The Wraith (1986) User Reviews

A Bit of 80's Fun!

[metallikat74 · 7/10 · 27 January 2007]

My brothers and I used to watch this movie all the time, probably when it was on HBO back in the day. It was a nice piece of nostalgia. Since I had viewed it so much as a kid, it was like going back and watching a movie you almost know by heart but at the same time weren't really sure what was going to happen next.

The soundtrack was great, with the likes of Ozzy, Billy Idol, Robert Palmer and others. Looking at all that 80's "fashion" was fun too. The DVD box didn't say the year but I had determined it to be about '86 or '87.

I couldn't help but draw a comparison to this storyline and that of "The Crow". "The Crow" is definitely a darker piece of fun but the same "guy done wrong takes revenge and finds his girl" wasn't hard to miss.

All in all, if you're looking for something fun, with a great soundtrack, cool cars and fast car races, check it out!

You've just gotta love the spirit of the 80s.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 8 June 2009]

Back in 1986, The Wraith just about qualified as a moderately entertaining alternative should the video rental shop be all out of copies of Aliens or Top Gun; however, when watched twenty three years later from a nostalgic point of view, this silly supernatural revenge flick actually proves to be a whole heap of fun. Charlie Sheen's lifeless performance; the sheer naffness of the race scenes; an ever-present pop/rock soundtrack; Nick Cassavetes' ridiculously nasty boo-hiss bad guy; a collection of annoying comic-book punks with idiotic names and silly mannerisms: The Wraith is perfect for anyone looking for some mindless popcorn action and a bit of a laugh at the expense of the decade that taste forgot.

Sheen plays a restless spirit who returns from the afterlife in a turbo charged ghost car to seek revenge on the reprehensible road pirates responsible for his death, rescue roller waitress Keri (the scorching Sherilyn Fenn) from the clutches of psychotic killer Packard Walsh (Cassavetes), and say goodbye to his younger brother Billy (Matthew Barry).

Although the film's star isn't really given that much to do (for much of the time, Sheen's character is hidden behind he wheel of his otherworldly car or in a silly cyberpunk suit and black full-face helmet), the excellent supporting cast more than make up for his absence: Randy Quaid is great as a desert cop trying to make sense of the carnage; Clint Howard gives another memorable performance as a mechanic with crazy hair; and Fenn is effortlessly sexy, and gets her top off once or twice during proceedings.

With more cheese than one of the burgers served up by Keri at the Big K bar, The Wraith is a great time-waster and recommended to all fans of 80s cult cinema.

Now that's entertainment!

[paulclaassen · 6/10 · 15 September 2021]

'The Wraith' is an interesting blend of fantasy, action, drama, romance and even a bit of horror, while at the same time being a vengeance movie. This classic 80s movie made the futuristic car, a Dodge M4S, a household name at the time of release.

Interesting also how some elements in the film are so familiar with the 'Fast and the Furious' franchise, which almost makes me believe the writers of the original 'Fast and the Furious' based their film on 'The Wraith'. Could this indeed have been the inspiration?

'The Wraith' features amazing cars and fast-paced, impressive action sequences. This will no doubt be a feast for car enthusiasts. I also enjoyed the characters and the premise in general. Charlie Sheen stars as the film's protagonist, Jake. A mysterious character at first, we learn a lot about Jake through flashbacks. Nick Cassavetes stars as the antagonist, Packard, who is possessive over Keri (Sherilyn Fenn). Keri is a strong character and the only person in town who is not scared to stand up to Packard. Randy Quaid is well cast as Sheriff Loomis, who also takes a stand against Packard and his gang.

'The Wraith' is very well made for its time. Even by today's standards, the film delivers more than enough thrills and excitement to keep the viewer engaged. It also offers a great climax on a physical and emotional level. This is a darn good movie!

Lost and found!

