Trackdown (1976)

To the reviewer who mentioned she had been searching for it for 25 years, my heartfelt sympathies. I indeed know the feeling. Seven year search to find it on DVD. No luck.

I saw it, as a kid, on a Friday night in a theater during the late Seventies. The next night I was back in my seat to see it again. My parents wanted to know why I was going to see the movie again. I just said it was that good, I had to. I couldn't get enough of Karen Lamm. I hated the nasty villains, and as I became a dabbler in the art of writing fiction for my own pleasure, much of my inspiration comes from TRACKDOWN. Of course, in this movie, the young lady doesn't get rescued. I well remember the nightmarish scene, how that guy took off his belt, how she tried to get to the door...

But decades have past, and I cannot really submit a decent review. I suppose by today's standards it might look lame on DVD. But I'm begging for a copy of my own. Just now here on IMDb saw the bit by the reviewer stating that there is a release by Warner on DVD, and I will get Takealot on this case again.

So, if anybody out there is checking out the worthiness of this one as a movie on cable tonight, or as a video to rent, I only wish I could have been as lucky...

I can still hear the words of the trailer. Jim Mitchum, a one-man posse, on the trackdown... There are lots of older movies available on DVD. Why not this one?

ADDENDUM, 22 May 2014. After submitting my review, I went into searching mode again, and once more became lucky just after an IMDb visit. Are you guys my lucky charm or what? Anyway, I have this item on order now, and will, all going well, review it more properly in the near future. Not soon, as I prolong the excitement by setting it up for screening on a far-off date. But I do now at least have a hope.

My ordered set is a 4 movie special featuring what sounds like a bunch of junk in the worst degree, with TRACKDOWN included. Well, no other option was available for me. Anybody else looking for it, go to Amazon.com and simply select TRACKDOWN.

15 June 2014 :) I've seen a truly horrible movie tonight, really, really weak, why it even exists is beyond me, really it is yuck, a buncha barf in a leaking barf bag would be more fun. It was promoted as Scorchy, but was actually Race with Death. why am I all happy then? Cause the reason why I own this junk is because it's part of the quadruple bill featuring TRACKDOWN, and after a ruined evening, I took a sneak peak at the main attraction that I've only seen twice almost 37 years ago... And by just viewing the bit at the beginning I can see I've got something to look forward to. Scheduled for sometime during the next year. Proper review to follow. But, really people, those other three movies on the Action Packed Movie Marathon Vol. 2. Utter dreck!

Do buy it though if you're after TRACKDOWN! :)

17 July 2014. After experiencing trouble with my Region-free Philips DVD player which I am unable to replace as Philips don't bring their units into this country anymore, I watched this movie while I still can.

Lots of things were far different from the way I remembered it. But the movie is every bit watchable. It might be old, but it has stood the test of time remarkably well. Jim Mitchum appears unlikely to be a Hollywood lead actor, but in those action scenes. Wow, just like Chucho felt, you gotta have this guy on your side! Karen Lamm, I am dismayed to have learned she is no longer with us, but thank you, you were an excellent Betsy Calhoun. The street thugs were so real I shudder to think they were cast off the street, reality imitating art...

Oddly enough, the meanest character gets away with the worst crime, and the script allows him to. If you like to beat up little girls like Betsy, you are lower than pond scum. You need a ladder to look a snail in the eyes. This bastard should have been in that car in the end scene.

Recommended viewing. And I stand by my original estimation, eight stars.