SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: WEEK 118: Over the Edge and Convoy

[Coolthulu]

Convoy:

"Why do they call you the Duck?"
"Because it rhymes with 'luck'. See, my daddy always told me to be just like a duck. Stay smooth on the surface and paddle like the devil underneath."

Fascinating........




The best part about Convoy is that it doesn't take itself very seriously, a decision made especially clear by the non stop shenanigans music and the excessive use of slow-motion practically forcing you to drink in the vehicular carnage and indulge in all the sweaty, anarchic donkery on display. Any "statement" the movie has to make takes the form of a media sensationalization of the titular convoy a la Natural Born Killers, which works well enough, and a series of politically charged monologues by each of the main characters in sequence, which kind of come out of nowhere and don't work nearly as well. Even so, they're presented with a kind of wink and a nod that let's you know that any sociopolitical subtext ain't really the fucking point.

The worst part is EASILY the pacing. The first hour is almost non-stop rubber-to-the-road spectacle, followed by a patient, extended build-up to a climax that comes and goes with disproportionate quickness compared to its sudden seriousness despite the fact that the truckers have literally an entire town to fucking demolish. Basically, the second act feels way too fucking long. That's easily the biggest drawback for me, even if you're inclined to like Peckinpah's sensibility. The bravado threatens to become boring and the resolution is a touch unsatisfying as a result.

Over the Edge:

Some of the acting by the kids was predictably annoying, the ending is overcooked, There's shades of Kids, Dazed & Confused, but it's missing the weirdness and the CRUCIAL Keanu element of River’s Edge, but this is still a pretty decent film about preposterously angry youths. It really shows how boredom, dissatisfaction and general disinterest from parents, teachers and other authority figures lead kids to fuck around. Teenage delinquency at its absolute pinnacle (and most ridiculous).

Growing up in a small town myself, I could easily relate to these kids who have nothing to do to let off that extra energy that one has when they are a wily teenager. And that makes it real easy to do something spectacularly stupid.

Oh & I was unreasonably distracted by everyone having a comb in their back pocket.

 

[europe1]

Using my presidential-levels of influence as the SMC-leader, I dug up some background info on Over the Edge.

* New Grenada was based on Foster City, California, which had the highest levels of youth vandalism in the country. Just like in the film, a bunch of kids rioted after a policeman shot a 14-years old to death. They didn't lock-up the parents in the school though.

* During the Foster City riot, the kids destroyed 150 cars, burned down a condominium complex, and knocked out the town's power supply. The incident where policeman Doberman was shoot with a shotgun and killed while driving his car near the ending was based on a similar real-life event, where an officer was assaulted and grievously injured at a gas station (but didn't die).

* Kaplan and the two writers of the film visited Foster City and interviewed the participants of the riots for 2 weeks before starting production on the film. Afterward, they claimed that they both loved the kids and were fucking terrified of them.

* Purportedly, this movie was made as a pessimistic-take on Rebel Without A Cause. This I can totally see, as both films deal with youth delinquency due to adult disinterest and neglect. Only in Over the Edge the tone is even more nightmarish and seemingly insurmountable. Basically saying that the situation for youths in America has become even worse since the 50's.

* The filmed the movie in Greeley, Colorado... and the only reason they were allowed to film there was because the school system desperately needed money.

* The film was originally promoted as a horror movie (wtf?). After the fact, the distributor claimed that he initially was going to market it as a gang-film but couldn't due to the controversy that The Warriors had caused.

They wanted to control the kids so that they could control their property values

In short, they wanted to teach the kids resale values instead of values.

When he mouthed off to his father, his father took his stress out on his kid by hitting him, proving that he was no better than the bullies who had already attacked Carl

One thing I noticed. His father strikes him after he exclaims bullshit over a statement his mother made. Yet the father says shit to in response to what he says multiple times.

 

[sickc0d3r]

I liked Over The Edge way more than I thought I would, and quite a bit more than it probably deserves. For starters, I am a sucker for a good rock soundtrack and this movie delivered early on, highlighted by Van Halen and Cheap Trick. My only complaints are the diegetic, dramatic underscore was a bit too "after school special", and they seemed to abandon the rock music in the latter half.

And then there's the nostalgia factor. I grew up with those kids and I think it depicted the attitude of your average, late 70's, suburban angst-y youth quite well. Which kid was I you ask? Well, I'd like to think Carl or Richie, but the truth is I was more like Claude. I enjoyed me some fine blotter acid during my formative teenage years. I'm guessing that explains some things about me

A few random thoughts... Doberman is a name that can only end up being a cop.
Miss Vogel or whatever her name is--the rec center chick-- was quite a hottie. I wish I had her as a teacher when I was a kid.
Richie getting shot was a good shoot by Doberman.
My favorite part was Carl earning the respect of his bullies. Those moments with peers shape the personality of a teenager.