[Lovechild_77 · 5 January 2004]

Well, this movie is one of those half-forgotten gems of this cool decade. As a child I use to rent this movie over and over again but then I forgot it's name when I grew older. Recently, when I started to look for old cult 80s, I stumbled upon this little nice saga. The story is ridiculous but quite entertaining (I love revenge ;)) and there are many strange plot-holes through the whole movie. So why bother renting or buying this old s*** you may ask? Well if you are a child of the 80s and saw it back then, it can bring back some nice memories. If you are from that time but have not seen it, you MUST see it. Everyone else, just see it and enjoy a movie with one of the greatest cars ever on screen. For those who have seen it I just must make some statements of some of the major flaws in the film. How come that the police just let the thugs steal all the nerds cars in a small town like this? (very strange) And why don't the stupid morons see that they're next to die on the list when their buddies fall off one buy one. No fear at all...=) Well... all and all a funny flash-back. You know from like ten minutes into the movie how the end will be, but you'll KEEP on looking...

One of my all time favorite movies

[Ankhenaten91 · 7/10 · 2 March 2011]

I remember seeing this movie when I was 7 years old going to see it opening weekend at a matinée show. Westwood in LA '86 was a great time.

The movie left an indelible mark on me from the moment I walked out I was a changed man, er boy. I had just seen the coolest most bitchin' movie ever!

Charlie Sheen in his first staring role plays a new kid in a small town in the Arizona desert town that is held hostage by a group of road pirates that race people for their pink slips. This group led by Packard (Nick Cassavetes) is a motley crew if I ever saw one filled with every stereotypical character you can find. Packard and Sheen are both into the same girl (Sherrilyn Fenn) and that is where the fun starts.

The gang of thugs are being taken out one by one by a masked avenger of sorts in a supernaturally cool car that forces you to hit it and blow up while it re-appears without a scratch. Of course law enforcement is called in and it falls to Sheriff Loomis (Randy Quaid) always one step behind the action right where we need him.

Awesome driving sequences showing the same scenery over and over and a shoestring budget give this movie more character than you would normally have but everything is up on the screen to watch. The music is pretty good for 80's rock tunes and it is such a perfect little time capsule for the era in which it was produced.

If you want a fun movie to watch on a Saturday night maybe some beer and pizza a some friends to revel in the greatest time in cinema ( I am joking by the way) you can't go wrong.

It's schlocky, weird and makes little sense, the acting is pitch perfect for the material and is just a good time. Plus Sherrilyn Fenn is HOT AS HELL!

Fails to harness the vast potential it has, though it still manages to be enjoyably cheesy

[callanvass · 5/10 · 5 January 2014]

Jamie Hankins (Charlie Sheen) is murdered by Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes) and the rest of his gang for getting too intimate with a girl he desires, Keri Johnson (Sherilyn Fenn) A mystical figure shows up without warning one day, a man who goes by the name of Jake Kesey. He has an invincible Dodge Turbo Interceptor, and hits it off with Kerri. People don't realize Jake is actually Jamie Hankins who has come back to avenge his death by killing Packard and his gang.

I am half and half on this movie. I did enjoy this movie very much in a B-movie type way, but I also feel they failed to execute on the potentially riveting storyline. It doesn't do nearly enough with the set-up and resorts to playing it safe far too often. Jamie was a man who was murdered, and it sure didn't seem like he was that angry about it. We get scattered flashbacks of Jamie's death that don't really amount to much, nor do they provide much emotion. Jamie kills Packard's gang in the most routine ways imaginable, all by car chaos. As a matter of fact, that's all it was really interested in. It felt like it was bragging by saying "Hey! Look at all these cool cars we are throwing your way, be in awe by it, and shut up" You got murdered bro, go nuts! On that note, the cars are indeed cool. We get a dodge turbo, a firebird, corvette, among others. The car chases are certainly exciting, but it gets redundant after a while when the storyline really begins to lack proper substance. The visuals are pretty dated, but still pretty neat, especially those flying lights. The abundance of plot holes can't be ignored. Why was there no conjecturing that Jake was Jamie? How did it take the sheriff so long to figure out what was going on? Charlie Sheen doesn't exactly give his best performance in this one. He's one of my favorite actors, but I'd be lying if I said he wasn't somewhat wooden at times. He was far too cool for a precarious situation that his character was in. I would have loved to see him be more conflicted and emotional, but we can't always get what we want, now can we? it's still Charlie Sheen, and I love him. Sherilyn Fenn is awful as the love interest. She couldn't emote very well, but she was pretty easy on the eyes. Her love story with Sheen is supposed to be very potent, but it fell very flat. Nick Cassavetes gives the best performance in the film as a ruthless gang leader. His menacing performance was quite riveting. Randy Quaid is amusing as the tough sheriff. The rest of the cast range from good to adequate.

