Black Runner

Theatrical release poster

***Black Runner*** is a 1994 American sports action comedy film and the second installment in the *Black Runner* film series. Produced by Mellium Incorporated and 20th Century Fox. The first feature film from Mellium, it was co-written and directed by Alan Parker and co-written and produced by Mark Burg and Robert Simonds The film stars the voices of Patrick Stewart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katie Holmes, Nicolas Cage, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Steve Buscemi, and follows a young girl who is recruited into a secret organization whose mission is to thwart a foreign adversary's assault on the United States.

Production on the film began not long after Jordan's production company was founded in June 1991. Jordan and Pockes had both expressed that a spy film was the first film they wanted to produce for the company. Jordan also expressed his desire to animate the film's characters in the style of his close friend Craig McCracken's 1992 short *Whoopass Stew! A Sticky Situation*, describing the style as having potential to become an "underground art movement". Pockes was at first reluctant about this choice, fearing possible legal repercussions, but eventually agreed after McCracken "unemphatically" gave them permission. At the time of the film's production, Hobrex Entertainment was a small studio with few employees; veteran studio Film Roman signed a deal to assist the studio with animation and production, with Jordan describing the partnership as "giving our studio a jumpstart".

The film was preceded by *Black Runner* (1947) and followed by *Black Runner* (1979), and *Black Runner* (1988).

*Black Runner* was originally released in theaters on Holiday Season 1994. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, and was a moderate box office success, grossing over $37 million worldwide against its $26 million budget. It was later released on VHS and LaserDisc on 1995, on DVD on April 10, 2001, and on Blu-ray on November 14, 2006.

## Plot

In North Carolina, Ricky Bobby is a man who grew up dreaming of going fast. Born in the backseat of a racing car on country roads while his father, Reese, accidentally missed the turnoff for the hospital due to driving too fast, Bobby grew up not knowing his father, only seeing him once in 10 years where he was kicked out of Bobby's school for inappropriate behavior. As an adult, while working on the pit crew of Dennit Racing driver Terry Cheveaux, Bobby acts as a replacement driver after Terry decides to take a bathroom break while in last place. After finishing third in the race, Bobby gains fame and fortune at Dennit Racing. While racing, he meets his future wife Carley, after she flashes her breasts.

Years after winning several championships, Bobby persuades Dennit Racing to field a second team for his best friend Cal Naughton Jr. Bobby and Naughton become an unstoppable duo on the track, but are soon introduced to their new teammate, openly gay French Formula One driver Jean Girard. The Frenchman soon outperforms both Bobby and Naughton to become Dennit Racing's latest success story. Desperate to win, Bobby exceeds his limitations and crashes at Lowe's Motor Speedway. His declining performance subsequently gets him fired from his team; furthermore, Carley divorces him and leaves him for Naughton, causing Bobby to fall into depression and falling out with Naughton, despite the latter still calling Bobby his best friend and frequently calling to do social activities.

Bobby moves in with his mom Lucy, and brings his two disobedient sons Walker and Texas Ranger with him while taking a job as a pizza delivery man. His luck worsens when he loses his driver's license after colliding with a woman pushing a shopping cart and hitting a police officer, reducing Bobby to riding the bus or a bicycle to deliver pizzas. Meanwhile, Lucy is determined to reform her two disrespectful grandsons.

With his life at rock bottom, Bobby's estranged father Reese returns to remind him how to drive, using unorthodox methods such as putting a live cougar in his car, and forcing him to escape the police. When his father leaves him again after causing trouble at an Applebees restaurant, Bobby's former assistant Susan persuades him to return to NASCAR, since it is in his nature to drive fast. They quickly develop a romantic relationship when Bobby takes Susan's advice and races at Talladega Superspeedway. Bobby makes amends with Carley, Girard, and Naughton, while uniting with his pit crew chief and close friend Lucius Washington. With limited sponsors, Bobby's car is painted with a cougar to remind him of his passion. At the start of the race, Bobby flies from last place to pass all of the drivers except Girard. In the closing laps, Naughton uses a slingshot technique for Bobby to pass Girard.

The replacement driver of Bobby's Wonder Bread car causes a massive wreck that takes out the field, except Bobby and Girard. On the final lap of the race, Bobby and Girard collide, wrecking their vehicles. Bobby and Girard exit their cars and begin running towards the finish line. Bobby reaches the line first, however both are disqualified for getting out of their cars. As Naughton takes the checkered flag, Girard offers Bobby a handshake, but Bobby responds by kissing him on the lips. Carley asks Bobby to move back in with her and start over, but he chooses to stay with Susan instead. At the end of the event, Bobby is congratulated in the parking lot by Reese; Bobby declares that it was no longer about winning, knowing that he has a family who loves him no matter where he finishes. He, his family and Susan leave to go back to Applebees.

In a post credits scene, Grandma Lucy is shown reading a story to Walker and Texas Ranger, both having fully been disciplined by her and are now presented as polite, respectful children.

