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Run Chrissie Run!
R0 - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (11th March 2018). |
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The Film
 "Run Chrissie Run!" (1984) Eve (played by Carmen Duncan) is a single mother of one, trying to make a normal living in Sydney, Australia following the accidental death of her husband. Teenage daughter Chrissie (played by Annie Jones) is unaware of Eve's past until Michael Riley (played by Michael Aitken) comes along into the picture. The IRA terrorist Michael has tracked down Eve, an ex-German operative and wants her help in a bank heist using her former skills. She declines as the safety of her daughter is much more important and the mother and daughter flee the city and start a new life altogether. But fleeing does not stop the terror. They get into an encounter with a gang leader nicknamed Toe (played by Nicholas Eadie who wants revenge for his damaged car. Michael continues to search for them as well, and in addition other men from the IRA are on the tail of Michael and in turn looking for Eve and Chrissie... With elements of a spy thriller, family dynamic, guns and cars, and people on the run, "Run Chrissie Run! has all the elements of a thriller, but unfortunately does not fully come together. The relationship between the mother and daughter seems a bit wasted with the two seemingly not having a strong emotional bond, and even though they are on the run for most of the film, there doesn't seem to be much in terms of growth in their relationship. While the mother seems to have control over the issues and the escape, the daughter who happens to be the title character has very little to do and sadly her performance lacks charisma. The plot device of multiple sources of people chasing the characters for different reasons is interesting but having all the characters finally encounter each other together is not the strongest point in the story. It would have been great to have an equal focus on the different characters while also having Chrissie as the main character but it sometimes seen as a mess of direction in the final product. "Run Chrissie Run!" was based on "When We Ran" by Keith Leopold, a juvenile fiction novel first published in 1981. A film adaptation from the South Australian Film Corporation was produced in 1984, with television director Chris Langman behind the production with a script adapted by Graham Hartley. The low budget production was given a screening at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, but unfortunately did not receive much attention from abroad. It also was not given a theatrical release in Australia with the lack of hype. Eventually the film was released in its native country, but direct to video two years later in 1986 and broadcast on television another two years later in 1988. The film has been part of Australian movie obscurity for many years but was revived when mentioned in the documentary "Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!" which featured some footage from the film. It took quite some time but the film is finally available on DVD courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment. Note this is a region 0 PAL DVD which can play back on any DVD or Blu-ray player worldwide with PAL capability.
Video
Umbrella Entertainment presents the film in 1.33:1 (non-anamorphic) in the PAL format. With the film having no official theatrical release and going straight to video and television in Australia, the transfer here represents the original ratio as it was seen, not counting the Cannes screening. The transfer comes from a very dated master, and has quite a few issues. The video source has issues with colors looking drab, moiring, and lacking detail in the image. This may look exactly how one would have experienced the film on video and TV in the 1980s but for the era of HD and 4K, this is highly disappointing. On the plus side there are no issues with missing frames or tape error and genuinely looks consistent throughout. It's unfortunate the original elements were not located or used in this DVD edition, which it seems unclear if the original elements still exists or not. The film is uncut with a runtime of 87:11. 
Audio
English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono The original mono track is present, and compared to the picture quality fares a little better. The dialogue and music are well balanced, with no problematic issues such as hisses and pops in the track. It is not a heavy audio track and gets the job done. It can seem a bit muffled due to some of the original materials, but nothing too distracting. There are no subtitles offered for the film.
Extras
Video Trailer (1:00) The original video trailer is offered which has a bit of a dip in picture quality, and for some reason the volume being extremely loud! in non-anamorphic 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono with no subtitles Note that the disc has no menu. the film plays automatically and after the film ends, the trailer plays. After the trailer, the disc comes to a stop. Unfortunately no other extras are offered. No interviews, commentaries, featurettes, nothing. Here is an excerpt from the film, courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.
Overall
"Run Chrissie Run!" unfortunately falls a bit flat with its plot and dialogue, the action is sparse, and even with the "Ozploitation" banner attached, it doesn't hold a candle compared to many of the other films in the genre. Umbrella Entertainment's DVD features a dated transfer and only a trailer as an extras, but for interested fans this seems to be the only DVD available for the film at the moment.
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