It’s fast, funny, outrageously illegal — and the granddaddy of the cross-country speed spectacles that have raced across movie screens in the past two generations. Put your pedal to the metal for The Gumball Rally.

New York City is the starting point, and this supersonic contest ends 2,900 miles later in Los Angeles. In between, director Chuck Bail (coordinator of many classic movie stunt sequences) and a crew of actors and stuntpersons treat you to a truly breakneck road comedy. Gary Busey plays a daredevil in a 600-horsepower Camaro. Raul Julia portrays an Italian Grand Prix champ who’s also an incurable romantic in a fast Ferrari. Michael Sarrazin as the race’s crafty, overconfident organizer pilots a classic Cobra. Ready, set, zoom!

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Video Quality

Warner Archive provided The Gumball Rally with a great 1080p master transfer in 2.39:1 when it was released in 2017 sourced from a new 2K scan of the Interpositive. The label has eradicated nearly all imperfections with no lingering damage or dirt observed. Outside of some soft optical transitions, you are graced with a transfer rich with exquisite detail and clarity. The natural film grain brings out the nuances of the daring Richard C. Glouner cinematography. The film delivers bold colors within the clothing and production design such as the bright cars. Highlights stay firm throughout and black levels are primarily deep. This transfer delivers precision when it comes to the hues. Compression artifacts, banding, and other such issues do not emerge as an issue in this transfer. Warner Archive is one of the best labels in the game.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a robust DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio split mono track that delivers all the excitement you might expect. Dialogue and environmental sounds work in harmony with the music so everything has the appropriate presence in the mix. Exchanges come through pretty clearly, although the original sound mix does cover up some of the dialogue with car noises. This appears to be more of an issue with the source rather than this particular mix, presumably because the dialogue was not thought to be particularly important here. The score establishes a bouncy tone while avoiding unwanted anomalies. There is no serious damage to the track such as hissing, dropouts, or popping. The more kinetic moments are handled well and give the track a bit of personality. Warner Archive has delivered a fine mix for this one. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included for the feature film.

Special Features

Trailer (2:32)

Final Thoughts

The Gumball Rally is a rollicking action-comedy that features some very impressive stunt driving and some amusing comedic moments to maintain an enduring sense of levity. The ensemble is not stacked with A-list stars, but everyone has a welcome screen presence with a greater sense of authenticity with most of the driving executed by the actors themselves. There are variations of this format that fly a bit higher, but those who want simple fun will enjoy this one. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray that sports a lovely A/V presentation but almost nothing in the way of special features. If you typically enjoy zany road movies, this should do the trick. Recommended

The Gumball Rally can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.