have had a bigger impact on how we consume media in general than we appreciate.
For one, very few people buy physical media anymore - but streaming isn't licensed like physical media is, so while you can buy the disk form of virtually any movie without any hassle, you may have to sign up for a specific subscription service or platform to stream. For example, I would need to sign up for Comcast to stream "Cannonball Run" - but I can buy it on DVD from Amazon.
It also means that anything that isn't available to stream, anywhere, doesn't get watched the way it might if we were still in the Blockbuster era.
And of course, missing bonus features and special cuts of films is yet another major change.
On the whole, I've been able to consume far more content that I love thanks to streaming than I think I've lost because of it. But it's worth noting the changes. Will definitely check out Criterion's service.
Also: Airplane! and Airplane 2 DVD: $6. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGD93BP Spaceballs $7, less if you're ok with used: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TJ1H32 Cannonball run, $10, though less if used and there are some $10 "Cannonball Run + another movie" sets on Amazon as well.
While I tend to agree that piracy and/or ripping isn't something everyone can do, I've filled out my Plex collection legally lately with DVD acquisitions at bargain-bin prices. Used doesn't matter if you only have to be able to read the disc once to rip it, and I'm yet to get something used off Amazon that couldn't be read once. (I haven't even had to clean it or anything, it's all just worked.)
So, my Plex install in terms of raw content isn't up to Netflix's size. However, I rather suspect there are some people reading this who have more hours of video on their Plex than Netflix even has available. And while mine isn't that large, it is much better tuned for me and my family's interests at this point. And I don't have to worry about getting halfway through a series, only for some licensor to notice it has become popular enough to pull it and run it on their own service. Netflix has the problem now that anything that becomes popular on their service will get yanked. I do not know how they overcome that. They hoped to do it with enough original content, but to my eye, that has failed, and there is now no longer enough time to fix that. While I understand the complaints that they treated it too much like "content", to be honest, I've never thought this would work out, from the moment they announced it. A single company just can't produce a sufficiently diverse set of "content" to be the everything-to-everybody they would have needed to be to justify a Netflix valuation.
In my case, it's where they wrapped up the long-tail movies. Want to watch Airplane!....$3 rental. Spaceballs? $3 rental Cannonball Run? $3
I am not going to pay to rent stuff I used to be able to encounter for free by surfing channels...well, on top of my dish/cable bill
You will be happy to learn Cannonball Run movie script (also Smokey and the Bandit 2) was written by Brock Yates, original organizer of Cannonball Run :)
For more about the whole philosophy of the movement I recommend:
The Cannonball Run Countach: Supercar Legend | Full Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b7erU_DOfE
For anyone who is trying to understand what the Cannonball Run is all about and resorts to some of the movies inspired by it, the reference movie is "The Gumball Rally". The actual "Cannonball Run" movies with a laundry list of "stars" were, frankly, not so great.
A lot of people aren't aware that the Cannonball Run was a real race long before it became a cheesy eighties movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_Baker_Sea-To-Shining-Sea_Memorial_Trophy_Dash
There aren't any male seventies motor heads that were not excited by the idea of the race. Things had started to change in the seventies and it was the last final hurrah of the street race tradition that dates back to the nineteen twenties in America.
http://theoldmotor.com/?p=115758
My dad told me of seeing grainy copies of C'était un rendez-vous at antique car collector meetings. I keep a copy handy whenever I need to quicken my pulse.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%27%C3%A9tait_un_rendez-vous
I remain hopeful that a future generation will break convention and begin street racing anew.
I'm more interested in what those 20 movies are. I found:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1981
1 Raiders of the Lost Ark 2 On Golden Pond 3 Superman II 4 Arthur 5 Stripes 6 The Cannonball Run 7 Chariots of Fire 8 For Your Eyes Only 9 The Four Seasons 10 Time Bandits
Of which I guess 2, 3, 8 isn't original.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2:w014
1 American Sniper 2 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 3 Guardians of the Galaxy 4 Captain America: The Winter Soldier 5 The LEGO Movie 6 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 7 Transformers: Age of Extinction 8 Maleficent 9 X-Men: Days of Future Past 10 Big Hero 6
Of which only 10 is original.
Agreed! I think its the best "car chase" movie since "Bullitt" [1] (beating out Cannonball Run, the Bourne trilogies, etc).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062765/
First off, I'm not going to argue with your sentiment on the legality of speeding, it is wrong and unlawful and I'm not condoning it. BUT to play devils advocate if I may, here are some thoughts:
> ...fairly selfish and not very useful crime. It doesn't really speed journey times significantly, but puts other road users at greater risk of injury or even death.
There's no doubt that driving at greater speeds increases the risk of fatality or increased damage in a wreck, but your points about it not saving time and putting others at risk is a little unfounded. Here's why I think that, in a ten minute commute, speeding 10MPH over the speed limit will only save you at best a minute. Depending on traffic conditions however, one could argue the more aware you are of your surroundings and at a faster pace, you could beat out traffic lights and other things that would normally slow down a driver going with the flow.
I would argue that, speed limits and legality aside, good, well trained drivers that go faster than everyone else, are generally safer and more aware of their surroundings because they are more focused on driving. The real risk here would be going 100MPH down an interstate and a person talking on their phone or looking up a song on Spotify (guilty) swerves a little into the other lane. But if the driver is cautious and is paying attention, he should be able to avoid a collision as long as the speed is appropriate for it's surroundings. Going 100MPH (for example) on a six lane interstate between major cities is a lot different than going 100MPH through a very metropolitan (like Atlanta) downtown area, especially when you introduce intersections.
As for time, let's do some quick math. On a 100 mile trip here are some figures based on average MPH, including the speeds stopping/starting and in between: 90MPH = 1.11hrs; 50MPH = 2hrs; 30MPH = 3.33hrs; So there is an obvious time saving factor at travelling at a higher rate of speed over long distances travelled. Let's take 2500 miles for laughs: 90MPH = 27.77hrs; 50MPH = 50hrs; 30MPH = 83hrs; Even if you spread out your commute of 2500 miles a year, traveling at a faster pace would save you hours of time each year of driving.
I will also include a reference to some of the cross-country NYC to SF underground races that have occurred over the years. The Cannonball Run occured in the late 70s/early 80s and had a record of no accidents. The drivers were carefully picked and had the upmost care in their races. It was very illegal, but they achieved a huge feat. Alex Roy went on in 200X to beat the record. There's a documentary about it that's worth a watch. He too did it with no accident, and many since. These guys were averaging 90+ MPH across the country. It's pretty crazy. I AM NOT condoning such behavior, just stating the fact it was done and the results.
Below are some links to studies about speed and crash risk, they are interesting as well. As I mentioned, there is no doubt the more speed the more likelihood of going out in a flaming glory, but the crash risk associated with higher speeds isn't certain to the driver more so than it is other drivers.
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=26729407 http://www.swov.nl/rapport/Factsheets/UK/FS_Speed.pdf