Deathcheaters (1976) User Reviews

Stunts

[Rrrobert · 6/10 · 31 May 2021]

Apparently after The Man From Hong Kong, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Grant Page and Roger Ward had some free time, film, and the hang glider left over, so cranked out this meta stunt and filmmaking actioner.

If you liked The Man From Hong Kong you'll probably like this lighter re-working of it.

Margaret Gerard is beautiful.

Many of the same crew later did the similar Stunt Rock.

A Guilty Pleasure!

[paulclaassen · 5/10 · 20 December 2021]

Real-life stuntmen John Hargreaves and Grant Page star as stuntmen Rod and Steve. I'll admit, the acting is nothing to write home about, but I enjoyed the chemistry between the actors.

John and Grant also allow for plenty of eye candy with their sexy, lean bodies and hairy chests. The film finds every excuse to show off their great physiques...and I'm certainly not complaining!

Due to the humorist nature of the film, nothing here is to be taken seriously. The stuntmen are hired for a dangerous mission, but these men are so out of their league that the mission is not believable. Regardless, the film is a lot of fun, and there's plenty of great action sequences. As can be expected, the stunts are very good, too. I actually had a wonderful time with 'DeathCheaters'! It's a guilty pleasure!!

Would I watch it again? Yes.

An enjoyable slice of pure Australian stuntery

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 26 July 2023]

Rodney Cann (Page) and Steve Hall (Hargreaves) are friends and the top two stuntmen in the Australian film industry. They're so good at what they do that they're recruited by Culpepper (Ferrier), a member of the government, to go on a mission for their country. Along with Steve's wife Julia (Gerard), they reluctantly accept the assignment, and they put all their skills with blowing stuff up, climbing, falling, and being hit by cars to good use. At least that's what everyone hopes will happen. Will Rodney and Steve cheat death one more time?

Death Cheaters is just pure fun from beginning to end. It has a lot of Australian charm and a winning 70's atmosphere. As we've been saying for years, Grant Page is a national treasure, and both he and the movie itself are very likable.

Brian Trenchard-Smith, who is the original BTS, brings a lot of humor and a lighthearted tone to the film. As much as we enjoyed it overall, perhaps it didn't need to be 96 minutes. But Trenchard-Smith was getting so much great footage of Page and Hargreaves, it was probably hard to cut down any of it. In fact, the death-defying (or should we say death-cheating) stuff being done was likely deemed to be so good, much of it was later interpolated into another winner of a film, Stunt Rock (1978). No wonder he wanted to use it again in a film more people would see.

Death Cheaters is a good vehicle for the seemingly-fearless Grant Page and his fellow stuntpeople, and with this film, he can show audiences a different side to his talent, instead of being an "anonymous" stuntman. He can act in a role that's likely fairly close to himself in some ways.

Death Cheaters was released in the U. S. on the Vestron label, and it was surely most Americans' introduction to Grant Page and Brian Trenchard-Smith. Then we were introduced to the companion piece, Stunt Rock, and a love affair was born.

So, for an enjoyable slice of pure Australian stuntery, look no further than Death Cheaters.

A stunt Man's Circus

[Projjy · 10 October 1999]

This is a fun movie provided it's not to taken too seriously.

The plot is essentially an excuse to string together some great stunts that were quite high tech and breathtaking for their day. Abseiling down the side of the Sydney Hilton Hotel, dune buggy racing in a suburban shopping mall, and great pyrotechnics are just some of the many things you'll see.

The film seems somewhat dated by todays standards, but still very enjoyable to watch.

Secret Agent Stuntmen

[NoDakTatum · 2/10 · 10 November 2023]

Steve (John Hargreaves) and Rod (Grant Page) are two Australian stuntmen. They are hired by the mysterious Culpepper (Noel Ferrier) to infiltrate a power plant in the Philippines to steal some important papers. A slight film deserves a slight plot summary. Trenchard-Smith is an old hand at the Australian action pic, and this '70's relic is not badly directed. Trenchard-Smith's story, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. The film makers may have scored some points if they had turned this into a heist picture. Instead, the first third of the film sets up the fact that Steve and Rod are stuntmen, and they get set up by Culpepper in a fake bank robber chase. The audience is let in on this right away, so we must sit back and revel in some good but mild stuntwork from the two leads. Culpepper is a bumbling guy who is supposed to be this film's equivalent to James Bond's M. The supporting cast is nothing you have not seen before- Steve has worrywart wife Julia (Margaret Gerard) and Rod has a basset hound he talks to when not trying to bed women. The main set piece, at the Filipino plant, is a tedious exercise in safety. The characters make it clear that they do not want to kill anyone, so everybody shoots guns and blows things up, nobody gets hurt, and the papers the duo are after are never revealed to contain anything of importance. The final punchline of the film is kind of flaky. "Deathcheaters" also contains a disco theme song that will rob you of many hours of sleep. The old Vestron Video box cover of this film makes it sound a whole lot more dangerous and better than it is. What it really is is a pointless resume reel for stuntman and stunt coordinator Grant Page. There are some laughs here and there, the stunts are well executed, but in actuality "Deathcheaters" does not cheat death, but its audience.