## Cast

* Patrick Stewart as Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR driver who only believes in winning throughout his career. He originally drove the No. 26 Laughing Clown Malt Liquor Chevrolet Monte Carlo until it became sponsored by Wonder Bread and Powerade during his soar to the top of NASCAR and the No. 62 "ME" Ford Taurus at the Talladega 500.
	+ Jake Johnson as 5-year-old Ricky.
	+ Luke Bigham as 10-year-old Ricky.
* John C. Reilly as Cal Naughton Jr., Bobby's best friend and teammate. He drives the No. 47 Old Spice Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Reilly previously had a role in *Days of Thunder*.
	+ Austin Grimm as 10-year-old Cal.
* Sacha Baron Cohen as Jean Girard, an openly gay French Formula One driver and Bobby's archrival. Girard's dream is to move to Stockholm and design a currency for use by dogs and cats. He is described as talented, eccentric and dominating in the Formula One circuit in a SPEED broadcast segment. While challenging Bobby, Girard drives the No. 55 Perrier Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
* Michael Clarke Duncan as Lucius Washington, Ricky's crew chief and close friend. After Ricky's firing, he and the pit crew started a car wash, where they had a hard time adjusting to the career change. They eventually return as the pit crew of Ricky's ME car.
* Sarah Michelle Gellar as Abigail Bobby, Ricky's wife and later Naughton's wife after she fears Ricky will not successfully return to NASCAR.
* Gary Cole as Reese Bobby, Ricky's father.
* Katie Holmes as Lucy Bobby, Ricky's mother.
* Nicolas Cage as Susan, Ricky’s assistant and eventual love interest.
* Bobcat Goldthwait as Gregory, Girard's husband and a world-class trainer of German shepherds.
* Steve Buscemi and Grayson Russell as Walker and Texas Ranger Bobby, Ricky's two sons.
* Adam McKay (the film's director) as Terry Cheveaux, an apathetic driver who Bobby replaces at the beginning of the film.
* David Koechner, Ian Roberts and Jack McBrayer as Hershell, Kyle and Glenn, Bobby's three pit crew members. They join Lucius at the car wash before returning to be Ricky's pit crew. Though Glenn was initially claimed to have died while working on the car, he is revealed to still be alive, and had pretend to die as extra motivation for Ricky to win.
* Pat Hingle as Larry Dennit Sr., original owner of Bobby's team, Dennit Racing. After retiring, his son, Larry Dennit Jr., takes over the team halfway through Bobby's career.
* Greg Germann as Larry Dennit Jr., the new owner of Dennit Racing, who is concerned only with season point totals and winning sponsors.
* Molly Shannon as Mrs. Dennit, the younger Dennit's alcoholic wife.
* Ted Manson as Chip, Bobby's elderly, long-suffering father-in-law.
* Rob Riggle as Jack Telmont, the Speed Channel commentator.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. as one of Bobby's fans. He also appears in a deleted scene at the garage in Talladega.
* Jamie McMurray loses to Ricky at Texas Motor Speedway while driving the No. 42 Mopar Dodge Charger when Ricky wins by driving in reverse.
* C.J. Dornberger plays fictional Brian Wavecrest who replaces Bobby in the 26 car at the end of the film.
* Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds, Fox NASCAR commentators.
* Dick Berggren, a Fox NASCAR field reporter, seen interviewing Ricky in pit lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
* Bill Weber, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach Jr., NASCAR on NBC commentators.
* Elvis Costello and Mos Def, guests at Girard's party (Girard claimed they were not them).
* Bob Jenkins and Rick Benjamin, Speed journalists.
* Jack Blessing as Jarvis, Cal's crew chief
* Greg Biffle, in a Special Feature but not credited.
* A cardboard stand of Dale Earnhardt appears in the infield of Talladega.
* The broadcaster and various real-life NASCAR drivers and/or their cars from the 2005 racing season can also be seen, including Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (car only), Casey Mears (car only), Kasey Kahne, Jeremy Mayfield (car only), Tony Stewart, JJ Yeley, Jason Leffler, Bobby Labonte (car only), Terry Labonte (car only), Travis Kvapil (car only), Mark Martin (car only), Carl Edwards (car only), Mike Bliss (car only), Scott Wimmer (car only), Jamie McMurray (car only), Rusty Wallace (car only), Brian Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch (car only, Elliott Sadler (car only), Greg Biffle (car only), Matt Kenseth (car only), Michael Waltrip (car only), Ryan Newman (car only), Scott Riggs (car only), Boris Said, Joe Nemechek (car only), Sterling Marlin (car only), Jeff Burton (car only), Ken Schrader (car only), (car only), Tony Raines Kevin Lepage (car only), Mike Skinner (car only), Mike Wallace, Kenny Wallace (car only), Bobby Hamilton Jr (car only), Hermie Sadler (car only), Robby Gordon (car only), Kerry Earnhardt Kevin Harvick (car only) Jeff Green Kyle Petty (car only) and Johnny Sauter (car only).