I have more thoughts to add when I have time, plus I'll try to watch Convoy tonight.

 

[Tufts]

Using my presidential-levels of influence as the SMC-leader, I dug up some background info on Over the Edge.

* New Grenada was based on Foster City, California, which had the highest levels of youth vandalism in the country. Just like in the film, a bunch of kids rioted after a policeman shot a 14-years old to death. They didn't lock-up the parents in the school though.

* During the Foster City riot, the kids destroyed 150 cars, burned down a condominium complex, and knocked out the town's power supply. The incident where policeman Doberman was shoot with a shotgun and killed while driving his car near the ending was based on a similar real-life event, where an officer was assaulted and grievously injured at a gas station (but didn't die).

* Kaplan and the two writers of the film visited Foster City and interviewed the participants of the riots for 2 weeks before starting production on the film. Afterward, they claimed that they both loved the kids and were fucking terrified of them.

* Purportedly, this movie was made as a pessimistic-take on Rebel Without A Cause. This I can totally see, as both films deal with youth delinquency due to adult disinterest and neglect. Only in Over the Edge the tone is even more nightmarish and seemingly insurmountable. Basically saying that the situation for youths in America has become even worse since the 50's.

* The filmed the movie in Greeley, Colorado... and the only reason they were allowed to film there was because the school system desperately needed money.

* The film was originally promoted as a horror movie (wtf?). After the fact, the distributor claimed that he initially was going to market it as a gang-film but couldn't due to the controversy that The Warriors had caused.



In short, they wanted to teach the kids resale values instead of values.



One thing I noticed. His father strikes him after he exclaims bullshit over a statement his mother made. Yet the father says shit to in response to what he says multiple times.

Thank u for researching this but I’ve been overwhelmed w back to shoool crap at school. I’m the rec center coordinator in this film.too many meeting w adults w their heads up their ass. Can’t wait to get away from the adults and back to my constituents, the kids.

Also - I’ve seen life as a teen ager in Europe (my life) and life as a teenager in the US (my first two year of college in the hell state of Missouri - worse possible transition ever for a kid). I see both sides. @europe1 I hate to say it but this was, and is, the reality for many American teens. It was, and still is, so sad it’s sbout belonging, and relationships, and about being an inherent, important, essential, desired part of the fabric of society that is often dicounted here as being a nuisance. Here ppl look for babysitters coz their kids are a annoyance to them and others, back home kids were a part of who we were, our future, members of society who were appreciated and loved.

Also - just outta curiosity. How many of u had combs in ur back pockets?

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Who didn't carry a comb at that age?

 

[Andersons Foot]

I only voted for Convoy because I love the song, but I really enjoyed the movie as well. Those 2 pillow fisted dudes getting ragdolled by the cop was hilarious.

I used to tell one of my friends that I had another friend named Kris Kristofferson. Not sure why, just thought it was fun to say I guess.

 

[Andersons Foot]

Was it necessary for the national guard and police force to try and murder an unarmed citizen?

The waitress being Lyle's wife is an interesting thought. I remember her asking about seeing him more or something and he says something about "that man of yours". Never really considered that to be Lyle but it would explain a lot.

 

[Pennywise]

"Over The Edge" started my infatuations with redheads! Saw it many times in the 80's!

 

[Bullitt68]

So, in retrospect, joining this club right before I move back to Chicago from Cardiff might not have been the best timing. Boss man @europe1 and man of the week @Cubo de Sangre, I'm really sorry for missing this week. I literally have both Over the Edge and Convoy ready to watch on my computer, I just haven't had time to actually sit down and watch them. I have a few more odd pre-move tasks to do this week but hopefully by this weekend I'll be able to finally post in here and then catch-up to wherever the discussion is on The Pope of Greenwich Village.

Once I'm back in Chicago next week, though, then I'll be able to participate consistently.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

I have said that just about every week I have been a part of the club, and other than the few weeks I left the club altogether, I have managed to contribute to every film discussion, even if it's a few weeks late. Hell, I watched our first film, Valhalla Rising, something like a year after the first discussion, because when that first week happened I was on the other side of the country for a while and we just moved on.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

Taking this sticky down at the end of the night. Didn't forget.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

I'll post one by one instead of an ultra mega post about them both.

To me, Convoy was what would happen if you took the comedy and fun out of Smokey and the Bandit. That alone sums this whole thing up, so I can wrap up my review, right?

