Safari 3000 (1982)

Reporter J.J. wants to write a story about an Afrika rallye, 3000 km across desert and steppe. Unfortunately her driver and car get lost only days before the start, so she hires ex-stuntman... See full summary »

Director:

Harry Hurwitz

Writers:

Michael Harreschou (screenplay), Jules V. Levy (story),

Stars:

David Carradine, Stockard Channing, Christopher Lee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Carradine	...	Eddie Miles
Stockard Channing	...	J.J. Dalton
Christopher Lee	...	Count Borgia
Hamilton Camp	...	Feodor
Ian Yule	...	Freddie Selkirk
Hugh Rouse	...	Brigadier Hawthorne
Mary Ann Berold	...	Victoria Hawthorne
Peter J. Elliott	...	Stewart Simmons
Cocky Two Bull	...	Rally Car Salesman
Ben Masinga	...	Zulu Chief
James White	...	Lou Reiner
Mackson Ngobeni	...	Judge Urpa
Sam Williams	...	Dirty Hahurry
Fanyana H. Sidumo	...	Kitu
Eric Flynn	...	Rally Team Interviewer

Storyline

Reporter J.J. wants to write a story about an Afrika rallye, 3000 km across desert and steppe. Unfortunately her driver and car get lost only days before the start, so she hires ex-stuntman Eddie and buys a wreck of a car from her last money. Eddie can help her to a new motor - by stealing it from the ruthless count Borgia, who from now on is their hardest and meanest competitor in the rallye.

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Plot Keywords:

rallye | driver | sabotage | africa | automobile | 

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Taglines:

The race that drove Africa wild!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eine irre Safari

Filming Locations:

Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levy-Gardner-Laven

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher Lee has said in interviews that a chunk of his role was removed in editing.

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Goofs

Pretty much any time Christopher Lee is driving in the car with his sidekick, the camera is visible in the reflection on the sidekicks helmet. This starts at the beginning of the race and continues throughout the movie.

User Reviews

Race time again! This time for Africa.

Another unforgettable cinematic trend that was particularly popular during the late 70's/early 80's were the illegal Grand Prix race and carsploitation movies. There were a whole lot of exhilarating titles varying between extremely violent and hilariously gleeful, but they all had a few trademarks in common. Impressive stunt work and flamboyant vehicles, of course, but also all-star casts that practically always featured David Carradine. Ever since the tremendous success of "Death Race 2000", Carradine starred in numerous more car movies including this latecomer "Safari 3000". This is basically a very mundane and derivative race movie, but with one unique selling proposition namely its African setting. The race in question takes three days and covers over 2.500km of routes full of obstacles, wildlife and sabotaging danger. Eddie Mills is a former movie stunt man who likes to drive the race, but he doesn't have a car. JJ Dalton is a quirky Playboy journalist who'd like to report live from inside a race car, but she doesn't have a driver. They team up, fall in love in between all their bickering and combine forces against their biggest rival; the obnoxious but cheating Italian multimillionaire Count Borgia. The screenplay of "Safari 3000" is a non- stop series of clichés and stereotypes, but luckily enough it's all very charming and amusing. The lesser important competitors in the race can easily be recognized by their exaggeratedly amplified nationality facets. The French only talk about wine and cheese, the Brits about London and the Australians talk in … well … incomprehensible accents. The most impressive sequences in "Safari 3000" all feature, and I suppose most of it is stock footage. There are extended images of galloping zebras, gazelles, giraffes as well as lions, elephants and buffaloes. The chemistry between David Carradine and Stockard Channing (most known for her role in "Grease") is excellent and Christopher Lee obviously had a good time playing the textbook villain Count Borgia. There are a few notable moments of action and stunt work, like a Peugeot diving into a lake in slow-motion, but overall this is a rather tame movie that primarily revolves on scenery. If you want dazzling action and loads of crashes, I suggest you check out "Cannonball!" instead.

*Note: Given the (completely meaningless) number in the title, it's not coincidentally that I selected to watch "Safari 3000". This is review number three thousand that I have written for IMDb. Thanks for reading.