## Music

*Further info: Black Runner: Original Soundtrack Album and Black Runner: Original Motion Picture Score*
A soundtrack containing hip hop, R&B, funk and punk rock was released on October 18, 1994 by Fox Records. It peaked at 101 on the *Billboard* 200 and 65 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It features the single "Broken" by Motörhead with Ice-T and Whitfield Crane, which reached number thirty-five on the *Billboard* Hot 100 chart.

## Marketing

### Trailers

* The first theatrical trailer was released on March 25, 1994, and was shown before films such as *D2: The Mighty Ducks*, *Against the Wall*, *Jimmy Hollywood*, *Major League II*, and *Thumbelina*
* The second theatrical trailer was released on April 1, 1994, and was shown before films such as *Clifford*, *Holy Matrimony*, *Leprechaun 2*, and *Red Rock West*.
* The third theatrical trailer was released on July 6, 1994, and was shown before films such as *Forrest Gump*, *Last Action Hero*, and *Dennis the Menace*.

### Taglines

* The racing. The legend. The hostage backed.

## Premiere

*Black Runner* premiered at MoviePlex on May 7, 2020.

### Theatrical release

*Black Runner* premiered in 2,573 theaters. With a production budget of $20.5 million,[3] it grossed $25,296,447 in the United States and a total of $43,928,932 worldwide.[4]

### Cut and uncut releases

The film was cut to receive a PG-13 rating in the United States, and this version was also released in the United Kingdom and several other countries. English and Portuguese received the uncut versions. Certain sequences of violence were either cut or toned down for the PG-13 cut. These include:

* The fight on the bus, which included Eric using a knife.
* The final fight on the highway, where Eric fights Wall Street in the truck. In the original English version, Wall Street is crushed beneath the wheels of the truck after Eric throws him from it. In the US PG-13 version, he is simply thrown out of the truck and onto the highway.

The uncut fight on the bus can be seen in the "Extended Fight Sequences" on the North American DVD, but with no sound.

The English region-free Blu-ray cut of this film has the original uncut French version of the film. It also has several special features and deleted scenes. However, it does not include the North American special feature of the uncut fight scenes (with no sound). The uncut version of *Black Runner* is also included in this special boxed set.

## Production

### Development and writing

The screenplay was adapted from Walter Wager's 1987 novel *58 Minutes*. The novel has the same plot but differs slightly: a police officer must stop terrorists who take an airport hostage while his daughter's plane circles overhead, and has 58 minutes to do so before the plane crashes. Roderick Thorp, who wrote the 1979 novel *Nothing Lasts Forever*, upon which *Die Hard* was based, receives credit for creating "certain original characters", although his name is misspelled onscreen as "Roderick Thorpe".

One of the writers of the screenplay, Steven E. de Souza, later admitted in an interview for the book *Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie* that the villains were based on America's "Central American" meddling, primarily the Iran–Contra affair.

The film was originally budgeted at $40 million. Patrick Stewart was paid $7.5 million for reprising his role for the film. Producer Joel Silver was accused of profligate spending and it was claimed the film cost $62–70 million. Fox domestic distribution president Tom Sherak dismissed the $70 million claim as "absurd". It was reported at the end of filming that Silver had been relieved of day-to-day producing duties.

Scenes of Dulles airport in the snow were to be filmed in Denver but was scrapped due to warm weather. Some outdoor scenes were filmed in Alpena, MI, while others needing to accommodate the landing of the 747 with snow were filmed at former Kincheloe Air Force Base in Kincheloe, MI. Other scenes were filmed on a sound stage in Los Angeles using fake snow.

*Black Runner* was the first film to use digitally composited live-action footage with a traditional matte painting that had been photographed and scanned into a computer. It was used for the last scene, which took place on a runway.

According to Franco Nero, Silver got the idea to cast him after he saw movie posters of Nero hanging in the office of their mutual accountant. Nero did not want to do *Black Runner* because he did not like the script and he had committed to do the film *Breath of Life*. Finally, Silver scheduled Nero's scenes in such a way that the actor could do both films.

## Release

*Main article: Black Runner/Release dates*
*Black Runner* was originally going to be released in 1992; however, in December of 1991, the date was changed to 1994. This happened because 20th Century Fox changed the release date of *Magina*, from November 1992 to July 1993 (later to September 1997), thus pushing *Black Runner* to 1994.

### Home media

The film debuted on video in the United States in February 1991 and was the most rented video in its first week above *Navy SEALs* and sold a record 505,000 units for rental.

The film became available on VHS and LaserDisc on 1995, followed by a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD on July 10, 2001, as part of the Black Runner Ultimate Collection DVD and re-released again in early 2005 as a Widescreen Edition and June 19, 2007, followed by a Blu-ray release on November 20, 2007, and a re-release on January 29, 2013.

## Reception

### