The Last American Hero (1973)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Lamont Johnson

Writers:

Tom Wolfe (articles)
William Roberts (written by)

Release Date:

27 July 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

It took him 20 years to find out who he was and 2 laps to let the world know.

Plot Keywords:

Backwoods | Southern | Country | 1970s | Father In Jail

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Elroy Jackson Jr. / Junior Jackson
Valerie Perrine	...	Marge Dennison, Morley's Secretary
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Mrs. Jackson
Ned Beatty	...	Hackel, Derby Promoter
Gary Busey	...	Wayne Jackson
Art Lund	...	Elroy Jackson Sr.
Ed Lauter	...	Burton Colt
William Smith	...	Kyle Kingman, Driver (as William Smith II)
Gregory Walcott	...	Cleve Morley
Tom Ligon	...	Lamar, Good Ole' Boy
Ernie F. Orsatti	...	Davie Baer, Driver (as Ernie Orsatti)
Erica Hagen	...	Trina Kingman
James Murphy	...	Spud
Lane Smith	...	Rick Penny, Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Cole	...	Marshall Collins
Louis Compton	...	Track Announcer (Martinsville)
Bill Connell
Bridget Furr Jones	...	Baby girl with Junior Jackson at speedway

Also Known As:

Hard Driver (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

95 min | 91 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Hickory, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Rojo Productions

Trivia:

Junior Johnson is credited with inventing the "bootleg turn", in which a driver escapes a pursuer by sharply putting his speeding car into a 180-degree turn on the highway, then speeding off in the opposite direction before his pursuer can turn around. In the movie this is used to great effect twice on the same police officer: when he first encounters the officer he does a 180 and the chase begins and then uses the "bootleg turn" once more effectively causing the officer to embank his car on the road.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Precious Images (1986)

Soundtrack:

I Got A Name

This film reveals how bad the Hollywood action movie has become 30 years later.

I watched this movie today on AMC and loved it. I don't know how well the film was received upon release, but in light of the current Hollywood narrative for action movies, Last American Hero deserves appreciation. It should definitely be considered an American classic.

The movie is a docu-drama based on the few years in the life of Junior Johnson, a famous stock car racer. A young Jeff Bridges brings the main character to life with a great performance, inspired and entertaining. The supporting cast is also excellent with Gary Busey as the brother and Valerie Perrine as the love interest.

All the elements of a great movie that time forgot: thrilling racing scenes, three-dimensional characters, humor, a complicated plot, and so on.. It's a shame that action movies today don't sacrifice some of the explosions, blood, and high-tech props for the type of entertainment and engrossment that Last American Hero delivers.