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25 out of 34 people found the following review useful:
"Two Thumbs Up!" - Arthur Fonzarelli, 20 April 2001
Author: Randy Rodman (RandyRodman@cs.com) from United States

This movie will never be remembered as great filmmaking, but it's sure to go down in history as an eerily accurate time capsule of the 1970's. The seventies, a time when, despite the depressingly high crime rate, people left their keys in the ignition without giving it a second thought; when cars were stolen so often we considered them communal property.(By the way, if you're ever the victim of a car theft, stand in the road shaking your fist as the car drives off, then yell 'come back here!' as loudly as possible. This is sure to get your car back.)The seventies were a magical time, when gubernatorial candidates wore jumpsuits without fear of ridicule and kept hired goons on retainer; when towns had only one radio station and we all listened to it; when whiny polo players were considered good catches.

And the car chases! Every day and twice on holy days, my Dad would tell me. Many times, while driving to his job as Jack Lord's shoe buffer, he would come across an impromptu car chase headed to Las Vegas or Tahiti or some other fun place and you better believe he joined in! He would be gone for weeks at a time but we always understood. Mom and I were never worried about him; we could follow his progress from the constant radio reports given by the DJ flying overhead. In the seventies, radio stations thought nothing of scrapping their entire playlist and sending up a fleet of helicopters manned by skinny DJs in smoked glasses to spend days covering a car chase while whole police forces sat idly by, except for that one wacky policeman who always seemed to show up carrying some personal vendetta against one of the chasers and was in way over his head but didn't know it because he wasn't too bright but we understood and we loved him anyway.

Because it was the seventies.

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
The King of car crash films, 17 November 2001
7/10
Author: helpless_dancer from Broken Bow, Oklahoma

Nutty, non stop laughfest depicting 2 idealistic, love struck teens determined to make it to Vegas to be wed against the wishes of the bride's parents. This sets off a huge manhunt for the pair by any and every breed of looney, each intent on cashing in on the 25K reward. Never have I seen this many wrecks; dozens and dozens, maybe more. Kooky comedy at it's best.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
See Ron go wild...go wild, Ron, go wild, 2 June 2005
6/10
Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

Before Ron Howard made his most famous movies, he started with this ultra-wacky car chase story. Sam Freeman (Howard) and Paula Powers (Nancy Morgan) try to announce their marriage plans to her parents', but the latter refuse to accept it. So, Sam and Paula run away in a car. As the story progresses, the whole situation snowballs. That is, more and more people get drug in. And of course, a bunch of cars get wrecked. Much like in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", everyone drives in every direction at top speed, damn the peripheral consequences.

One thing that really caught my eye was that Marion Ross starred in "Grand Theft Auto". You may remember her as Marion Cunningham on "Happy Days". I guess that you could say that Richie decided to cast his mom. Maybe it would look like this:

Marion: "Now Richard, always remember to be careful behind the wheel."

(Richie zooms off.)

Marion: "He always took after Howard when it came to driving."

***

Either way, the movie's outlandish (in fact, it's done like a B-movie), but it's impossible not to like.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Not Bad For What It Is, 11 July 1999
Author: G-Man-25 from Iowa City, IA

Ron Howard's directorial debut (in which he also stars) is a pretty good piece of drive-in movie fun, with a silly but fast-paced story and enough car chases and crashes to keep those who go for this kind of thing plenty satisfied. A handful of familiar faces in amusing cameos add to the fun.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Check your brain at the door and you may have a blast with this one., 10 February 2008
8/10
Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada

Paula Powers (Nancy Morgan) defies snooty, filthy-rich jerk father Bigby (Barry Cahill) by taking off in his prized Rolls Royce, intending to marry lover Sam Freeman (Ron Howard, also making his directorial debut here). As more and more people take off in pursuit of the two, it turns into a circus, especially when obnoxious super-DJ Curly Q. Brown (Don Steele, in fine form as always) makes the whole affair a media event.

Ron is joined by actor-father Rance, with whom he wrote the script and whom also acts and takes an associate producer credit, and younger brother Clint, playing one of the many pursuers. Ron had taken the lead in the Roger Corman-produced "Eat My Dust" with the proviso that he get to direct a picture, and this was the result, a frenetic, energetic, and blatantly humorous B flick filled to the brim with plenty of action, stunts, and crashes. It's particularly fun to see Howards' 'Happy Days' mom Marion Ross as a foul-mouthed, high-society type with terrible driving skills and a surprising contempt for the law! Paul Linke, as the annoying would-be fiancée, and Hoke Howell, as a preacher lured by the promise of a substantial monetary award, also get a mention here for their blustery portrayals. Other familiar faces in small roles include Ken Lerner, Paul Bartel, Garry Marshall, Leo Rossi, and the long-ago co-star of "Boys Town" turned reverend, Bobs Watson.

It's very simple, unpretentious, mindless nonsense that, for what it is, is quite enjoyable. Howard particularly piles on the wreckage and chaos for a true slam-bang finish.

It sure as heck ain't fine art, and that's the whole point. Deftly edited by Joe Dante, photographed by Gary Graver, and accompanied by a fun and funky music score by Peter Ivers, "Grand Theft Auto" is purely silly lowbrow action movie hijinks, and recommended to action and comedy fans everywhere.

8/10

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Grand Theft Auto in the Seventies, 3 February 2009
8/10
Author: João Pedro Tomás (joaoped@msn.com) from Faro, Portugal

Ron Howard isn't one of my favorite directors and, as an actor, he isn't good either. All performances aren't great and dialogs kinda weak. But it's a nice action movie after all.

