Derrick Gibbons
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
dietzdm
I am no car genius but that Baracuda was pretty souped up. When Renie and Molly are leaving his shack in the junkyard, he has her turn the car on in an attempt to get over her fear of driving. What makes no sense is how easily the car started. A car with that kind of power would have such a high compression that it would take a little cranking to start it. Any car experts out there have to agree. My boyfriend is a mechanic and totally agrees with me. I like how at the end of the movie when Renie flips the car after being chased and he magically gets it to start again and drive with a flat tire to go after the crazy guy. Why didn't he just get out of the car and beat the weirdo down. As far as the ElDorado goes, whats with the headlight man. You would think he would get pulled over for that thing. Also, somebody tell the crazy guy to get a new fan belt. That thing is making noise the whole movie. One more topic of discussion. How did a guy who is practically a vegetable manage to capture and tie up Molly? As crippled as he was, she could have managed to escape from the guy so easily. Take his arm off and beat him with it! Overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie.
Ancher Swartz
First off, with the creator of "THE HITCHER", I was hoping for a real thriller, a joy ride of some suspense intensely centered around some real scenes of action and personal pain with what people go through in these situations. But all I was left with was watching a very predictable film with unrealistic and comical deliveries of farce. I found myself laughing at some of the hit and run scenes. Honestly I thought that when professionals created movies their would be a sense of wonder and amazement instead of quick and eye-rolling stupidity. I think the next time they let the same writer and director match up and do another movie they should just call it "TRASH". HIGHWAYMEN, all i can say is, "take the bus".
Lucien Lessard
James (Jim Caviezel) is haunted by the memories of his late wife (The late Guylaine St-Onge), who died by a hit and run. When James purses the man, who murdered his wife (Colm Feore). Which this man is been killing people with his automobile as a murder weapon and he's been selecting young woman at random. When this murderer lets a woman (Rhona Mitra) go, after this man causing an huge accident. This woman is stalked by this strange merciless wheel-bound psychopath by his automobile. The only person, who can help her is James. Since James is obsessive of catching the man, who killed his wife. James is willing to use this woman as bait to catch him.Directed by Robert Harmon (Nowhere to Run, They) made an interesting suspense-thriller that was briefly released into theaters in the winter of 2004. This movie is well made, it has good performance by Caviezel, some genuine scenes of terror, fast-paced but the only thing is missing, which is a more fleshed-out character by the killer played by the superb actor:Feore.DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an strong:DTS 5.1 Surround Sound (Also in Dolby Digital 5.1). DVD only extras is trailers. This DVD really could have used Deleted Scenes and Commentary by the director. Which the director must have interesting stories to tell, while making this film. Director:Harmon, who's really best known for directing the Mysterious/Horror/Thriller:"The Hitcher". It has some similarities from his 1986 masterful film. Super 35. (****/*****).
misbegotten
It's true to say that Highwaymen barely has a single original bolt in it's toolbox. I spotted references to such previous action/horror road movies as Duel, The Car, Joyride (aka: Roadkill), Freeway, Walter Hill's The Driver and even Abel Ferrara's made-for-TV effort The Gladiator. And we mustn't forget The Hitcher, especially as it was helmed by Highwaymen's director, Robert Harmon. Yet this movie still emerges as a taut and engrossing thriller.The plot has former doctor Rennie Cray (James Caviezel) motoring along the highways and byways of America in a souped-up roadster, obsessively pursuing his wife's killer, serial hit-and-run driver Fargo (Colm Feore). Innocent bystander Molly (Rhona Mitra) becomes a rare survivor/witness of one of Fargo's homicidal smash-ups, and ends up being used as bait by both of the vehicular combatants.The film boasts some first rate stunt sequences, the best of which being the scene in which Molly's best friend is killed (a great suspense/action scene set in a road tunnel, directed with the kind of flair reminiscent of Russell Mulcahy), and a set-piece that has Mitra trying to escape from a burning car that's being towed, upside down, at high speed (the most imaginative car stunt I've seen outside of the Maniac Cop series).The movie also scores points by gradually revealing important information about the key characters as the story progresses, instead of just laying it all out for us at the beginning. Pay attention, and you'll learn why Molly is nervous around cars even before her friend is killed, why Fargo hates Cray almost as much as Cray hates him, and how both of the title characters have modified and customised their vehicles to suit their specific purposes and needs.No film is without it's flaws, and Highwaymen is no exception. There are the usual plot-holes and inconsistencies: it's never explained how Cray is financing his endless pursuit of his nemesis (presumably he's living off his wife's life insurance, but we're not told). Molly goes from being Cray's reluctant hostage to becoming dependant upon him in no time at all. Then, having begun to establish Molly and Cray as an effective team in their mutual conflict with Fargo, the script makes the bizarre mistake of separating them for the majority of the movie! Instead, Cray gets a new sidekick, accident investigator Macklin (Frankie Faison), whose only purpose is so Cray can have someone to explain key plot points to. On the whole, the movie's attempts at characterisation are kept to a minimum. In fact, due to it's short running time (just under 80 minutes) almost everything is kept to a minimum: there are only nine speaking roles in the entire film, the obligatory tacked-on romantic subplot is just a little too obligatory, and the final confrontation between Cray and Fargo is over before it's barely begun, which means it fails to match the metal-crunching mayhem that preceded it.As for the cast, Caviezel nicely underplays his obsessive vigilante. Mitra doesn't have much to do except be scared or apprehensive, but does it extremely well, and succeeds in making Molly more than just the token Girl In Peril. Faison is also stuck with an under-developed character, but does okay as the bewildered cop, while Feore manages to create a memorable presence despite his limited screen-time.In conclusion, Highwaymen will be a little too spartan for some tastes, but upon it's brief UK cinema release in 2004 I found it to be one of the better films I saw that year.