MAJOR SPOILERS! Here are my thoughts on the anti-climatic ending. Jamie manages to kill Packard, and they gave the viewers a happy ending, but it's rather ambiguous as well. Kerri & Billy find out that Jake is Jamie, and Kerri & Billy ride off into the sunset together. Is Kerri gonna be dead as well, is Jamie gonna stay on earth? it left so many questions unanswered, and it wasn't very logical.

Final Thoughts: I almost forgot the amazing soundtrack. It has some classic 80's songs, if you love the 80's like I do. This movie is very enjoyable for what it is. It's a corny B-movie, but it could have been so much more. It had potential to be a suspenseful revenge film, but wound up being a cheesy 80's film. I can't complain too much. Cheesy 80's is just fine with me. Well worth a look, just make sure you temper your expectations

5.7/10

A timeless movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 31 December 2015]

I remembered this movie from my childhood. It was good back then and it actually still holds its own even today. Way before "Fast and Furious" there was "The Wraith".

The story in "The Wraith" is about a mysterious stranger who shows up in an Arizonan town terrorized by a gang of brutal drag-racers led by Packard. At the same time does a mysterious car show up too and challenge the gang to a race one by one. The races end with the death of one of the racers. But when the police show up, the corpse is in perfect condition and missing the eyes.

"The Wraith" is an entertaining movie with a good story, fast car races and a fairly good cast that includes Charlie Sheen, Sherilyn Fenn and Randy Quaid.

This is one of those types of movies that can be seen several times and it has actually withstood the test of time quite well. If you haven't already seen "The Wraith" then you should take the time to sit down and watch it because it is rather enjoyable.

Great looking car. Really bad movie.

[Nuclearcow · 1/10 · 1 July 2001]

It seems like they just wanted to make the movie just to have some cool scenes with the car. "Oh yeah, and we've better add some cheesey, no-brain plot around the car, just to make it a movie."

This was a bad movie. Great looking car, though, so I guess that was supposed to off-set the plot. It didn't work.

Great action, good characterisation, superb soundtrack

[Mark-192 · 10/10 · 29 July 1999]

One of my all-time favourites. A nice idea in the spirit of "The Car" or "Christine" with great action (mostly of well-show car chases in Tucson, Arizona). The characters were well constructed and (on the whole) well implemented by the actors, with Nick Cassavetes stealing the show as nutter, Packard Walsh.

It also launched the careers of Charlie Sheen and Sherilyn Fenn (Fenn's fans will be happy to see "more" of her in this one).

The rock soundtrack is superb and a real collectors' item nowadays.

The original video cover was nice in that it was a holographic cover. Subsequent sell-thrus resorted to a standard litho-printed cover.

For a night in with a pizza and a few mates round, this is a great film.

An 80's Wonder

[jrfranklin01 · 6/10 · 26 December 2004]

If you care to travel back to 1986, you'll see a young and not-yet popular Charlie Sheen star as a ghost with a vengeance. This, of course, means that you'll have to endure a few eighties quirks, which gave the decade its unique character.

"The Wraith" is a creative story about a bunch of drag-racing town bullies who are into taking what they wish, mostly by force. The town police (although shown as macho) appear feckless in apprehending the thugs. The town's populus remain largely actionless due to their fear. The kingpin of these hooligans is Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes - son of famous actor John Cassavetes). Charlie Sheen plays Jake, the reincarnation of a slain victim (Jamie) of the town thugs. He appears out of nowhere and soon begins conversations with Packard Walsh's girlfriend, an action considered lethal. Soon a mysterious driver with an exotic, futuristic-looking car (the real-life Dodge-Chrysler Interceptor M4S) appears on the scene and begins drag-racing Packard's gang into the grave.

