Race For The Yankee Zephyr

In a sentence

Town drunk, Gibbie Gibson and his friends race against the evil Brown and his cronies to salvage WWII plane containing $50 million in gold in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

Principals

Director: David Hemmings

Writer: Everett De Roche

Producers: Anthony I. Ginnane, John Barnett, David Hemmings

Director of Photography: Vincent Monton

Cast

Donald Plesence as Gibbie

Ken Wahl as Barney Whitaker

Lesley Ann Warren as Sally

George Peppard as Theo Brown

Bruno Lawrence and Baker

Full Cast and Crew

About the film (Contains spoilers)

Gibbie and Barney live in Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand. They have an unusual occupation; they hunt deer using an old helicopter and nets. One day Gibbie is trying to capture a deer they’ve netted and stumbles upon a crashed American WWII plane with lots of liquor, war medals and gold. Gibbie gets the medals apprised and some shadowy men in suits, lead by the wealthy Brown, show up and begin asking questions and breaking heads.

After Barney and Gibbie recruit the help of Sally, Gibbie’s daughter, the race is literally on. They go rampaging around the Southern Alps travelling by helicopter, tractor and jet boat to get to the downed aircraft. It all culminates in showdown in a lake for the treasure.

The three leads worked well together as a team. Donald Plesence gets extra special mention here for playing a delightfully over-the-top alcoholic Australian obsessed with crocodile digestion. Plesence and Lesley Ann Warren give broader performances and Ken Wahl plays it understated, nailing the comedy dynamic.

Vincent Monton’s cinematography in this film is awesome.  Wide-angle shots and deep focus depth of field dominate the screen. The aerial sequences of the helicopter chase are breathtaking.

New Zealand’s South Island has never been more beautifully photographed in a fiction film. The beauty of Central Otago’s high peaks, deep ravines and expansive lakes are all magnificently captured. Watch this film on a big screen and you will be visually rewarded.

My personal take

This is a good film not a great film. But I enjoyed it for the thrill ride it was intended to be. The action set pieces are good, great explosions, and the witty banter between the characters made me laugh.

One criticism I had is that there is nothing emotionally at stake. Gibbie is estranged from his daughter at the beginning of the film but the relationship problem never dealt with. She simply accepts him back into her life without question.

The other problem I had was characters’ vague backstories . We never know why the American Barney lives in New Zealand. The wealthy Brown’s motivation to find the Yankee Zephyr is never explained beyond assumed greed. We don’t know much about these people than what we see.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this film. It works as a story and has a lot going for it. However there is nothing that pushes it over the line into greatness.

Commentary

The use of overlapping dialog is very interesting. Sequences where characters speak over one another feel lifted from 1970s Robert Altman films (M*A*S*H, Nashville, McCabe and Mrs. Miller). Overlapping dialog infers naturalism and is unusual for the heightened sense of reality aimed for in the action/adventure genre.

Genre: Adventure

This film is classic high adventure. Bullets go flying and no one gets hit, soundtrack is orchestral with lots of brass and marching drums and there is lots of great comedy. The bad guys are dangerous but dumb and the our heroes are courageous if a little foolhardy.

Things to watch out for:

• George Peppard’s faux-British accent
• Bruno Lawrence’s hair magically growing and falling out between scenes

Watch this movie if

• You want to see some great cinematography
• You want some mindless action
• You like chase movies
• You like witty dialogue

Avoid this movie if

• You don’t like young adult themed movies
• You want strong character development
• You don’t like the South Island of New Zealand