Scott LeBrun Joey Rosso (Don Michael Paul) is a young independent trucker who works with his dad Big Joe (Lawrence Dane) hauling stuff for anybody and everybody. That includes even the wretched Doyle clan, because hey, work is work. But the Doyles feel compelled to show the world what sons of bitches they are. They cause an accident that claims three members of the Doyle family. Then Big Joe is badly injured in a traffic accident that they instigated. All of this, and the law seemingly cannot touch the Doyles. Well, Joey's not going to stand for this. He takes the super-duper monster truck on which he's been working, and metes out some brutal vehicular revenge.Written by Michael Thomas Montgomery, this routine but enjoyable vengeance saga fulfills its requirements more than adequately. It establishes the Doyles as so completely vile that you are just ACHING to see them get what they deserve. Presiding over these stereotypical redneck cretins is patriarch Tiny Doyle (Ned Beatty), giving us two father figures of differing stripes in the story. Just about everything in Montgomery's script plays out as you would expect it to, if you've ever seen other movies like this. It doesn't just push buttons, but takes a sledgehammer to them.Of course, the real "star" is the title monster truck, designed and operated by Michael Welch. When it first makes an appearance, it's a cheer-worthy moment. And the relentless onslaught of vehicular carnage is fun, although there's no gore to speak of, and thereby offend some potential viewers.Paul, who went on to an interesting career as screenwriter ("Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man") and director ("Half Past Dead", "Tremors 5"), is a perfectly serviceable protagonist. You definitely sympathize with this guy. Dane has a warm and wonderful presence, and Beatty (other than Paul, the only token American in the cast) is pretty good. Lisa Howard is appealing as Joey's sweet girlfriend; look for familiar Canadian actors such as Susan Hogan ("The Brood"), Michael J. Reynolds ("Visiting Hours"), and Leslie Carlson ("Videodrome") in supporting roles and bits.All in all, this is pretty damn good for this kind of action fare. Ideal viewing if you love trucks and just want to put your brain in neutral for just over 92 minutes.Seven out of 10.

sol- Distraught after the hooligans who killed his mother and sisters avoid conviction thanks to a heartless judge, a young rig driver designs a monster truck to enact revenge in this action film from Canada. The film gets off to a slow start with nearly half the duration elapsing before the trucker designs the machine, but the tension never ceases once it goes into action. The vehicle is a remarkable feat of imagination with flame throwers and a giant drill, plus the wheels of a tractor, and it is startling to watch it crush other cars (like a tank), break through walls and run people over. If all this sounds over-the-top, it is because it is, but no matter, such exaggerations fit in well with the film thematically, which is about a young man reacting in the most extreme way he knows to an adverse situation. Quality supporting turns (from Ned Beatty as the hooligans' father and Lawrence Dane as the protagonist's father) help matters too, and the film has a few acute things to say about the risks of working for scumbags - something that his father tells him is necessary, but something that also leads to the demise of half his family. The film may have worked better with the hooligans being fleshed out in further depth (they are pretty much interchangeable) but no doubt half of the film's audience will come from those in it for the truck, which is indeed great even if it only appears somewhat late.

