4 Star

Sticking It to the Man

The film is based on the 1975 country and western novelty song “Convoy” by C. W. McCall ( “Wolf Creek Pass”, “There Won’t Be No Country Music (There Won’t Be No Rock ‘n’ Roll)”). The film was made when the CB radio/trucking craze was at its peak in the United States, which lead to the UK as well. The popularity of the song lead to this film being Sam Peckinpah‘s (The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs) most grossing film, even though the critics didn’t like this fight from the small man against the corruption of those with power.

This film is for the one’s that have a little rebel in them and in 4K UHD this is the one to own.

The white sands of the Arizona desert, and C.W. McCall‘s Convoy blasting in our ears as a Jaguar XK-E comes flying past Martin “Rubber Duck” Penwald’s (Kris Kristofferson, Heaven’s Gate, Blade Franchise) big rig. The jag is driven by photographer Melissa (Ali MacGraw, Love Story, The Getaway) who is headed for Dallas for a shoot. The pair mess about, her taking photos of him, until they run a cop off the road. This puts the ‘duck’ in an awkward position as he faces a one-hundred dollar fine, that is, until he informs the officer that the woman in the Jag has no pants on (trousers, to those on the East side of the Atlantic). This earns him a stern warning instead of the fine, as the officer speeds off after her.

After getting away with the fine, he warns all the other trucker about the police on his road as he sets off, later he comes across fellow truck drivers Pig Pen/Love Machine (Burt Young, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Rocky) and Spider Mike (Franklyn Ajaye, The ‘Burbs, Stir Crazy). Further down the road a message comes over the airwaves that the road is clear and they can put the ‘pedal to the metal’, but this is a ruse by Sheriff “Dirty” Lyle Wallace (Ernest Borgnine, The Vikings, The Flight of the Phoenix) and it costs them each seventy dollars, which wipes out Spiders coffers. Lyle has a beef with the Duck as he has been dabbling with Lyle’s wife Violet (Cassie Yates, Rolling Thunder, A Caribbean Mystery).

Why do they call you the Duck?

Because it rhymes with “luck.” See, my daddy always told me to be just like a duck. Stay smooth on the surface and paddle like the devil underneath!

As it is the Dick’s birthday, they head to where Violet works, the Rafael’s Glide-In, this is where Lyle likes to come checking licence plates. He enters the building and Pig Pen and Spider Mike start making fun of Wallace over the diner’s base-station CB radio, this all leads to a big punch up with Lyle and some state troopers. The truckers come out on top and they think it prudent that they not be here when the cops wake up, so they decide the best plan of action is to get over the state line and avoid prosecution. With the Duck as lead vehicle, they now have a convoy.

With plenty of thrills and spills, Convoy is sure to entertain, in this dark comedy that deals with police corruption, and violence, oh and those views that may offend a modern audience. Awesome.

P*ss on you, and p*ss on your law.

Convoy is available on

4K UHD EMBOSSED STEELBOOK, BLU-RAY, DVD & DIGITAL OCTOBER 16TH

PRE-ORDER DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD HERE

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NEW Interview with Franklyn Ajaye
NEW Audio Commentary by filmmaker/ Peckinpah scholar Mike Siegel (German & English)
NEW Video Essay: The Lost Convoy
NEW The Duck Trucks
NEW Promoting Convoy: animated gallery of international posters and lobby cards
NEW Convoy colour stills: 120 rare colour photos
NEW Filming Convoy pt 1: White Sands & the Truck stop: 100 rare bts photos
NEW Filming Convoy pt 2: The Trucks are rolling: 100 rare bts photos
NEW Filming Convoy pt 3: Showdown in Alvarez: 100 rare bts photos
NEW Original trailer
Audio commentary by film historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, and Nick Redman
Passion & Poetry – Sam’s Trucker Movie
U.S. TV Spot
U.S. Radio Spots x 4
Three Lost Scenes
Injokes, Friends & Cameos
Trucker Notes from Norway