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Amazon.co.uk Review
Hell Drivers sees James Bond (Sean Connery), Doctor Who (William Hartnell), one of the men from UNCLE (David McCallum), the Prisoner (Patrick McGoohan) and a Professional (Gordon Jackson), all supporting Stanley Baker in this hard-as-nails British action picture realistically set in a bleak late-1950s England. Baker plays Tom Yately, an ex-con who takes the only job he can get--truck driving at breakneck speeds for a corrupt manager (Hartnell) and brutal foreman (McGoohan). The constant short runs and competition between the drivers makes for an intense atmosphere which inevitably explodes into violence. Baker's only friend is an Italian ex-POW played sensitively by Herbert Lom, while Peggy Cummings is a remarkably free-spirited heroine for a British film of the time. Baker himself is superb, quietly tough, and broodingly charismatic, McGoohan is compellingly malevolent and Hartnell simply chilling.
The film is consistently engrossing and often exciting, even when the plot spirals into melodrama towards the finale. One has to wonder where the police are during all this mayhem, but the fact that the screenplay, by John Kruse and Cy Endfield, received a BAFTA nomination suggests the scenario was at least reasonably realistic. Endfield also directed this, the second of six films he would helm for Baker, the most famous of which would be the all-time classic, Zulu (1964).
On the DVD: Hell Drivers is presented in an anamorphically enhanced ratio of 1.77:1. This means a little of the original 1.96:1 VistaVision (70mm) image is cropped at the sides, which is just noticeable in a few shots. The print used is excellent, with only very minor damage, and the mono sound is fine. The disc also includes Look in on Hell Drivers, a 1957 TV programme that offers interviews with Stanley Baker, Cy Endfield and Alfie Bass, as well as comments from genuine truck drivers confirming the realism of the story, and a contemporary 15-minute television interview with Baker, which focuses on Hell Drivers, Sea Fury(1958) (also directed by Cy Endfield) and Violent Playground (1958). The original trailer rounds out an excellent package. --Gary S Dalkin
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: 2-DVD Set, Booklet, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Commentary, Documentary, Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Scene Access, Short Film, Special Edition, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: In this efficient British crime drama, Tom Yately (Stanley Baker) is an ex-con looking for honest work. He thinks he's found it when he takes a job as a truck driver, but he soon discovers that the trucking firm he's signed on with is not playing by the rules. Red (Patrick McGoohan), the company's best driver, and Cartley (William Hartnell), the manager, have created five fictional drivers who have been added to the payroll. The other staff drivers are given the shifts that the phony drivers are supposed to be working, while Red and Cartley divide their pay packets. When Tom attempts to expose the corruption at the trucking firm, he soon discovers that he's taken his life in his hands in the process. Keep an eye peeled for a supporting performance by a young Sean Connery (it was only his fifth screen role); the cast also includes Herbert Lom, Jill Ireland, Peggy Cummins, and David McCallum. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, ...Hell Drivers ( Hard Drivers )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Stanley Baker plays an ex con struggling to find work. He is eventually employed as a driver for a haulage firm which isnt quite what it seems. He soon realises that the drivers are badly underpaid despite the numerous loads which they have to deliver during their respective shifts.
Many of the action sequences are quite funny at times, showing lorries being driven at tremendous speeds around hairpin bends. Obviously speeded up to look dramatic. What holds the film together however, is the superb cast. Apart from Stanley Baker, there is Herbert Lom, Sean Connery (before he became better known as THE James Bond) Sidney James, William Hartnell and Patrick McGoohan as the villain of the piece. The romantic interest is left to Peggy Cummins and the then unknown Jill Ireland.
Despite its low budget, its superbly directed by Cy Endfield (who went on to direct the superb Zulu) and filmed by Geoffrey Unsworth. Not a bad picture, and reasonable sound.
Many of the action sequences are quite funny at times, showing lorries being driven at tremendous speeds around hairpin bends. Obviously speeded up to look dramatic. What holds the film together however, is the superb cast. Apart from Stanley Baker, there is Herbert Lom, Sean Connery (before he became better known as THE James Bond) Sidney James, William Hartnell and Patrick McGoohan as the villain of the piece. The romantic interest is left to Peggy Cummins and the then unknown Jill Ireland.
Despite its low budget, its superbly directed by Cy Endfield (who went on to direct the superb Zulu) and filmed by Geoffrey Unsworth. Not a bad picture, and reasonable sound.
