Terminal City Ricochet (1990) User Reviews

Punkrock scifi

[p-stepien · 7/10 · 31 July 2010]

One of those movies where you are bound to ask yourself who the hell funded it. Antisystem punk-rock scifi with a non-schematic plot and anti-consumerist, anti-media message... Who the hell forked the money for this quirky piece of great trash? That said the movie is very close to brilliant at times and as a satire is miles better than movies such as Running Man or The Truman Show (or even Repo Man for that matter). Some of the observations served on the platter in the form of a joke or sketch are simply perversely brutally true.

The acting (and accents) can sometimes really turn you off and part of the movie watches like a typical trashy 80ies flick. The pacing is way off, but that doesn't really matter since the tidbits of social commentary here and there make up for the dragging story. What is the story? A corrupt evil mayor and entrepreneur Ross Glimore is on the verge of being reelected for office. With the sky literally falling on top of peoples heads to assure the vote goes his way he needs to find a gimmick to garner support. The solution: Using total control of media he transmutes the public image of a punk-rock loving paperboy into public enemy number one - a rock terrorist intent on murder and mayhem. As mayor he promises to deal with the threat of rock terrorism!

Excellent! Why can't I find this now?

[cpburrowes · 10/10 · 3 May 2006]

This movie is excellent. Funny political satire for the whole family to enjoy. Very hard to come by these days. The soundtrack was also very good. DOA, Nomeansno, Jello Biafra, Gerry Hannah (of the squamish five and The Subhumans). Several excellent Canadian actors appeared here that also appear in Canadian films of note such as highway 61. This comment is more of a jumble of warm thoughts this movie brings rushing to my head than it is a review. Good movie and a nice piece of punk rock history to boot. The Jello Biafra team ups with DOA and Nomeansno were probably a direct result of time spent together on this film set. If you get this chance give this movie a try. Thanks for your time. The last scream of missing neighbours.

recommended

[quayle-1 · 10/10 · 17 April 2006]

This release proved the value of film: the potential to provide effective visual imagery when making points about the real world. Jello Biafra and two from DOA are among the cast and add to the potency of this film. Why isn't this film in every DVD store on the continent? Additionally, there was a fine soundtrack that accompanied this film. The release of this film coincided with the first gulf war courtesy of the elder Bush war-criminal. Amidst a very strange and civilian-slaughtering time, this film gave viewers a frightening taste of the ultimate power freaks. It was also good to see a film of this quality made with such a small budget. Ricochet was further proof that a film need not have an extremely high budget. This was independent cinema at it's finest. Rev. Bookburn, Radio Volta, Philadelphia.

One word: Brilliant

[kaos-18 · 10/10 · 23 March 2000]

This film exposes TV and the political connection in brutal detail. It is hyper-reality to the extreme & like the end credits say, "Any relation to real life is because that's just the way it is" or at least something along those lines. I just wish that it was available to purchase so I could add it to my collection.