Race for the Yankee Zephyr

'Race for the Yankee Zephyr' is alright viewing, though its extremely uneven nature makes it difficult to get into.

Donald Pleasence gives a rather wacky performance as Barney, it looks like he was having fun acting in this - but, as a viewer, he only adds to the chaotic feel of this movie, which is kinda all over the place. Ken Wahl and Lesley Ann Warren are good, though George Peppard's antagonist isn't the best; Peppard himself is OK.

The plot moves at a real meh pace, as it doesn't really leave you a lot to latch on to. It is objectively a quite drawn out way of telling the story, which could've been wrapped up in short film form to be honest! There are worse movies out there no doubt, but this 1981 picture is very much a forgettable one!

I so wanted to like this movie - it was filmed in the NZ I grew up in. But I didn't empathise at all.

Some parts almost appeared as slap-stick comedy, but I'm not sure if that was because of the age and style of the actors, or whether it was deliberate
And seriously, who painted their FJ Land Cruisers black??
It also included some of the worst shooting of anyone with a rifle

The start was barely watchable due to overacting by Donald Pleasence - not sure what was going on with that, but thankfully he settled in and got back to normal as the movie progressed

And obviously, it had Bruno Lawrence in it - something that was apparently compulsory in NZ movies of the era

But despite all that, the movie mostly improved to become something that Tourism NZ could have been proud off - and in many cases, parts that we shown have developed in the following 40 years