This film gives us some great eighties in it's soundtrack which includes Robert Palmer and Billy Idol. It also gives a look at the popular "punk" look of the eighties in the character of Skank. I recently discovered that the Wraith's car was a real-life automobile. And only one original model was actually loaned from Chrysler. The other shots were of "shell" models, without engines, etc. During the filming of the good drag-race shots on the mountainsides outside of Tuscon, one of the crew members was killed and another critically wounded.

I had some dislike for the film in the completely idiotic and helpless nature of Packard's thugs. In fact, I had a bit of trouble in believing the entire town's pacifisim towards Packard. There is one strange scene involving a sexual encounter between Packard and some local girl, where she thanks the sheriff for showing up. This just didn't add any credibility. But then again the whole movie is a bit incredible, especially the Wraith's car and its ability to keep that Windex shine after blowing up. And I never did figure out what the deal was with that one part that glowed at the end of every crash. More 80's sfx...? I chuckled for an instant though when I saw the Wraith enter Packard's warehouse in that "spacesuit" with what appeared to be a "space shotgun". What was the deal with that? I was beginning to think Jake's body was beamed aboard an alien ship before he died and now he was returning with their technology.

A good story for the eighties, but not one to take too seriously. Be sure to admire Sherilyn Fenn's teeny character, Keri. Oh, I also read you can buy an M4S Interceptor replica for about $70,000. Ouch! 6/10

Its a Stinker !

[jim-messenger · 2/10 · 11 December 2004]

Considering the year of this film I am surprised it made it into the can! Unless of course it is a salute to the dreadful 'B' movies of the late 50's, early '60's. Even then it missed by a mile. The film does not know if it is a revenge, sci-fi or scary movie. Sheen and Fenn must be thanking their lucky stars that they didn't sink from trace as this movie should have done. Max Max had been made 7 years prior to this stinker and despite being filmed on string outshines this film by a mile. I can only think that all the actors, film crew and extras had a spare afternoon together with a couple of cameras and loads of free film. No wonder the director has 3 other names. I'd have tried to hide too.

Beyond underrated

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 27 October 2018]

In another version of our reality, The Wraith was the Top Gun of 1986. People are still wearing t-shirts of it, dressing up in costumes at cons and I have an amazing Jake Kesey action figure on my shelf.

As bright lights descend from the heavens - shades of The Visitor - an all black Dodge Turbo Interceptor comes to life, along with a black-garbed driver.

Welcome to Brooks, Arizona. This is where Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes, son of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes, exuding pure sexual menace) leads a gang of car thieves that race people for pink slips. Everyone and everything is his property, mainly Keri Johnson (Twin Peak's Sherilyn Fenn), who doesn't remember Packard killing her boyfriend Jamie Hankins (Christopher Bradley).

That's when Jake Kesey arrives on a dirt bike. He instantly befriends Keri and Jamie's brother Billy, who both work at Big Kay's, a local drive-in hamburger joint. One day, while they swim at a local river, they both notice huge knife scars on Jake's back.

The Turbo Interceptor starts to take over Packard's races, its driver's face never seen, his body covered in armor and metal braces for reasons unexplained. Everyone who races the Wraith, as he comes to be called, is killed, including gang members Oggie Fisher (Griffin O'Neal, April Fool's Day) and Minty. Me, I like Skank and Gutterboy. How can you not love gang members who drink gasoline for an entire movie? I love that they're so high that they refuse to believe in the Wraith. Soon, they get blown up real good.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Loomis (a pre-freakout Randy Quaid) is in hot pursuit but never seems to get close. Rughead, the only gang member who didn't help kill Jamie, goes to the police to try and save his skin. He's played by Clint Howard and his amazing hair, a B&S favorite since Evilspeak.

Packard still has an iron grip on Keri, despite the fact that she won't give him what he wants: sex. Isn't that what all guys want? Well, once he sees Keri kiss Jake, he kidnaps her and says they're heading for California. She stands up to him and says that she never loved him. The Wraith shows up and Packard finally pays for his crimes. As the police prepare to give chase, Loomis calls it off, as they could never catch him.

Keri gets back home and the Wraith pulls up, then transforms into Jake. He tells her that he is her dead boyfriend, but doesn't look like him because "This is as close as I could come to who I once was." In truth, Sheen was tied up making Platoon, so they filmed the early scenes without him.

