Goldrunner

A small child, due to inherit a fortune, is kidnapped and it's up to his 'possible' father, the driver guy, to drive around Utah trying to work out the over complicated riddles the kidnapper is giving him in order to dump gold bars all over the place. That's the plot.

Kind of. Turns out the child's stepfather is in on the kidnapping, and the kidnappers themselves include the riddle guy with a chip on his shoulder, an over violent guy, and a third person. Can ransom runner drop off the gold before the kid gets whacked? Unusually entertaining as the film just seems to involve folks driving about, you can really root for the hero here as the kidnapper gives him seemingly impossible tasks to carry out. Our hero even manages to take time out for some illegal street racing.

There's loads of flashbacks too that flesh out our hero's story, plus the kidnapped kid is a great actor or is genuinely screaming for his mum at one point. I couldn't figure it out.

This is a very rare movie to find. It was made in the early 80's and I do not believe it is in print, unless you find an old VHS copy somehow. It tells the story of wealthy family whose son is kidnapped and held for Ransom. The movie stars Richard Losee as a race car driver who must deliver bars of gold to meet the needs of the mad man kidnappers. It really is an enjoyable movie.

The real enjoyment of the movie comes for those who like cars and miles-per-hour. To get the bars of gold to the right places, a Porsche 911 Turbo is used and used quickly. Throughout the movie you get to see a great deal of neat cars from the day at impressive speeds. The cast of characters from the dopey kidnappers to the guys wanting to race their hot rod against the Porsche add a level of fun to the movie. I think what I remember most about the show was that it was OK for family viewing, and one that you could share with your kids, especially the ones who are into cars.

"Goldrunner" is a great story, which is well-acted and very entertaining! To me, this movie is just plain fun. This film is very difficult to find as I believe it is currently out of print. I know that I have seen a few bootleg versions and actually bought one of them only to find out it was not a true representation of the film as it was extremely low quality. If you are one of the lucky few that finds a genuine copy, then you are in for true independent filmmaking at its very best. I am not exactly sure where they shot this film, but it is filled with beautiful scenery, fantastic mountains and best of all exotic foreign automobiles. Losee and Kelly give memorable performances and really bring this story of suspense, drama and crime to life.

I was expecting some good car action at least. but I didn't find any. Nor any redeeming features in this boring film. the score is over done; the stupid romantic flashbacks cannot be taken seriously; the car 'action' is badly filmed, mainly from a very long shot, and anyway there are no proper car stunts here, no rolls, no jumps. OK there's a car race but the cars that take part in it are so obviously not as fast as a Porche, from the get go.

I admit that the copy I saw is apparently a bootleg called Ransom Runner - BUT even if parts of the original are missing from this I am nevertheless certain that the official version will contain pantomime villains with silly moustaches, mad cackles and wandering gun barrels; and will contain bad acting and some unbelievable events. like when the guy doesn't bother locking his car door even though he's got five gold bars on the back seat!!

Goldrunner is a little known, but in my opinion, classic 80's film. Maybe it's just a nostalgic feeling I get from older films, but I do enjoy 30 plus year old films. Goldrunner is obviously a low budget film with high budget cars. The story features action, suspense and overall decent acting. I would like to see what they could have done with this film on a bigger budget or even what it would look like on a better quality source as the videotape I have is old and worn. I am giving this film 8 out of 10 stars meaning it's not the best film I have ever seen but is one I would recommend to those that enjoy films from this time period. Wish the producers would make a digitized version of this classic.