Theme Song: Martin Mull is credited as “Music Producer” in the credits. As you may know, Mull released a few albums in the ‘70s. These may or may not be his, as there aren’t any official screen credits:
“Wonder”
This certainly sounds like him. A nice Nashville-via-California breezy jam.
“Loose Ends”
There’s a ridiculous amount of music playing through tinny radio speakers in this movie. Almost every scene has some type of background radio playing. This one is the best examples, as the main character and his father sing along. Adding a bit of trivia nobody cares about: This scene was sampled by Stunt Rock at the end of this song.
“Train of Glory” by Jonathan Edwards
“30 Miles To Go” by Jonathan Edwards
There are also two credits for Edwards, both honky-tonk-ish numbers, which play during race scenes.
Overall this soundtrack has some nice stuff, but the lack of credits makes it a mess. I’ll continue my rant: If the modern VHS archiving movement had any integrity, they’d stop wasting time on garbage re-issues of horror soundtracks and start digging into this shit.
Interesting Dated References: Tobacco farming as a viable career choice; Drag racing as a viable career choice; Paying off debts to people you just met using a personal check; Cannon-produced movies before they started their own releasing company.
Best Line: In reference to The Bible — “It’s a shortcut to a dead end.”
Social Context: Originally released as Jump, Fury on Wheels is absolutely not the explosion-filled extravaganza the poster would have you believe. Instead, it’s a genuinely-authentic, rambling character study, complete with a down-played, ambiguous ending. The mismarketing of this movie on its home video release only contributes to its obscurity. Also, for whatever reason, Paul Sorvino is listed on the box cover, but is nowhere to be found in the movie nor the IMDb listing.
Summary: Fury on Wheels follows the adventures of hayseed Floridian Chet Jump as he wanders around Tampa trying to decide what to do with his life. Most of that time consists of flirting with waitresses, arguing with his conservative family, going to bars, and challenging local hot shots to races against his beat-up Malibu.
Eventually Jump impresses local businessman Babe Duggers, who hires him to work as a mechanic at his shop, thereby trapping him into a work-for-parts service deal that all his other mechanics are trapped in.
Duggers pressures Jump, a dirt track racer by nature, into giving stock car racing a try, which only seems to pull him further into debt. After a failed race and a falling out with Duggers, Jump enters and wins a demolition derby.
Then the movie ends with Jump walking off alone.
Worth Mentioning:
– Filmed in and around Tampa and Pinellas Park, Florida.
– Conrad Bain (“Mr. D” from Diff’rent Strokes) absolutely destroys as Jump’s defeated, alcoholic father. The dialogue between him and Jump, and throughout the whole movie in general, is so genuine and and bleak it seems odd this is the only credit for screenwriter Richard Wheelright.
– Judd Hirsch appears as one of the mechanics, but I couldn’t spot him.
– Jack Nance is listed in the credits, but again, I didn’t spot him. The home video release is a little fuzzy and there are a lot of guys in the background.
– Director Joseph Manduke’s next film would be Cornbread, Earl and Me.
Poster and Box Art: The Betamax release for Fury on Wheels, as well as the original poster under the title Jump, is all-Gone in 60 Seconds rip-off. There’s not a single explosion nor car flying through the air in this entire movie.
The original poster for Jump is a much better representation of the movie.
Availability: Used VHS on eBay.
I never found Hirsch in this either, but for what it’s worth, he has admitted to being in it.