Silver Dream Racer

Just lately my interest in motorcycle sport of all kinds has been rekindled, and in seeking out material I stumbled across Silver Dream Racer, the 1980 film starring David Essex.

The movie tells the story of an impecunious racer (Essex), who suddenly inherits a gleaming prototype bike from his late brother, and races it in the British Grand Prix.

Approaching the film with an open mind, I was not expecting a masterpiece. To be frank, it was not as interesting as I was expecting. The plot was predictable, and outlandish and over-the-top characters (including one played by Beau Bridges) could not compensate for this. In addition, the script and dialogue represented a classic case of "trying too hard".

In fairness, some of the racing sequences are reasonably convincing and authentic, with the glaring exception of the close-ups of the actors in helmets, super-imposed against a racing background. These shots looked like they could have been filmed in the 1950s...

On the plus side, the theme song is quite nice....