Killing Cars (1986)

In a complex story of automotive intrigue, oil barons, corporate finance, and international villainy, the inventor of an environmentally friendly car powered by energy cells becomes the ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Verhoeven

Writer:

Michael Verhoeven

Stars:

Jürgen Prochnow, Senta Berger, Agnès Soral

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Ralph Korda
Senta Berger	...	Marie Landauer
Agnès Soral	...	Violet Blum
Daniel Gélin	...	Kellermann
Stefan Meinke	...	Niki
Peter Matic	...	Dr. Hein
Bernhard Wicki	...	Von der Mühle
Osman Ragheb	...	Scheich Al-Atassi
William Conrad	...	Mr. Mahoney
Axel Scholtz	...	Peter
Marina Larsen	...	Dina
Klaus Mikoleit	...	Werk-Detektiv Tiedtke
Wolf Gaudlitz	...	Werk-Detektiv Maus
Oliver Rohrbeck	...	Stich
Uwe Hacker	...	Schulz

Storyline

In a complex story of automotive intrigue, oil barons, corporate finance, and international villainy, the inventor of an environmentally friendly car powered by energy cells becomes the target of killers. After Ralph Korda has given his patented worldcar to a German automaker for testing, he is confronted by ominous men, eager to get their hands on his patent. Evil Arab petroleum lords also want to stop this threat to the gasoline market any way they can.

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Plot Keywords:

car | oil baron | inventor | oil | nudity | 

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Taglines:

Brilliant automotive engineer. Ruthless businessman. Moving target...

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

13 February 1986 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Blitz

Company Credits

Production Co:

Futura Film, Sentana Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 'World Car' was in fact a heavily modified "Sonic GT", a gullwing sports coupe which was designed and built by Alois Barmettler of Nidwald, Switzerland and marketed later by Albar Cars, Germany.

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Soundtracks

"Ralph's Theme (Killing Cars)"
Performed by Todd Canedy

User Reviews

ill-conceived thriller

The central plot idea of a non-petrol-based car whose development is being sabotaged by vested interests from the oil industry is a good one. (The title refers to the killing OF cars, rather than to cars that kill.) However, it does not make ideal material for an action thriller, and that is exactly what director Verhoeven attempted here.

As a result there are quite a few unlikely moments in the film where my capacity to suspend disbelief was overstretched. In particular, way too much importance was given to that one example of the World Car, as if Korda had built that thing himself, entirely instinctively using a hammer and a soldering iron - and setting issues such as rights to intellectual property completely aside.

The film tries very hard to look stylish, in a very 1980s sort of way, and from a modern perspective some of this looks a bit silly: wearing sunglasses at night, Backgammon as a game that separates the men from the boys, etc.