Race for the exits!

RACE FOR THE YANKEE ZEPHYR (1981)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

For an old-fashioned and eccentric adventure movie, "Race for the Yankee Zephyr" may excite some thrill-seekers but it is an underwhelming and trivial film. It bears the clout for a reasonable action picture with a fine cast and director, and it shortchanges everything that could make it work.

Set in New Zealand, drunk deer hunter Gilbert Carson (Donald Pleasance) inadvertently finds an old World War II DC-3 plane (known as the Yankee Zephyr) rise from the surface of a nearby lake. Helicopter pilot Barney (Ken Wahl - harboring no accent at all) is along for the ride in this precious discovery, although both are unaware that 50 million in cargo is inside the plane. Lesley Ann Warren is Gilbert's daughter, who doesn't have a trace of a New Zealand accent either. Some villains, headed by George Peppard in a delicious performance as a ruthless businessman, are very interested in that grand fortune. How do they find out that the Yankee Zephyr has been discovered in New Zealand? A simple phone call from a local merchant is all that is needed.

"Race for the Yankee Zephyr" has the distinction of having beautiful scenic shots of New Zealand (love the little cabin in the woods that Wahl and Warren frolic in) but little else to distinguish it from any made-for-TV action picture or series ("Tales of the Gold Monkey" is more fun than this picture). Wahl looks disinterested and Lesley Ann Warren looks like she wandered in for the chance to visit New Zealand. Only Donald Pleasance (most of his dialogue is unintelligible) and George Peppard give it a lift above the norm. A boat chase offers mild excitement but somehow director David Hemmings doesn't bring any level of excitement or wonder to anything else in the film. Stick with Indiana Jones or Harry Steele over this stale and indifferent adventure tale.