Idiot-Deluxe "Don't muck with an 18-wheel trucker!!!!!" Oh, sorry, good tag-line, but for the wrong movie.Having seen it twice, I can tell you that this low-budget flick from the 80's is a fun one - provided you keep your expectations modest. Rolling Vengeance is a story about a young trucker, who after being spurned by the justice system, deals out his brand of vengeance upon those who murdered his entire family. This economically-shot revenge flick certainly has it's shinning moments, mostly in the form of sweet "mechanized" revenge; but before that can happen there's a little back story. Joey Rosso is a young trucker that's learning the ropes of the trade and he yearns and aspires to be just like his old man Big Joe Rosso and he is well on his way to attaining the status of Pro-Trucker - unfortunately for him, there's trouble up ahead - just around bend!The Rosso boy's are employed by a certain smarmy, used-car salesman and bar owner by the name of Tiny Doyle, who along with his five low-down, bottom-of-the-gene-pool sons, run a prosperous strip-bar called "Tiny's Dance". It's the job of the Rosso's to truck in the liquor at Tiny's place and well it's simply a very contentious relationship between the two sides, that plus alcohol and a pick-up truck, all tragically serve to shape the plot and what's left of the Doyle clans future. Taken to court and found "not guilty" of vehicular manslaughter, the Rosso's naturally feel cheated by the justice system, shortly there after a bar brawl at Tiny's joint ignites a full fledged feud, one that pits the Rosso's vs the Doyle's and more murder and mayhem is primed and waiting. Soon afterwards the Doyle's take out Big Joe with an aerial assault of cinder blocks and in light of this most recent outrage it pushes junior over-the-edge and swears vengeance, as Big Joe lay's comatose. It's through here that the movie briefly takes on a certain MacGyver-like quality, as junior Rosso gets down to business in enacting his quest for justice - vigilant justice. Scrounging around in the local junkyards, Joey finds the part's for his avenging "rig" of destruction and gets down to it - with wrench and blow-torch he literally builds a one-of-a-kind, flame-spewing, monstertruck. With his rig complete and the Doyle clan in his cross-hairs, Joey Rosso wastes no time in enacting - ROLLING VENGEANCE! And as it turns out, two-by-two, the Doyle's do fall.At first Joey's MO is clearly set in the form of an avenging, fire-spewing, war-rig of destruction in the night and soon he begins to lay the hurt on the despicable Doyle's, loudly and very effectively. On the first night it's the destruction of Tiny's used-car business - and the Doyle's DO notice this, but then on the very next night Joey Rosso (Mr. Rolling Venegance himself) ups the ante big-time and as I said, the Doyles begin to fall, as murder ensues - out in the back-country. Murder it is, but more specifically, it's vehicular-homicide of the most inspired kind - who's victims could NOT be more guilty or more deserved of the fiery, hell-bent, brand of mechanized vigilante justice that Joey Rosso has in store for them. In other words - their in a world of trouble.After the first batch of Doyle's are dispatched the stakes are raised, when a couple of drunken Doyle's are out at Joey's place, looking and listening for clues, in an effort to find the answers to who's been causing them all the bad luck lately. Turn's out Joey's not home - but his pretty girlfriend "Misty" unfortunately show's up looking for him, seeing an opportunity the Doyle boy's pounce like laughing hyena's and proceed to rape her. NOW JOEY'S REALLY PISSSED and his brazenness is increased ten-fold, as he unleashes his Rolling Vengeance in broad daylight! What starts as a chase in a corn field, ends in an inspired chase to the death in a large warehouse - and suddenly there's just two Doyle's left and more vengeance is bound to come rolling their way soon.The sheriff is well aware of what's going on and has more than a hunch of who's behind all the killings, but since the Doyle's are such slime, he's intent on taking his time investigating the matter. Cut back to the hospital, where Big Joe linger's in a coma, the sheriff finds Joey and does some "light questioning", however other events interrupt this, as Big Joe dies and Misty walks in further complicating things. As night falls Joey once again gets back to his work, Rolling Vengeance ends in a spectacularly destructive finale at Tiny's Dance and with the help of the sheriff they slay the king rat, Tiny Doyle and his last remaining son. Misty shows up once again and predictably she wastes no time in getting in the way and she's very nearly gets drilled again, but in a VERY different sort of way.Ned Beatty's performance is simply the best of the lot and with his combination of comb-over, black leather jacket and a missing tooth, he play's his character with style, as the loathsomely smarmy, Tiny Doyle - ruler and patriarch of the Doyle clan. I find his performance to be terrifically entertaining and wish he'd played a similar role in a movie with a much bigger budget, I think the results would have been even more inspired. Rolling Vengeance is very much a "taking-out-the-trash" type of movie, which were extremely popular in the 80's.Anyway, once it all said and done the young trucker gets his revenge......

emm The first time you look at it, ROLLING VENGEANCE looks like it's going to be a cool picture. Sadly, movies like this do not translate well as full-length features. In addition, it suffers from the same old formula where somebody takes revenge on another and wins. An interesting point about the movie is that our lead character is in a no-win situation against both the criminal and the law, but our revengeful modern age prince saves the day as usual! Those who enjoy watching monster trucks do some killer stunts just like at the arena will be greatly discouraged. There's nothing special in the world other than just a cookie-cutter action movie.