But Jake has one last act before he can leave - he gives the Turbo Interceptor to his brother, revealing who he really is. He tells Keri to pack light for where they are going. Where, Jake? Heaven? Outer space? The planet or dimension that sent Tony's dad in Xtro?

The Wraith is the very definition of bonkers. It's like Ghost Rider meets The Car meets Rebel Without a Cause by the way of a punk gang from The Road Warrior. It's so many movies in one, with something for everyone to love. It was written and directed by Mike Martin, who also brought us Hamburger: The Motion Picture and directed four movies under the pen name Jake Kesey. Yep. You guessed it. The Wraith himself.

Cool "Vehicle" for Sheen

[kwhuneycutt · 6/10 · 8 January 2006]

The Wraith is one if the coolest "car movies" ever and is bound to be a cult classic. Featuring 'Cudas, Corvettes, Dodge Daytonas, Triumphs and a supercharged Pontiac Trans Am, the Wraith has a classic collection of cool cars. A young Charile Sheen stars as the wraith who rides into town in his mysterious "Turbo Interceptor" and takes revenge on a gang of no good road pirates. The Turbo Interceptor was way ahead of its time when the movie was filmed but now seems a bit cheap. The car racing sequences were pretty well shot and still stand up today.

The Wraith features a rockin' 80s soundtrack with music performed by Bily Idol, Robert Palmer, Motley Crue and even Ozzy Osbuorne. Randy Quaid, Clint Howard and Nick Cassavetes round out a cast of strange supporting actors. A very young Brooke Burke makes an appearance as a car-hop at Big Kay Burgers and Steven Eckholdt also has a small part as the "Daytona Boy." Though the Wraith is filled with terrible acting and the special effects are dated, it is still a fun ride. The Turbo Interceptor's "special feature" is still unbelievable and a lot of fun even after all these years.

If you're a big fan of the Mad Max/Road Warrior films or of street racing movies like The Fast and the Furious, I think you'll really like this movie. You may have to be a big car enthusiast or a big Charlie Sheen fan to really love this film. The Wraith is rated PG-13 though it does contain some mild violence and partial nudity/sexuality. Bad acting makes this film a bit cheesy but the fast cars and racing sequences are a lot of fun. The Wraith is a way cool "vehicle" for Charlie Sheen.

Cool Car Rating: 8/10

Overall Movie Rating 6/10

-"A what man?"

-"A Wraith man! A ghost, an evil spirit and it ain't cool."

Revenge of the car-tuning nerds.

[Coventry · 3/10 · 27 November 2005]

"The Wraith" is one of those movies I found mega-, super-, hyper-, ultra-cool to watch 15 years ago. It had splendid car chases (not to mention exiting car crashes!), a rocking soundtrack (Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell"!!) and – last but not least – Charlie Sheen in the period when he was every young boy's idol. In short, "The Wraith" represented the flamboyant 80's all by itself and I had absolutely no eye for possible flaws in the production or illogicalness in the script. Well, that funny 80's spirit is long gone now and it's obvious that this movie is nothing more than a brainless, macho-orientated cheeseball. It's still passable entertainment, but only if you pay absolutely no attention to the shallow comic-book story, revolving on an avenging angel in the shape of a black-leathered racer driving a turbo Porsche. Synchronous with his mysterious appearance arrives a new kid in town, strangely resembling a deceased victim of the local thug-gang, led by Corvette-driving Packard. The kid immediately fancies the local beauty Keri, who also is Packard's object of desire, and soon after all the bad guys die in fiery car crashes. Everything in this film is so one-dimensional! Not only the stereotype characters, but also the Arizona town setting, which only seems to exist of one hamburger restaurant and one long open road where the boys play their racing games. There's no school and there are no adults, except for Sheriff Randy Quaid and a handful of nameless cops. Charlie Sheen's bad-boy charisma is overshadowed by his car and Nick Cassavetes makes a pretty pathetic villain. The ravishing Sherilyn Fenn provides "The Wraith" with the obligatory 80's nudity and Clint Howard reprises his familiar role of weirdo-loser. In this day and age, "The Wraith" is nice to re-watch for its nostalgic value and to realize that it's actually very stupid!

