Comments on: HELL DRIVERS (aka HARD DRIVERS)

By: Max Pemberton

Max Pemberton — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:22:53 +0000

Wow. Thanks for that Maureen. I hope you enjoyed the review and that it brought back some memories.

By: maureen smith

maureen smith — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:57:46 +0000

hell drivers was being made in 1953 i know this as i took one of the lorries away on a tractor and trailer the other lorry was driven away by the land owner mr brian harris regards maureen

By: Max Pemberton

Max Pemberton — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:19:04 +0000

Thanks for your comments fellas, and I do actually like the film. I remembered it from many years ago as it had stuck in my head and the reason I reviewed it. And I can still watch it repeatedly. As I said, it’s not a particularly great film, but certainly a nice little piece of cinema history. Oh, and H. R. – Regarding the numbers on the trucks – take a look at the DVD cover…

Max.

By: Adrian Barrett

Adrian Barrett — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:08:26 +0000

The screenplay may not be the best but it serves the characters well enough to portray the bleakness of their situation. All involved are unlikeable to a point in their parts which reminds me more of people in real-life – none of us are perfect, unlike some on the silver screen and that is the point. Despite their unworthyness as people we still care to the bitter end what happens to them and mainly to Tom. Unusually gritty and compelling for a British film it deserves it’s cult status. I think a re-make might handle certain elements better but it would have to avoid the more typically modern ‘hard-men’ stereotypes and attitudes, in the way DeNiro spoiled the re-make of Cape Fear (not that that is much of a comparison. 8/10 for me.

By: H R Mann

H R Mann — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:28:32 +0000

I’ve just seemn “Hell Drivers” on TV (June 15th, 2009) and think it deserves more praise than Max has given it. Its toughness and realism compared with other films of the same period (e.g. the main fight scene) surprised me, and although the female roles are pretty hammy, most of the male actors do a good job. It is only in the last 20 minutes or so that our hero, Tom (played by Baker), finds out about the scam and the final chase and crash to death scene is well done: I even wondered if the final scene in “The Italian Job” mght not owe a debt to this film… (And by the way, the number badges are on the BACKS of the trucks (MAYBE on the front as well) which is why poor Gino (played by a very young looking Lom) gets killed instead of Tom… )