Goldrunner (1980) User Reviews

Not bad cheapy

[Bezenby · 6/10 · 30 November 2015]

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.

Just some good old boys, never meaning no harm

[zeppo-2 · 1/10 · 1 July 2005]

I think I only watched and suffered through this dud so I could come here and warn everyone. Do NOT watch this film unless it's under pain of death!!

Richard Losee is the star, director and producer of this. If this was someone like Clint Eastwood, it would be a commendable achievement but not in this case as Losee lives up to his name and is inept and incompetent in each role. As an actor, he's stiff and wooden, the action scenes are bad enough but the love scenes are cringe worthy in their total lack of passion, cold as a fish comes to mind. As a director, he lacks the ability to make any scene interesting or exciting and flubs every chance to do so, couldn't direct traffic. But he fails worst as producer as that makes him overall responsible for putting this mess together in the first place!

The plot, what there is, concerns the kidnapping of a small child who turns out to be Losee's son (in real life as well), when he's hired to be the ransom driver for the child's family. Taking it's cue from Dirty Harry but doing it badly, Losee has to drive in his souped up car from ransom drop to the next to get instructions.

Cue lots of fast cars driving around for no discernible reason and a ludicrous 'drag race' with a bunch of rednecks who are even lower on the evolutionary scale than the rest of the cast. It all comes to an end much slower than you are wishing it will, if only the film had moved as fast as the hero's car. Perhaps if you thought that the 'Dukes of Hazzard' is about the best that it gets, you might enjoy this film, but I doubt it.....

Give this bomb a sidetrack and put up the detour sign.

where's the action?

[xzcgb · 1/10 · 29 March 2014]

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!!

GREAT Fast Car Film

[henrydavis1999 · 8/10 · 27 April 2006]

I really enjoyed this movie. The movie involves some very cool fast cars and Nic Scott (Richard Losee) drives a Porsche at high speeds to deliver gold for ransom on his kidnapped son. One of my favorite scenes was when the Porsche went flying by a Ferrari at 150 miles per hour. The story line was OK, but the action kept it going. I didn't recognize any of the actors, but thought they did a good job. This film had a first rate music score. I was not expecting a full orchestra music track, so that was a real plus. Overall I found this movie to be quite entertaining and would definitely watch it again. I give this film eight stars out of ten. If you like fast cars, then you will enjoy this movie.

Great Classic Sports Car Movie

[carfanatic65 · 10/10 · 23 May 2006]

I have a fairly large collection of old car movies. One of my favorites was Cannonball Run. In the credits there was this guy named Richard Losee who was one of the car drivers. I happened across a copy of Goldrunner and noticed that Richard Losee was the same guy who appeared in Cannonball Run. I loved Goldrunner. It had lots of fast car scenes. I especially liked his turbo charged Porsche. There were also some other classic fast cars in this movie like a Ferrari 365 GT and a Maserati Ghibli. This movie has lots of action and a gorgeous leading lady. I noticed from the credits that the film was shot in Utah, so the scenery was beautiful. Like the song from Rascal Flatts titled "Fast Cars and Freedom", that's what this movie is all about. Anyone who wants to see these great classic sports cars in action will love this film. I give it a hearty thumbs up.

GoldRunner - This Film Is A Must See

[KurzweilMatt · 10/10 · 23 March 2007]

This film is extremely hard to find, but if you happen across a copy you are in for a real treat. For a low-budget film this was incredible. Richard Losee, a well known car enthusiast, produced, directed and starred in GoldRunner. This film features romance, action, suspense and comedy that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The plot has a few surprises that are shocking but obviously I can't go into more detail (I don't want to ruin the ending if you haven't seen it yet). This is by far the best low-budget movie I have ever seen. If I had the resources I would find Richard Losee and get him to do a sequel to this film.

Goldrunner / Classic 80's Film

[tonyl992 · 8/10 · 1 October 2014]

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.

Buckle Up & Hold On

[jp-pearson · 10/10 · 20 September 2011]

I am writing this for those who recognize and love great movies. When I saw this movie it was so good that I have been contemplating on what I wanted to come and write on IMDb. This is a wonderful, fun and full of action movie. This film starts off with a small boy getting kidnapped and as the police are investigating, the family decides to bring in a friend to help with delivering the ransom (the ransom being gold bars). The guy brought in is Nic Scott (Richard Losee) who drives a turbo charged Porsche to quickly get to several locations to deliver the gold bars. During the film you learn of Nic's previous love life and eventually he discovers that he is actually the kidnapped boy's father. With a surprise ending this movie has it all. I highly recommend it.

All Time Classic Film

[aromero227 · 10/10 · 10 October 2012]

This film offers an endearing relationship story between two ex-lovers working to save a kidnapped little boy. I saw this film for the first time some years ago on VHS tape and really liked it. Recently I noticed this film was available on DVD but it was listed under a different title. Instead of being called "Goldrunner" it was titled "Ransom Runner". I was so excited to see this film again, so I ordered it right away so I could have it for my collection. When the DVD came I found that this WAS NOT a legitimate version of the film. The quality of the DVD was ridiculous. It had obviously been dubbed from a very low quality version of the film. It even had a section of the film that rewinds and repeats. It was super dark and did not represent the great film I had seen years earlier. I was ticked off, so I did some checking and found out the "Ransom Runner" DVD was a pirated version out of England and that the real "Goldrunner" has not been released on DVD. If you get the rare opportunity to see this film, make sure it is the REAL version "Goldrunner". I hope the legal version of "Goldrunner" is available on DVD someday.

Fun Movie

[armandomontelongo715 · 8/10 · 6 August 2013]

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

[nracefedera1 · 10/10 · 14 March 2014]

"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.