Good, cheesy fun

[lizzy-8 · 19 May 1999]

This movie survives only because the plot idea is kinda' cool. The rest of it is tremendously cheesy, but the excellent car and a compulsive 80's sound track make this a movie worthy of a night in and a bucket of popcorn. Put up your feet, put your brain to bed, sit back and enjoy.

After the first race you have seen it all.

[Aaron1375 · 6/10 · 25 March 2003]

This movie focuses on a gang of thugs who race cars and take the cars of the losers. Apparently, the leader of this gang is very possessing of his girlfriend. So much so he and his gang killed this guy who had slept with her. Now, a bit of time later this mysterious figure is challenging the gang to races and winning. Well, let me just say that this movie has its moments, but it needed something more. For the most part the races were all very similar to each other. Even the big race between the wraith and the leader of the gang at the end was no different to any other race the wraith was involved in. And how the heck does this gang of thugs get away with so much? They should be behind bars, but for some reason the sheriff can't pin anything on them. There are quite a few flaws in this one, but overall it was an ok movie. There are some good scenes in it as well. Though at the end when the guy gave his car to the other guy it left me wondering "Wouldn't the cops be looking for that car?"

I wished I'd gone to bed!

[ShippersAreEvil · 1/10 · 3 December 2005]

This came on TV just recently and I thought it had the looks of a fun so-bad-it's-good SF potboiler.

Sadly, that was too much to aspire to.It is just so bad it was really not worth staying up for. Risible plot, hokey script, wooden acting. I really want that 90 minutes or so of my life back.

**spoilers, if you can call 'em that**

Charlie Sheen is a ghost (we wish) who returns in an uber-car to wreak revenge on the gang of street racers who killed him and took his girl (well, the head street racer did). He wants them dead and the girl back. Yes it really is as bad as it sounds.

This is like a cross between The Crow and Knightrider

[DEPRESSEDcherry · 7/10 · 22 February 2021]

The type of movie that if you'd seen it as a ten-year-old back in its day, you would have obsessed over it for the rest of your childhood. Sure, watching it back now I see all the flaws and could have been moments but I don't care. I'm going along for the ride to the thumping 80's soundtrack and loving every second of it.

Laughable

[johanbenesch · 1/10 · 10 May 2002]

a rather laughable movie.

the only good thing about this movie is the mechanic who says:

"this s*** really gives me a kick" after having injected motor oil / lubricant into his nose.

/jo

Cult Classic

[danielcereto · 10/10 · 23 August 2021]

This is how Fast and Furious looked like in the 80's. Great performances, settings and incredible BSO.

I just watched this on August '21 and the movie looks great, not cheap. A cult classic if you loved 80's.

I still enjoy this movie....

[kevlar991 · 6/10 · 2 February 2004]

I remember watching this movie back when I was in like grade 7 or 8, A friend of mine had even seen it in the theater, call me crazy but this was one of my favorite movies back then when there was no dvd, I just recently bought the dvd cause my vhs original was wearing out, Anyways its one of the few cool car movies from back then, I think charlie sheen was like 20 when he made it, The movie has a good soundtrack, I seen the cd sell for 500 bucks on ebay like 5 years ago, I think its one of the better revenge type movies, I wish there was more to the story on how jamie got the car, or maybe a prequal could have been made with the car being used by a different person, Look up that car called the ppg interceptor made by dodge, I think it had cost like 1.2 million to build it was a pace car also, rent this movie if you can find it...

The title's the cleverest thing about it...

[Howlin Wolf · 1/10 · 13 December 2004]

Here it is, folks; the most enjoyment you're gonna get from the film, and it essentially comes from looking at IMDb's title page! This really was an absolute chore to sit through. I'd hazard a guess that it was hoping for 'cult' status to be accorded at a later date, but in my eyes it was only pitifully wretched, with very little to redeem it. I suppose if you were trying to be charitable you could mitigate that its only aim was to be a silly, disposable 'boys with toys' fantasy - but even then I'd imagine it'd only play well with 27yr old's who still get a real 'kick' out of playing with their 'Lego'... !