A chase car film about a couple who decides to marry in Vegas against her dad's will. But she was already engaged with some rich guy in town-- apart from wanting to marry some other guy. The rich guy, along with her parents, offer 25K to anyone who could find them. After that, various groups of people engage in their pursuit to win that amount of grand; you can imagine it.

The chase then begins. Among the deserts of California the couple tries to escape all those pursuers by making the fine stunts you can imagine for a low budget 70s action movie! It's a lot of fun you can have watching this classic car chase movie.

Cheesy dialog? Yeah. Predictable? Not so much. Good directing? Well, better than the recent ones made by Howard. Acting? Below average. Entertaining? F*** yes!

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Great Fun!, 30 December 2002
Author: Anthony Bannon (bannonanthony) from Annalong, N. Ireland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I've always had a soft spot for car chase movies, so naturally this one interested me. I wasn't disappointed. It has the usual elements of a film of it's type, the most prominent being the cast of eccentric characters constantly trying to get the better of each other.

SPOILER WARNINGS:

In his directorial debut, Ron Howard plays high school kid Sam who is in love with rich girl Paula. Needless to say, Paula's Ma and Pa, rich snobs who care only about their reputations (Her jogging-suit clad dad is running for Governor of California), disapprove. Her dad wants her to marry rich kid Collins Hedgeworth, whom Paula denounces as a 'flake'. Her dad tries to get the better of her by confiscating her car keys, but then she gets the last laugh as she purloins her old man's Rolls-Royce and picks up Sam. The two then set off for Las Vegas to get married.

Polo-playing wimp Collins tries to give chase, as does his mother, who is trying to get him back before he hurts himself. Collins calls DJ Don Steele and offers a $25,000 reward for Paula's safe return. His mother then calls up and offers another $25,000 for his return. At this point, the fun begins as a bunch of assorted nutcases join the chase. They include: a pair of horny mechanics, a bunch of bumbling private eyes hired by Paula's dad, a money-hungry preacher, a group of dynamite toting rednecks, a group of Hispanic low-riders and an LA cop looking to bust most of the group for grand theft auto.

The pace is frantic, and at times, you forget about certain characters because of the amount of time being focused on certain groups of them. The performances are rather good. Nancy Morgan as Paula seems to be the dominant one in their couple as she does most of the talking. The late Don Steele is great in his role as DJ Curly Q. Brown, which is essentially a reprise of his role of Junior Bruce in DEATH RACE 2000 (also produced by Roger Corman. DEATH RACE director Paul Bartel has a cameo here.). Ron's brother Clint of course appears here as one of the mechanics. He and his partner Pete Isacksen are both great as the sex-mad mechanics.

The car wrecks sometimes happen for no real reason, but they are all brilliantly done. Appropriately, the action reaches it's climax at a demolition derby outside Vegas. This film is brilliant and is a must for car chase fans, like me!

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Highly underrated comedy film, 22 March 2007
Author: nko_123 from Finland

I did buy the DVD of this film because it was a Ron Howard's first movie. Since the film he has made a few good films and few really bad Hollywood entertaining films.

With Roger Corman producing this has always been considered as an "B" film. Well, it certainly isn't that. It is a funny action comedy with good cast, good director and good writers. And what a name for the film!

If you're looking for fun, non-boring, happy and even romantic film, you should definitely get this.

7 of 10

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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
The funniest car chase movie of all time!, 28 August 2000
Author: wishkah7 from Brooklyn, NY. (Where I'm from originally.)

Forget Smokey and the Bandit, check out Grand Theft Auto if you want a car-chase movie in the comedy genre! This was also Ron Howard's directorial debut. And everyone knows him as Opie from The Andy Griffith Show, and Richie from Happy Days. It's about these teenagers who go joyriding in stolen cars, and they get into the most deliriously funny situations anyone could imagine in a car-chase movie!

I don't care if this movie didn't get any good reviews or if it wasn't considered 'cool', but hey, after all it was Ron Howard's first movie he ever produced. The movie may have lowbrow humor, but it's still an awesome movie worth watching! I saw this movie for the first time when I was a preteen, and to this day I still find it to be outrageously funny! If you're in the mood for a serious car-chase movie, rent something like Bullitt or The French Connection. If you want to see a funny one, rent this movie! IMHO, I think it's the funniest movie of 1977!

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Opie Grows Up & Has Fun Coming Out, 11 January 2009
6/10
Author: DKOSTY from United States

The Howard brothers, Ron & Rance got together to write this film. The script is not great, but the direction is solid. What holds this film together is the crashes and the direction. Plot wise, at least it has a plot, but it gets a little wild at times.

Amazing Howards direction is good enough here that for his first film it comes out OK. Ron & his girlfriend are running off to get married in spite of both their parents objections. Her family is rich, while Ron's TV mom (Marion Ross) is just against the whole thing. The theme here is the classic chase movie which has sold many tickets.

For a comparison, think Smokey & the Bandit, the first one. Now if this film had the great music soundtrack as the Bandit had, it might have been held just as good. The difference here is not just Jerry Reed, though. It is the character development too. You get the feeling fairly late in the film that some of the characters including Ron & the girlfriends own are just getting developed. In the Bandit film, the characters get developed stronger and earlier in the film.

As far as direction, Howard is already close to Hal Needham here. He just isn't quite there yet. Still, this film shows me enough that I am glad Howard is behind the camera as his later films prove that this launching pad effort showed his promise.

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