Hell Drivers (Special Edition)

Star Review

For an ex-con like Tom (Stanley Baker), the ask-no-questions world of ballast driving seems like the perfect way to make a living. It isn't until he gets behind the wheel, however, that he realises why it attracts men with nothing to lose. The boss has his hands in the till and the work is distinctly life-threatening: barrelling down country lanes with full loads, at speeds that would certainly distress the health and safety executive. After Tom crosses paths with psychotic driving ace Red (Patrick McGoohan), he finds himself at the receiving end of some very dangerous driving.
Hell Drivers thunders along with a pace and a ruthlessness that comes from its American director's schooling in Hollywood B-pictures. His vision of Britain is tougher than the contemporary kitchen sink pictures and has aged rather better. His casting is spot on too, with the film filled with soon-to-be-more-famous faces like McGoohan (Danger Man), David McCallum (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) William Hartnell (Dr Who), and briefly, Sean Connery (007).

James Oliver on 12th March 2007

View all 33 of James Oliver’s reviews

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Film Description

In cast terms, this has been considered the British 'Magnificent Seven' - and with the future Doctor Who, 007, The Prisoner and The Man From Uncle in the cast, why not? Hard, high-speed road-haulage thriller in which a corrupt company forces its drivers to make death-defying journeys cross-country to collect bonuses.

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Admirers of tough British thrillers might now consider that they live in a golden age – here’s one of the best Britcrime movies ever made – and it’s the second DVD app... more >

Admirers of tough British thrillers might now consider that they live in a golden age – here’s one of the best Britcrime movies ever made – and it’s the second DVD appearance for Cy Enfield’s marvellously taut movie about corruption among truck drivers (this issue is a considerable advance on the last one – as one might exact from Network, this latest incarnation sports much more generous and interesting extras). Enfield’s movie, as aficionados will know, is indebted to Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear, but so what? Its rings the changes very satisfyingly – and there’s that matchless cast: Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan Sean Connery, Herbert Lom et al… < less

View all 346 of Barry Forshaw’s reviews

Patrick McGoohan is at his considerable best in this as a nasty villain in Cy Endfield's tough Hell Drivers, one of the hidden gems of British cinema. more >

Patrick McGoohan is at his considerable best in this as a nasty villain in Cy Endfield's tough Hell Drivers, one of the hidden gems of British cinema. < less

View all 346 of Barry Forshaw’s reviews

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DVD Extras

• 2 discs. Location report
• Audio commentary
• Commemorative booklet
• Original publicity material PDFs
• Thriller Episode
• Danger Man
• Stanley Baker interview
• Return to the Rhondda documentary.

Film Details

Cast

Patrick McGoohan, Herbert Lom, Gordon Jackson, Sean Connery, David McCallum, Stanley Baker

Technical Details