The new Network distribution release this month is a bit of a curious beast. Silver Dream Racer has the distinction of being the film that finally sunk the Rank organisation. The film can’t be blamed for the studio’s decline as it had been in trouble for a number of years but it still is the last. The other notable point is that the film was one of those that found its audience on television. During the early eighties the film was shown in heavy rotation on the fledgling US cable channel HBO. It was seen so often that there is a bit of a cult following surrounding it with people expressing their admiration for it on online forums and IMDB reviews.
After the untimely demise of his brother in a dirt bike accident, fellow biker Nick (David Essex) is asked to sort out his garage. There he finds a prototype bike that was the passion of his brother for a number of years. Reluctant to sell it, Nick decides that he will race it. Overcoming obstacles like not having any sort of funding or a job, the racer, along with his trusty mechanic friend Cider (Clarke Peters), attempt to take to the bike to the biggest race in the country.
The story is a very familiar one. The hero starts from a low point. In this case it is a couple of things . The death of his brother is a big loss as he looked up to him. He is also frustrated with how his own racing is going having lost out on a victory against a top American racer Bruce McBride (Beau Bridges) having sustained engine problems on the last lap. So the set up is in place for the rest of the film to expand on.
The characters are all fairly obvious in their development with a new love interest introduced who also happens to be romantically linked to McBride. David Essex makes for a good lead actor. He was best known up to that point for his pop music career as well as a couple of stand out performances in music movies Stardust and That’ll Be The day. The film plays to his strengths as an actor with his natural charm coming to the fore. it isn’t a role that would stretch any strong actor but he is very watchable. The support cast is as you would expect for a British production. There are number of very well known faces (for the time) alongside the draw that is Beau Bridges. As with the lead role, there is a standard arc for all of them.
What elevates the film is the racing scenes. There is a lot on board scenes which highlights the drama and danger involved with racing bikes competitively. The races are edited in such a way that it adds to the tension of the scenes even though the audience will have a good idea of how it will progress.
The other stand out element is the way the story is framed. It begins and ends in roughly the same way. Without going into detail it is the most unexpected thing about the film. A bold choice from the film makers that you can’t really seeing happening today. In fact, it probably wasn’t acceptable even back then. The Blu-ray release includes in its extras an alternative version of the ending which changes the tone of the whole film.
Silver Dream Racer is never going to be hoisted up as an example of top cinema but it is still an enjoyable watch.
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