Clearly, Howard Hawks was not at the top of his game when he made "Redline 7000" (1965) with James Caan, John Robert Crawford, and Skip Ward. This tire-screecher ranks as one of the worst movies that the director ever helmed. This rubber-meets-the-road NASCAR saga pits racers against racers both on and off the asphalt, and racers against women. Although he has the leading role, James Caan hardly qualifies as the leading man. John Robert Crawford runs a close second as a rival NASCAR driver raised in poverty who refuses to follow in the footsteps of his humble father and grandfather to eke out a living off the land. Finally, Skip Ward is an internationally acclaimed driver making his transition from the European to the American racing circuit. Little about these three protagonists is charismatic, and they behave like louts. The women who fall in love with them love them unconditionally no matter what they have done. One driver loses a hand, but he recovers to drive another day, with two metal clasps on his left hand. Another driver comes close to killing a rival when he jams him up against the wall of the racetrack, and the car soars off the track to crash beyond the course with an explosion. Things might have been marginally better if Hawks had cast celebrity Hollywood actors rather than these unknowns. John Robert Crawford never made another movie after "Redline 7000." Morever, the racers aren't somebody that you'd want to share a drink with because they aren't that likable. The relationships that they share with the nubile dames are as melodramatic as a soap opera. "Spinout" scenarist George Kirgo spent most of his career toiling in television rather than the movies. He has penned dialogue that is neither quotable nor catchy. Interestingly, another scripter who worked on this movie was Steve McNeil whose sole cinematic credit is Hawks earlier effort "Man's Favorite Sport." According to Hawks, a movie was good if it had five strong scenes. Redline 7000" doesn't have a good scene. The pacing is off, too. Star wattage registers at the dim end, and the virtual anonymity of the cast serves to heighten this quality. They spent most of their time on interior sets reciting dialogue that is pretty dull. Most of the NASCAR racing footage looks like it was shot with a regular camera. The characters and most of the situations amount to clichés. It is still difficult for me to believe that Howard Hawks helmed this half-baked hokum.

In Todd McCarthy's Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood, the impetus behind RL7000 was a) Hawk's 10-year old son Gregg was into cars, or b) Hawks wanted to prove he could make a commercial film quickly for a million dollars. Too, Hawks loved cars, studied Mechanical Engineering at Cornell, raced cars after college, and made the racing film The Crowd Roars (1932) giving him the opportunity to work with Cagney (and wrangle a Deusenberg for himself from the Deusenberg company in exchange for product placement). In a sense, both films are indulgences which never translate into a coherent picture.RL7000 comes off a bit more like a Roger Corman film than a Hawks film, probably due to budgetary constraints. We see lots of young unknowns, dancing, loud music, interludes of unevenly-acted drama interspersed with bouts of frenetic action. Caan is a good, brooding Bradoesque study, though he squints and smirks to distraction, Marianna Hill looks great, and seeing cars like Cobra Daytonas is pretty enjoyable for mid-60's sports car fans. Ultimately, the film has problems because Hawks doesn't get what he wants out of the actors. All of his other films have very strong acting; Hawks could always get great performances from Wayne, Grant, Bogart as well as the veteran character actors he used. He didn't have such luck with most of the primary cast of three men and three women. Their bonding as lovers and as male and female groups is integral to the credibility of the film, and it just doesn't happen.Another possibility explaining the film's weakness is that this is the only one of Hawk's final six pictures (Rio Bravo to Rio Lobo) without writer Leigh Brackett on the team.One also senses that Hawks tried too hard to be "hip," perhaps in reaction to the fact that some critics had complained that his previous picture "Man's Favorite Sport?" seemed old-fashioned. Thus the plot is periodically suspended for some truly bizarre song and dance numbers, even by mid-60's standards. It seems inconceivable that "Wildcat Jones" was given us by the same Hawks who gave us the immortal "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" number.I want to like this movie, since I do subscribe to the school that a great director can never make a truly bad film. I also happen to love "Man's Favorite Sport?" which often critically lumped in with RL7000 as the two off-the-track films between a pair of Wayne/Hawks collaborations before and after. Furthermore, there are some vocal critics who love the film, such as Robin Wood. So I guess I need to watch it a few more times and hopefully can write a better review next go around.

...two more westerns and he would call it a day.Considering the classics he made during a long and fruitful career which encompasses such classics as "Scarface(shame of the nation)" or "only angels have wings "or "land of the pharaos","red line 7000" is a mediocre offering.Although praised by the French cahiers du cinema ,it's little more than a soap opera in the motor races.Characters ,be they male or female ,are uninteresting and the scenes with the cars pale next to John Frankenheimer's "grand prix" .A sequence featuring James Caan and Gabrielle the FRench girl would make a nice ad for Pepsi Cola.Only the unexpected ending brings some originality.But it's too little too late.

This film is a collection of racing scenes interweaved with small love dramas involving drivers and their mates. Although the racing scenes are well done, the dramatic portions are extremely silly. Outside James Caan, acting is poor. The choice of a final scene is unconventional and intelligent.