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a great film, one of my all time favourits. Being a fan of classic cars, WW2 military vehicles, Sid James and Bill Hartnell this film is a treasure trove of Willys Jeeps, flying jackets and artillary men leather waistcoats! The cast has already been touched upon in other reviews and is full of top notch people but I feel I must mention Red, the drunken, bullying time setter and foreman of Bill Hartnell's boss, played to perfection with as much menace and sometimes comedy by Patrick McGoohan. The grin that hints of many pub brawls and of a broken jaw, the eternal presence of the roll up fag, the air of a ticking time bomb of violence waiting to explode in a second, a man who is king of his own jungle. What a character he was.
Little bit of info here, my Grandfarther used to be a builder for 50 years of his life, he did this kind of life style in the time the movie is set. We watched this film one saturday afternoon, he loved it but pointed out two things as follows.
1. The trucks use in this film, obviously speeded up, could only muster around 40 45 an hour unloaded and were prone to gear box death if driven to hard.
2. He also told me that Red was quiet a common character back then, he also said that McGoohan's performance was quite tame compared to his old work mates and foremen! Imagine Red magnified ten fold!
In short, buy it, watch it, enjoy the characters, the motor's, the wagons, the clothes and the great cliff hanger of an ending!!!
Little bit of info here, my Grandfarther used to be a builder for 50 years of his life, he did this kind of life style in the time the movie is set. We watched this film one saturday afternoon, he loved it but pointed out two things as follows.
1. The trucks use in this film, obviously speeded up, could only muster around 40 45 an hour unloaded and were prone to gear box death if driven to hard.
2. He also told me that Red was quiet a common character back then, he also said that McGoohan's performance was quite tame compared to his old work mates and foremen! Imagine Red magnified ten fold!
In short, buy it, watch it, enjoy the characters, the motor's, the wagons, the clothes and the great cliff hanger of an ending!!!
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Try making a film today about a group of drivers taking ballast tobuilding sites somewhere in the Home Counties and you'd be laughed out ofthe golf club.But that's not how it was when films were films rather thancynical marketing ploys to attach high profile actors (sic) to pitifullyweak scripts, throw in a load of special effects, and release it just intime for the school holidays.The world isn't threatened. There is noshooting, no drugs, no aliens, no dreary sword'n'sorcery. Just a bunch ofblokes trying to earn a crust driving tipper trucks for a bent depotmanager. Some of them are nice (Stanley Baker), some of them are nasty(Patrick McGoohan), and some of them just stay in the background (SeanConnery). It's in Black and White and was made for less than the cateringbudget for "The Matrix", but it has what 99.9% of today's "Blockbusters"lack : a well-written script, a cast that can actually act, and a beliefthat it has a purpose other than making money. The moral of the film isintegrity. The moral of Film should be the same.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
hell drivers
THIS FILM HAS PLENTY OF ACTION & IT BROUGHT BACK A FEW MEMORIES AS I SAW THIS FILM WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED & BEING EX LORRY DRIVER IT IS ALWAYS A TOPIC OF CONVERSION WHEN I... Read more
Published 2 months ago by KENNY BOY
not my thing
this film was a present and isnt one i would choose but the person loved it and that is all that matters
Published 3 months ago by hammerman84
waited a long time
I'd waited a long time for this movie to appear in DVD format, and I can only echo what other reviewers have written about it. It's a great movie. Read more
Published 7 months ago by D. Payne
Unless I'm pushed that is.
Ex-convict Tom Yately snags himself a job driving for haulage company Hawletts. The drivers are paid per trip, something that spurs the men on to drive faster and be more reckless... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Spike Owen
The Italian character Dino gives pause for thought
This film receives lengthy critical treatment in a recently published book, "Beauty and the Beast: Italianness in British cinema", by Elisabetta Girelli, who teaches film studies... Read more
Published 16 months ago by A. J. Barber
Hell Drivers for the Boys
Hell Drivers is one of those classic films that everyone should watch at least once.
With three or four of the big name actors of the time, Hell Drivers is a gritty fast... Read more
With three or four of the big name actors of the time, Hell Drivers is a gritty fast... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mr. N. Byrne
Ha Ha Ha
Great to see all the old actors here from Dr Who to Sid James.
Weak story but the film is still interesting enough. Read more
Weak story but the film is still interesting enough. Read more
Published 24 months ago by dick scratcher
I WANT THAT CIGARETTE CASE.
I have been HGV driver now for many years, so of course this great film appealed to me in more ways than one. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2010 by T. BARNES
Hell Drivers DVD
The subject of this film came up at work a few weeks ago, leading me to check whether a DVD copy was still available. Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2010 by Mr. P. H. Gallienne
A great British movie
Huge fan of this film, simple story of corrupt company manager & foreman who push road haulers to the limit. Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2010 by Andy B
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