I’ve never been into racing films. Sure, the big budget summer releases, I’ll see. Movies like “Herbie Fully Loaded” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” I’ll check those out. However, there’s a whole genre of underground racing movies that I thought had disappeared with the drive in.

In fact, most of the racing films I’ve seen outside of the major studio releases, I’ve seen on old episodes of “Mystery-Science Theater 3000.” And while I loved watching “Sidehackers” and “Wild Rebels,” it was more to hear Joel and the ‘Bots take it apart on a Saturday afternoon.

Racing movies have all but disappeared. However, it seems that Henry Crum wants to revive them. This writer/director shows a certain talent for filmmaking, and if given a proper budget, he might just have something. However, his low budget effort “Asphalt Wars” just doesn’t have what it takes.

This film tells the story of a struggling mechanic named Reno (Gilbert Chavarria) who has the dream of being a street racer. His uncle, who owns the garage where he works, constantly reminds him not to get involved in this business because it is a conduit for gang activity. However, when a pretty girl brings in a car to be hopped up, Reno gets sucked into the street racing scene.

Soon, Reno shows up the best racers in a gang, and eventually causes a crash which kills one of the gang members. To pay off his debt, he must start to work for the gang lord, who soon learns that Reno is a valuable tool on the road.

I was bored with this film. Not being a racing fan on any level, I found nothing to enjoy here. The plot was predictable and rough. I had no sympathy for the characters because their involvement in the seedy side of racing was a path chosen by them without prejudice. In short, they all deserved what they got.

I will say that “Asphalt Wars” isn’t a total loss. The low budget filmmaking gave it a certain gritty look that actually works for the film. It’s not a pretty film to watch, and it’s by no means flashy like the “Fast and the Furious” movies, which it’s trying to cash in on. However, the look of the shooting has a definite style to it.

In some ways, “Asphalt Wars” goes back to Roger Corman old school, when he was making stock-car racing movies in the 60s and 70s to send right to the drive in. Of course, I doubt Corman had anything to do with the making of the film. Instead, I’ll bet that his company New Horizons just found the film and became the distributor, and he slapped his name on there as an executive producer. This is standard practice, most often seen when the Weinsteins would slap their name on every release that ever came out of Miramax or Dimension.

If you have that affinity for ultra-low budget films that struggle to reach the lowest standards of Hollywood, you might like this movie. However, you’ll also need that affinity to the street racing film that doesn’t have Vin Diesel, Paul Walker or any scantily clad women in it.



Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Full screen (1.33:1). French and Spanish subtitles. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.