Reviews & Ratings for
Shaker Run More at IMDbPro »

7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Eclectic and Fun, 25 August 2006

Author: brook_garrettson from United States

Shaker Run shows more of the New Zealand countryside than even Lord of the Rings. As an added bonus, there are fast V-8 powered cars speeding through it. While it is a bit thin on plot, what is provided is sufficient and more than made up for by the good cinematography, excellent actors and fulfilling chase scenes. Realizing that V-8 powered cars, let alone American V-8 powered are quite rare in New Zealand these days, it is quite fun to behold Judd (Cliff Robertson), a cantankerous American professional driver, blasting across bridges and down roads in the style of Mad Max in a modified Trans Am whilst outmaneuvering the secret police chasing him in sinister black indigenously-produced V-8 pursuit vehicles with air scoops in their hoods. The treat of the movie, in my opinion, was the part where Mr. Carney commandeers a Chevy-powered race car from a downtown dealership, drives it through a storefront window and pursues the Trans Am up a mountain road.

Shaker Run is a rare snapshot of New Zealand during the 1980's. The movies is as rare as it is entertaining for travel-oriented and eclectic motor heads such as myself.

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Good,cheesy,bad,funny, 14 May 2000
Author: fred fenoulhet-walker (jaywalker@btinternet.com) from london, england

This film is a fairly original piece of budget wonder. Not to be watched by casual film goers as it won't exactly amaze them. This film has a great mixture of tastes, for starters it has a scientific edge;2 the boy racers out there will love it's realistic(well maybe not) stunts. The acting is awful but this adds to the 80's nostalgia. If you don't see it you will live and if you do nothing will change it's that sort of film

6 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
More than just a car-chase., 29 March 2002
Author: Jonnie Comet (JComet@aol.com) from Surf City

This is one of my favourite films, just because it's fun. Cliff Robertson and Leif Garrett might have been down-and-out as actors at the time, but they play a down-and-out race team and as Americans in a country noted for a very tough films industry they are a treat. The interplay between what they expect and what Lisa Harrow's character knows better is a big part of the fun. In the end there really is no bad or good guy-- both NZ and the US are guilty of underestimating the heroes and each other; and the heroes have underestimated everyone but themselves.

As a car-oriented film it will please the car-chase fans, but there is more to it than that. First of all you may never see more of the South Island's intense countryside than here, with scenes of wide-open landscape being covered at greater than highway speeds. As a scientific thriller the plot centring round an AIDS-type virus provides food for thought-- just what DO you do with a strain that deadly anyway? Thus the boy-racer speed-thrills and the taut intelligence-vs-science conflict aptly convey the clueless desperation of these three characters as they search for the truth about each other and the next hint of truth about what's going to happen next.

Some observations:

1. Too much gunfire! I can't imagine NZ cops using automatic weapons in the middle of a neighbourhood.

2. I find it hard to believe Robertson shifts the TH-400 automatic gearbox into top at over 100 MPH! Yet the Chevy-powered Trans Am's speedo appears to be in MPH, not KPH.

3. With driving like this the heroes never seem to stop for petrol. And although it's cold season in Queenstown they also never seem to slip on ice.

4. Shona Laing and her band are wonderful in the pub scene. (Whatever happened to her?)

Order in pizza, watch it again and look closer.

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
A lively and hugely enjoyable car chase romp, 13 August 2007

Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Cliff Robertson contributes one of his sturdy, pleasant, reassuring reliable old pro portrayals as Judd Pierson, a crusty, disillusioned crackerjack race car driver whose career has hit the skids. Despite the efforts of loyal, adoring, wide-eyed mechanic Casey (a likably relaxed performance by boyish, fluffy-haired 70's teen heartthrob Leif Garrett), Judd's feeling pretty lousy because he's stuck doing death-defying stunts for a third-rate crash and burn thrill show traveling across New Zealand. So when gutsy, dedicated germ warfare disease researcher Christine Ruben (lovely Lisa Harrow) promises to pay Judd $3,000 to drive her through some treacherous winding backroads, Casey persuades Judd to accept her offer. But unbeknownst to either Judd or Casey, Ruben takes along a sample of a deadly virus she's been working on; it's a top secret bug that the company she works for wants back by any means necessary. Naturally, a lethal team of assassins lead by the sublimely snooty slimeball Shane Briant give chase.

Director Bruce Morrison, abetted by a briskly efficient screenplay (said script Morrison co-wrote with James Kouf, Jr. and henry Fownes), Stephen McCurdy's jazzy, hard-blasting score, spirited acting by a fine cast, a sharp sense of dry, biting humor ("There's nothing in our contract about leading us into the valley of death and getting out butts shot off"), beauteous New Zealand countryside scenery, and Kevin Hayward's handsome, gleaming cinematography, pumps up the pace and maintains a neck-snappingly fast sense of constant momentum. The awesomely well-mounted chase sequences are staged with lip-smacking verve and a camera gets affixed to the side of the wildly careening automobiles, thereby infusing the rousing proceedings with a jangly, punchy, invigorating vitality. Sure, this honey doesn't cover any fresh chase/action thriller ground, but it certainly goes through the familiar motions in a most satisfyingly dynamic and straightforward manner. In fact, this solid, neatly executed number would make a swell double bill with the somewhat similar and equally kickin' "The Chain Reaction."

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
It's All In The Chase, 17 May 2007

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Shaker Run is strictly a film for those who like car chases with little plot to get in the way.

Cliff Robertson is down on his luck race driver and Leif Garrett is his mechanic stuck in New Zealand some 8000 miles from America. A deadly virus has been developed in a lab and Dr. Lisa Harrow doesn't trust her own government not to give it to the military. So what does she do? She contacts the American Central Intelligence Agency and of course they're real interested.

