I remember this movie being on television many years ago, probably the late 80's or early 90's and sort of half-watching it. Only to be stunned by the mind-bogglingly nihilistic ending! Over the years the film stayed in my memory on account of this ending. I sort of always wondered if my memory was playing tricks on me or if I hadn't paying full attention at the time, so I was quite excited to see this flick play on a cable channel recently which would give me the opportunity to double-check what I had seen all those years before. The story is about a motorcycle racer whose brother is killed in a bike accident, he inherits the very bike - the silver dream racer of the title - and vows to become world champion with it. I watched this fairly rudimentary story unfold with a definite morbid anticipation and I kept watching the clock to see when this ending was due to kick in. Well, it finally did. And what can I say? If anything, it was even more downbeat and grim than I had remembered it! In slow motion, including horrified reactions of his friends, we watch the hero of the story cross the winning line on his bike and briefly enjoy his moment of fame before losing control of his bike and crash it into the wall at the side of the track, resulting in a fiery explosion; other racers pass on by and nonchalantly look at the fire. Cue end credits! Wow, what an ending! What an outstandingly brutal way to finish the movie and the fact that the rider is played by none other than the cosy pop singer David Essex only accentuates the unpredictable grimness even further. Some people have been scarred for life by the ending of this film and some consider it to be a disaster of an ending but I think it was frankly genius and so audacious. If it hadn't been for that, Silver Dream Racer would really be no more than a run-of-the-mill and forgettable sports-drama. Seemingly, there was a different happy ending made for the American market, which is not surprising but unfortunate. I say, stick to the depressing one we Brits were given, it gives you the important lesson that sometimes in life things just go disastrously wrong and bad stuff just happens. It's also got quite a cool theme tune, sung by David Essex naturally.
Review of Silver Dream Racer
