Steineded How sad is this?

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

MartinHafer A man and his brother are involved in an accident deliberately caused by the residents of a hellish little town, Paris, New South Wales. The surviving brother doesn't realize that the accident was deliberate and oddly the town's weirdo residents decide to keep him and make him a part of their community. I have no idea why they didn't just kill him. Regardless, during his stay he begins to see how bizarre this town is, with young people driving around like extras from the Mad Max movies and a lot of mindless violence late in the film--violence that really looked as if the filmmakers didn't quite know what to do with the story.When "The Cars That Ate Paris" debuted, a lot of folks were upset because they found the film so bloody and gross. Well, today you certainly wouldn't think that, as times have certainly changed. Instead, you might be more likely to have folks react as I did-- with a surprising amount of boredom. While the idea is pretty radical and sounds exciting, it somehow isn't due to very slow pacing and a story that fails to capitalize on the great idea. Watch it if you'd like...just don't be too surprised when you find the whole thing a bit ponderous. The only thing I really liked in this film was the spiky VW. Where can I get one of those?!

SmokeyTee This is a well made, at times bleak, dark and funny film - you never quite know what to expect. This is no more obvious than with the start of the film which commences with what appears to be a sexed up cigarette commercial (the kind that would have invariably preceded the film when it was in cinemas) featuring a hot couple blasting about in their convertible. This all ends very, suddenly and very badly and decades later Tarantino would steal/borrow the same device and make it the pivotal moment in Deathproof...The film drifts along introducing you to a fairly bizarre town called Paris in the Australian countryside and there is a lot of brooding and suspense but it doesn't really build because you never know quite what is what or what will come next.The film terminates with a fantastic scene of violence that I will not reveal in any detail here. It really, really appealed to my sense of humor and I hope it does yours - if you take the time to see it.

Stephen Bierce (FPilot) In this movie, Paris is basically a typical Third World nation in microcosm: You have a charismatic dictator (the Mayor) surrounded by yes-men and flunkies, an economy that has no real industry as such and forced to take "foreign aid" any way it can, a populace who is so dependent on the dictator's policies that it will support them whatever the moral cost--and not challenge him when times go bad, and the army (the kids with the hot rod cars) who do the dirty work but don't share the benefits and have no future. There is a perversion of civil society, law and order, and moral justice that is acceptable to the "Parisians" but wouldn't be acceptable in a "free" society.The protagonist comes to Paris as a refugee, accepts the situation, and witnesses the chaos when the moral cost of the Mayor's racket hits a tipping point and people start voting with their gas pedals. The monsters in this movie are the ones we breed in our own societies when those in power do what they want (even if they believe it is for the greater good) and enact unethical policies.

christopher-underwood Peter Weir's first film and, looking back to when I originally saw this on general release, this could be described as my first exploitation movie. I always had a soft spot for it and later recognised elements from such video treats as, 2000 Maniacs. Not overlong, it still seems a little slow now at times but it's probably because unlike in the mid 70s when this was considered unique , so much else has been seen. Even so it's well worth watching and whilst in my memory this was all about dressed up cars battling it out, this is , in fact, much more a cynical view of the director's homeland. The mayor who at first seems protective and halfway decent turns out to be the 'fascist' for whom this whole enterprise is run. Paris, Australia, of course, not France although the enigmatic finale will have you guessing.