Its 'nuts and bolts' are basically an inept "Christine" makeover; and what emerges is the kind of abomination likely to shave years off of the lives of John Carpenter and Stephen King, if and when they see it. I know I for one will definitely die a poorer man for having been subjected, anyway! 1/10.

This IS a classic 80's b-movie!

[sa420 · 9/10 · 12 March 2005]

It makes me laugh when I read bad reviews of this movie. No one claimed it was a classic, no claimed it would win awards or prizes for depth of storyline etc.

What it does have is earnest performances, fantastic fx, amazing score and very pretty photography.

Yes, laugh at the shadow of the camera (in the days before monitors) during the race scenes, at least they bothered to use real cars on real roads at high speed, unlike pathetic cgi cars (fast & the furious, 2 fast 2 furious, gone in 60 seconds) with crap physics.

This movie is totally innovative, nothing like it before or since and there are a lot of techniques used in this movie that I haven't seen bettered since. The bit where Jake's scrambler breaks into 4 meteorites still looks great, the tasteful re-animation of the Wraith mobile after crashes (nowadays that would probably be done using reverse photography).

The action scenes in Mad Max & Mad Max 2 are sped up and look ridiculous. (Watch the bit in Mad Max 2 just before he crashes his Interceptor...you'll see.)

The acting is pantomimish (baddies=very bad, goodies=very good) but that is the style of this movie. We know that these actors are capable of more in-depth characterisations, but this is a shallow b-movie. That's all it's supposed to be. Anyone who watches this movie and expects anything other than popcorn fodder is an absolute idiot. Moaning about technical problems and poor acting only makes you look like an idiot. And let's face it, even today's biggest blockbusters are chock full of mistakes and glitches.

You don't watch a Carry On movie and then say "Oh, that was quite unrealistic, and the acting is bad." That's the point. It's silly farce. You're not supposed to take it seriously!

I'm also aware that Charlie Sheen hates this movie and he must have good reason.

Strangely enough, I'm surprised that this movie was not seized upon by the pompous comic book brigade! I guess, if it was a little more Gothic and The Wraith was brooding and had a troubled back story it would have been more accepted. I'm glad it didn't and wasn't.

If it was made now, it would have stinking CGI fx and too much back story.

It's a bubblegum movie. You don't like it, don't watch it. As a b-movie for it's time, it is a technically superior easy watch which still towers over many newer movies of the same genre.

The Crow? Pompous nonsense!

Hellboy? Crap!

The Wraith? Know's it's place and doesn't try to overstep it's mark!

And for people moaning about rubbish acting, check out Matthew Barry's performance when Billy Hankins realises Jake is his brother. It's an amazing, emotionally charged moment. I dare you to disagree and if you do you must be tripping.

Stop henpecking this movie.....it's ace, I tell you...ACE!

Charlie Sheen in one of his silliest roles

[Agent10 · 6/10 · 30 July 2002]

Tucson never looked more distant in this campy film about punks and their supercharged cars. Kind of silly, kind of funny, this film was one of those movies you don't like to admit liking, but would watch it any chance you had. Charlie Sheen was perfectly cast as the mysterious wraith, one which traveled the back streets on a lonely town (Tucson) and drove around a turbo charged car from another planet. While all of the silly landmarks in the film were cheesily named at best, it proved to be an enjoyable and campy film to watch.

The wrath

[Reddragon_Rdclan · 1/10 · 17 December 2005]

Well , i watched the film a while back , and what can i say... the acting was abysmal, the cast was in my opinion poor, and the film in general was not creative in the slightest. With names like "Skank" and "Rughead" you can surely see where I'm coming from. There was a part in the film ( don't want to spoil it for you , but I'm sure that you're never want to watch it ) where they went to a beach. Well this beach was basically just a river ( Yes really , its this bad). Now you're most likely wondering , why i haven't yet reviewed the awesome car chase's the Wraith holds, well if you call a few dodgy race's , and a guy at the end in a black car , witch may i add looks incredibly poor car chase's, well yeah OK the Wraith has a few of them. Please save you're time , and money , and DO NOT buy the Wraith.