Lisa steals the virus and hires Robertson and Garrett to transport it to a designated hand off spot. Of course they have all of New Zealand law enforcement chasing them soon enough without at first Robertson and Garrett knowing why.

On the plus side there is both nice scenic photography of the New Zealand country side and of Auckland and Wellington. There are enough car chases and stunt driving to satisfy the most insatiable junkie for this stuff. Cliff Robertson and the rest of the cast basically walk through their parts, I'm sure Robertson did it for the money and for a nice trip to New Zealand.

I have to agree with another viewer, if you didn't see the police with New Zealand uniforms and didn't hear the Kiwi accents, you'd swear you were watching the American cops dealing with a fugitive with all that weaponry. Foreigners occasionally do more than chide Americans for their obsessive love of guns, yet these cops seem to find they come in handy if ineffective in dealing with a professional race car driver.

Another view of Shaker Run, 26 March 2012

Author: sculptagain-1 from United States

The critique of this movie will always be divided by 2. #1-Yes, it is a car chase movie in New Zealand (Home of the Hobbits). Shaker Run is a basic, campy movie without all the glamour most Hollywood movies seem to need as their by-lines. The heroes never use guns, yet the bad guys use lots. They incorporate the 'teary eyed' hero when his past emerges. And the good guys win in the end. Nuff said about Hero versus villain (and it is perfectly clean for the youngest of viewers). #2-The flick was made in 1986 during the Retro/Disco era when cowboys wore Pink. But, again, they didn't lead with the stereotypical Hollywood stuff that spoils most of their movies. There were no equally proportioned ethnic groups in the Hero club and no one was an Ex-Special Forces guy (always ruins things). Yes the girl is pretty. But it isn't as if her bones are for jumping. It is just a nice,as I said - Campy movie. Cliff Robertson is 63 - and plays the part well. Casey should have had more of a Hero status driving - to become like his father. All in all, it isn't a stupid movie like so many others in the same Genre. And it sure isn't like most 1986 movies except for the fact that people were quite Pink in that time. Embarrassing, I know - but when cowboys drive Pink cars, then they have to think they're in the gutter and the only way out is look to the stars (or helicopter, in this case).

Leif Through A Wall!, 18 May 2010

Author: Comeuppance Reviews from United States Minor Outlying Islands

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Seemingly the only reason for the movie "Shaker Run" to exist, is to prove now, beyond any doubt, the old adage: "real men wear pink." Judd Pierson (Robertson) is a down-on-his-luck stunt driver for the "Helldrivers Auto Circus". He's getting older, and he can't quite jump that long row of cars like he used to. The audiences are dwindling but luckily Pierson has a young and enthusiastic sidekick named Casey (Garrett). Being a passenger in speeding cars makes Casey ill, which really complicates the events about to transpire...

When scientist Dr. Christine Rubin (Harrow) approaches them to take "the box" (which is a lethal virus) from one side of New Zealand to the other, The Helldriver boys reluctantly accept. The only problem is, an endless supply of Australian baddies are hot on their trail and constantly trying to kill them. The leader of the cabal of goons is Paul Thoreau (Briant of "Moving Targets" fame) who is in a helicopter for most of the movie.

Can the Helldrivers and Dr. Rubin get "the box" to its destination before it is snatched away by Thoreau? "Shaker Run" is an undiscovered gem of a road movie. There are some impressive car chases and stunts. Just imagine a cross between "Vanishing Point", "Smokey & The Bandit", and "The Andromeda Strain". While the title: "Shaker Run" might not be fully explained, I suppose "Vanishing Smokey Strain" doesn't have a good ring to it. Robertson portrays the grizzled old driver who's "the best" with aplomb. He also has cool hat. It is not quite 10 gallon, more like 3-4 gallons. But it suits him perfectly.

Another good thing about "Run" is was made before political correctness and the "Budweiser" logo appears on cars and a simple chase that lasts for most of the movie is all you needed to get by.

One of the highlights is when our heroes are trapped on a boat. If you ever wanted to see Leif Garrett bash through a wall, here is your chance. Lastly, in a show of consideration, one of the credits at the end of the movie asks that you "please drive home safely." "Run" to go see "Shaker Run" tonight! For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
This Bud's for You, 26 November 2007

Author: wes-connors from Earth

In New Zealand, Cliff Robertson (as Judd Pierson) is an semi-unemployed daredevil race-car driver. Mr. Robertson advertises Budweiser beer on his race-car. His traveling companion is mechanic Leif Garrett (as Casey Lee). Mr. Garrett drinks Budweiser beer when he goes out to pick up women. While Robertson and Garrett are trying to make ends meet, Doctor Lisa Harrow (as Christine Ruben) learns a deadly virus has been discovered by some suspicious characters she works with at a laboratory. Ms. Harrow hires Robertson as her driver then, she steals the virus. Robertson, Garrett, and Harrow take off with the virus, in Robertson's "Helldrivers Auto Circus" car. Bad guys like Shane Briant (as Paul Thoreau) will do almost anything to get the virus back…

Interestingly, the virus stolen by Harrow destroys the body's immune system, like AIDS. It was discovered accidentally, and Harrow seems correct in her assumption about how her government would use the virus; she doesn't trust New Zealand's military. Why she decides to, instead, deliver the virus to the United States CIA has even co-star Robertson baffled! Despite some warming up, there isn't much characterization. The ending gives the film a lift.

*** Shaker Run (1985) Bruce Morrison ~ Cliff Robertson, Leif Garrett, Lisa Harrow, Shane Briant

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