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Hell Drivers [DVD] [1957]
 
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Hell Drivers [DVD] [1957]

DVD ~ Stanley Baker
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Stanley Baker, Peggy Cummins, Patrick McGoohan, Herbert Lom, William Hartnell
  • Directors: Cy Endfield
  • Format: Black & White, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: ITV DVD
  • DVD Release Date: 26 Jan 2004
  • Run Time: 106 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0000Z0IBG
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 51,624 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

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

Special Features
Original trailer
Interview with Stanley Baker
Location report
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Sound: Mono
Subtitles: English HOH

See all Reviews

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Not fast.....but oh so furious, 22 April 2004
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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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Sheer grit from Brit trucker thriller, 20 Dec 2005
By Greville Rob "peter60780" (Malvern, Worcs, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
On the surface, a 1957 b&w film about short haul truck drivers in cold, rainy Britain seems a dull proposition. Check the credits though: ex-pat yank Cy Endfield is directing a roll call of Brit period talent here. Stanley Baker (later to appear in Endfield's 'Zulu'), is newly-released from jail and finding work tough to get, takes on a driving job with dodgy hauliers helmed by manager William ('Dr Who') Hartnell and bullying road boss, Patrick McGoohan (huge and angry as ever). Co-drivers Sean Connery (yes, him), Alfie Bass, Herbert Lom amongst other then newcomers to the contemporary stage and screen soon make it clear that this job is no Sunday outing. It could seem horribly dated in the CGI age but there is real grit in this pacy, edgy production. The script crackles, direction and editing is tight, the stunt drivers have fun, and the performances from a cast crowding to snatch centre-stage at all times, highly entertaining. Endfield strives to lend proceedings realism and there is an absence of the mawkishness and prudery often found in entertainment of the time. Baker's love scene with a yummy Peggy Cummin is brief, snatched in a truck shed, and credibly hungry. OK - speeding up the film so that the creaky old tipper trucks almost fly round the muddy lanes around Pinewood is a tad silly viewed today, but don't let period technology get in the way of enjoying a film with so much on offer for film buffs and nostalgics alike. The DVD comes with a somewhat stilted interview with star Baker and a more revealing documentary about the lives of truck drivers of the time. (McGoohan fans note: the trucks are all numbered - they'll understand) ...
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars There's an Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman and a Welshman, 21 Jan 2004
By A Customer
... and they all decide to make a grity drama about the transportation of gravel. Or is it a gravelly drama about the transportation - never mind.

The point is, these aforementioned four are played by none other than William Hartnell (Dr Who), Patrick McGoohan (the Prisoner), Sean Connery and Stanley Baker. It also features Herbert Lom, David McCallum and Sid James.

The calibre and combination of the acting talent alone is recommendation enough but the story itself is pretty exciting too: there's thrills, spills, and daredevil chases as the macho truck drivers race each other too and from their drop-offs, finding just enough time to swap punches and fight over the girl. Baker's the new guy on the job and makes his usual convincing and compelling job of playing the rough-diamond.

The truck chases, which form a hefty portion of screen time, bare little semblance to modern takes on the genre(speeded-up film really did loose its power to convince so very long ago), and the lack of police intervention as these maniacs put pedals to metal may leave you wondering why the realism should be stretched over other parts of the narrative, but by God is it an enjoyable little film.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars classic british thriller.
a classic film from start to finish. in some ways, i rate this kind of film more than the old "kitchen sink" dramas but they are very good. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2006 by Mr. A. E. Ward Davies

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard Driving
A proper drama, with such daring concepts as plot, suspense and character instead of FX and big names. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2006 by A. Johnston

5.0 out of 5 stars When men were men
This is a cracking film. I first discovered it about 12 years ago and couldn't believe the quality of the cast, McGoohan, Baker, Connery, Hartnell et al. Read more
Published on 12 May 2005 by Matthew Richardson

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