Now, I read something once that said this movie was based on the song "Convoy", is that true? Has someone already said that here and I've missed it and should have read? Perhaps. At the movie theater I worked at when I was in high school, we had a soundtrack CD that played on repeat every hour or so, and "Convoy" was part of that rotation for a good six months. That takes me back.

I just remembered that Burt Young is in this, so it's back to back Burt Young pictures for us. Cool.

So, we start with Ernest Borgnine extorting the main truckers for some money, that sure reminds me of what the guys in Boss did to the townsfolk for minor infractions. And because of that, the sheriff tracks them down, and they get into a bar fight. And after the bar fight, they leave laughing and sabotage the cop cars, and then their plan is to leave the state to not get caught? That's it? That's the whole thing? Boy, I remembered it being deeper than this for some reason.

We get the standard, slow motion brawls with a little bit of blood and some dudes flying through the air, slow motion crashes with a little bit of metal and some cars flying through the air, and slow motion romances with a little bit of awkward "getting to know you" and some love flying through the air. It's a trucksploitation film.

The early scene between Kris Kristofferson and the waitress/girlfriend was super weird. The girl looked like she was crying the entire time, and she was so uncomfortable. I'm glad he left her behind to drag along Curly Q.

I thought Spidey had to get home to his wife who was giving birth like now, and instead he's running from the law. Is his wife back in the home jurisdiction of Arizona, because if so, how's he getting back for that?

In the process of them running from the cops, they become almost heroes. Why? What did they do to deserve people praising them? They only drove somewhere. Did the story get out that the law was after them for corrupt reasons? Or is it just one of those "cult phenomena" type situations. The Governor wants to take advantage of their popularity, but we have to think there's some nefarious motive behind it given the dire music playing in the background. It was clear "bad guy" music if I've ever heard it.

What happens if a member of the convoy ran out of gas? Would the rest circle around it like the wagons of old? I don't mean the extra guys they picked up on the way, I mean the core cast. Would they refuel mid drive like Air Force One? That'd be quite the scene, especially knowing his truck is full of a dangerous chemical.

Oh there's Spidey. Beaten and bloodied and used as bait, so now we have Kris forced to rescue him to go after the truly bad cops. The cops crossed the line, and now what? First, we have about fifteen minutes of people group showering because that's weird and a total momentum killer.

It was all driving, and now it's all stopping and talking. What happened? I guess it's the calm before the mega storm, because to save Spidey, they DESTROY THE ENTIRE TOWN with trucks. Good lord. But he has to do that so he can fake his own death with a giant explosion and a machine gun, because obviously.

5.5/10.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

I swear we just watched a crime drama/coming of age film with Matt Dillon. What's next, My Bodyguard?

First thing's first - the soundtrack was solid. There was a little too much Cheap Trick for my taste, but otherwise I can't complain.

Despite this being a superior film to Convoy, and I'm still not entirely sure the connection beyond both coming from late 70s, I have less to say about this than Convoy. Maybe the connection is the law going too far and hurting someone that doesn't deserve to be hurt? In Convoy's case, Ernest Borgnine's character and kidnapping Spidey Mike, and in Over the Edge's, it's the cop that ended up shooting Matt Dillon? And then they band together to take down what really isn't a corrupt institution but actually the "protagonists" acting irrationally? In both cases, I don't think I was rooting for who the film wanted us to root for. I wasn't thinking "yay kids you take them down a notch" or "yeah truckers, you go". Maybe I've gotten older.

They said this is based on actual events, but what events were they? The kids getting a little crazy because they're bored, but they're still just kids? I found a Vice article about this if someone hasn't posted it yet: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wdz5bb/over-the-edge-134-v16n9

In this film, it's hard to pin the villain spot on the police. We're supposed to root for these kids, making mistakes and doing stupid things. The new generation, etc? Well, I don't like em. I've always taken issue with films about a group of kids doing something they shouldn't be doing. I'm not talking like loitering and hanging around the rec center, I'm talking about pulling guns on cops and trashing places. From a legal standpoint, who cares whether the gun was loaded, the cop couldn't have reasonably known. A kid on drugs stole a car and ran from the cops, crashed his car, ran away and after the cop asked him to stop, the kid pulled a handgun on him. It's tragic and unfortunate, but what was Matt Dillon thinking? And no, I am drawing zero historical or political parallels with this, either.

I will admit that both sides are out of touch, and they both went to the extremes. The parents went "our kids are out of control", the cops went "the kids are out of control", and the kids, having lost control, went and smashed stuff. The parents dropped the ball, but the kids did too. Both sides deserved some of the blame, and they needed to come together like that one guy briefly said at the meeting before he was shouted down. I think the film tried to portray the parents as uncaring and concerned more about work than family, and that might be true, but come on.

