The Cars That Ate Paris

1974
PG
1h 28m

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

4.5K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer3:28

1 Video

51 Photos

Comedy Horror Sci-Fi

The small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.The small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.The small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

4.5K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Videos1

Trailer 3:28

Watch Trailer [OV]

Photos51

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The opening scenes that feature a couple driving in a car and smoking prominently displaying cigarettes were a parody of a commercial aired on Australian television at the time of the film's original release. Website 'Peterweircave' says of this: "The opening "advertisement", which many viewers seem to take as blatant product placement for Coke and Alpine cigarettes, was actually a spoof in itself. At the time it was made, movies in Australia were often preceded by ads for cigarettes and such. By putting this before the opening credits, Weir was fooling the viewers into thinking this was yet another ad."

Goofs
The people thrown from the car in the first accident are obvious dummies.

Quotes
The Mayor: Have you country boys forgotten the old school war cry? Have you forgotten the meaning of those words? Woomera, Woomera, Babalu, Boomerang, Crocodile, Kookaburra, Wombat, Orangutan, Weehoo, Wayhoo, Terramungamine, Quandong, Billabong, Gundabluey Pine, Platypus, Emu, Wallaby, Roo...

Alternate versions
US version, titled _The Cars that Ate People (1974)_ was shortened to 74 minutes by the distributor, and star Terry Camilleri's voice is dubbed. The film was finally reissued in the USA at complete length in 1984.

Connections
Edited into Terror Nullius (2018)

Soundtracks
Rock of Ages
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Augustus Montague Toplady
Music by Thomas Hastings
Played at the church

User reviews66

Review

Featured review

7/10

not-so-gay Paree

Before Peter Weir got really famous, he made this strange but worth seeing flick about a small town in Australia whose local economy centers on car wrecks, and how they draw an outsider in. "The Cars That Ate Paris" doesn't star anyone whom you would recognize, and there's no big action scenes here, but that actually gives the movie a more realistic feeling.

I should identify that this is not a movie for those with short attention spans. It's not likely to stick heavily in your memory the way that most of Peter Weir's movies do (it's certainly not my favorite of his movies). But still, it's something to check out as a historical reference if nothing else.

"I can drive!" You'll probably feel like you can too.