''The Junkman'' Is a 1982 independent film which spent two years in production. To make the film,

H. B. Halicki Henry Blight "Toby" Halicki (October 18, 1940 – August 20, 1989) was an American director, writer, stunt driver, actor, and filmmaker. Halicki directed the 1974 film ''Gone in 60 Seconds (1974 film), Gone in 60 Seconds'' as well as producing ...

used his own personal collection of over 200 cars, toys, and guns—including

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, the star of his 1974 cult classic '' Gone in 60 Seconds''. ''The Junkman'' is the second installment of Halicki's film trilogy. It presents ''Gone in 60 Seconds'' and ''

Deadline Auto Theft ''Deadline Auto Theft'' is a 1983 independent film written and directed by H. B. "Toby" Halicki made up of scenes from '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' and ''The Junkman'' as well as new material featuring Hoyt Axton. Plot After the attempted theft of ...

'' as films within a film. The opening car chase sequence, which involves a 1974

Bricklin SV-1 The Bricklin SV-1 is a two-seat sports car built from 1974 until late 1975. The car was noteworthy for its gull-wing doors and composite bodywork of color-impregnated acrylic resin bonded to fiberglass. Assembly took place in Saint John, New Bruns ...

, is part of ''Deadline Auto Theft''s storyline. ''The Junkman'' holds the Guinness World Record for wrecking over 150 cars, trucks, motorcycles and planes in one movie.

Plot

Harlan B. Hollis struggles to stay alive when a jealous public relations manager hires a team of assassins to kill him. The manager, also Hollis' brother-in-law, resents Hollis for making the movie '' Gone in 60 Seconds'', which is premiering at the

Cinerama Dome Pacific Theatres' Cinerama Dome is a movie theater located at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Designed to exhibit widescreen Cinerama films, it opened November 7, 1963. The original developer was William R. Forman, founder of Pa ...

. The film starts with the head hitman Frank Spyros answering a pay phone and getting instructions from a then unknown person to go ahead with a hit on Hollis as he drives to the James Dean Festival in Cholame, California. The same unknown person plays a video highlighting Hollis's life. He ejects the video and crumples up a publicity shot of Hollis. Later, Hollis is shown a picture found in the burned wreckage of one of the air covers' planes. Hollis identifies it as an unreleased publicity shot, indicating someone from inside of his own company is trying to kill him. With the aid of the Goodyear Blimp, he travels to the Cinerama Dome, where the premiere is being held. He discovers the mystery man to be Fox, who subsequently slips off the edge of the theater roof. Clark's crew find the bomb in the limo, throw it into a parking lot, and it explodes, blowing up several cars in the process. At the end of the film, Hollis gives his daughter Kelly a new 1982 Pontiac Trans Am for her birthday

Cast

Many locals were used as extras in the movie. Most of the

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Miss ...

sheriff deputies,

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

, and

Atascadero Atascadero (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101 in California, U.S. Route 101. Atascade ...

police officers in the movie were officers at the time of filming. All of the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcem ...

officers were professional stunt drivers. Hoyt Axton makes a special appearance as "Captain Gibbs"; his character would play a much larger role in Halicki's next film, ''Deadline Auto Theft'' (1983).

Home media

In 2001, Denice Shakarian Halicki, along with her business partner Michael Leone under the banner Halicki Films, released the restored film in Dolby

5.1 surround sound 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dol ...

on DVD and VHS to American viewers. It included H. B. Halicki hosting a documentary about film making. In the DVD release, all of the rock and roll, country music soundtrack from the original film including title tracks have been replaced by a generic synthesizer music score. A number of dialogue changes were also made. The original version was released on video in the 1980s but is rare today.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Junkman, The 1982 films 1980s action films 1980s crime drama films American action films American action comedy films American chase films Films about automobiles Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles American independent films American crime drama films Films directed by H. B. Halicki Metafictional works 1982 drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films