My highlight of this film is the brief scene where the kids are shown a Hieronymus Bosch painting and freak out.

Final thoughts - the kids brought what happened to them on themselves. They're old enough to understand the risks and dangers of what they're doing. Some of them were young high schoolers, but they got violent fast. Shotguns, explosives, and mayhem. Are we supposed to root for them? I sure didn't. And then one shot the cop while driving in the head. That's a riot.

Other final thought - that kid shot the blue car in the trunk with one shot, blowing the trunk door off and blowing up not only that car (some cars in that day had gas tanks in back of the car, see also the Ford Pinto) but the one next to it. Some handgun.

6.5/10. Boo those kids.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I'll post one by one instead of an ultra mega post about them both.

To me, Convoy was what would happen if you took the comedy and fun out of Smokey and the Bandit. That alone sums this whole thing up, so I can wrap up my review, right?

Now, I read something once that said this movie was based on the song "Convoy", is that true? Has someone already said that here and I've missed it and should have read? Perhaps. At the movie theater I worked at when I was in high school, we had a soundtrack CD that played on repeat every hour or so, and "Convoy" was part of that rotation for a good six months. That takes me back.

I just remembered that Burt Young is in this, so it's back to back Burt Young pictures for us. Cool.

So, we start with Ernest Borgnine extorting the main truckers for some money, that sure reminds me of what the guys in Boss did to the townsfolk for minor infractions. And because of that, the sheriff tracks them down, and they get into a bar fight. And after the bar fight, they leave laughing and sabotage the cop cars, and then their plan is to leave the state to not get caught? That's it? That's the whole thing? Boy, I remembered it being deeper than this for some reason.

We get the standard, slow motion brawls with a little bit of blood and some dudes flying through the air, slow motion crashes with a little bit of metal and some cars flying through the air, and slow motion romances with a little bit of awkward "getting to know you" and some love flying through the air. It's a trucksploitation film.

The early scene between Kris Kristofferson and the waitress/girlfriend was super weird. The girl looked like she was crying the entire time, and she was so uncomfortable. I'm glad he left her behind to drag along Curly Q.

I thought Spidey had to get home to his wife who was giving birth like now, and instead he's running from the law. Is his wife back in the home jurisdiction of Arizona, because if so, how's he getting back for that?

In the process of them running from the cops, they become almost heroes. Why? What did they do to deserve people praising them? They only drove somewhere. Did the story get out that the law was after them for corrupt reasons? Or is it just one of those "cult phenomena" type situations. The Governor wants to take advantage of their popularity, but we have to think there's some nefarious motive behind it given the dire music playing in the background. It was clear "bad guy" music if I've ever heard it.

What happens if a member of the convoy ran out of gas? Would the rest circle around it like the wagons of old? I don't mean the extra guys they picked up on the way, I mean the core cast. Would they refuel mid drive like Air Force One? That'd be quite the scene, especially knowing his truck is full of a dangerous chemical.

Oh there's Spidey. Beaten and bloodied and used as bait, so now we have Kris forced to rescue him to go after the truly bad cops. The cops crossed the line, and now what? First, we have about fifteen minutes of people group showering because that's weird and a total momentum killer.

It was all driving, and now it's all stopping and talking. What happened? I guess it's the calm before the mega storm, because to save Spidey, they DESTROY THE ENTIRE TOWN with trucks. Good lord. But he has to do that so he can fake his own death with a giant explosion and a machine gun, because obviously.

5.5/10.

In spite of your shitty opinion I appreciate the effort.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

Who didn't carry a comb at that age?

I won't lie, I still have my switchblade comb in a box somewhere.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I won't lie, I still have my switchblade comb in a box somewhere.

Yeah. I had one too. But they were too thin.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

Yeah. I had one too. But they were too thin.

It's so strange, talking about that comb now just brought back a flood of memories, including where I was when I bought it (a legendary Joke store in Boston, MA in junior high, but it has since closed sadly) who I was with (names and faces), and why I was there (school trip to the Museum of Science, Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market).

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

It's so strange, talking about that comb now just brought back a flood of memories, including where I was when I bought it (a legendary Joke store in Boston, MA in junior high, but it has since closed sadly) who I was with (names and faces), and why I was there (school trip to the Museum of Science, Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market).

Been to Faneuil hall. You been to Greeley, CO?

 

[JayPettryMMA]

Been to Faneuil hall. You been to Greeley, CO?

Nah, I plan on making my way out to the Denver area sometime or another, but not yet.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Nah, I plan on making my way out to the Denver area sometime or another, but not yet.

One could almost smell Greeley from where I grew up.

Go West to get away from the stench indeed, young man. -Kenny Florian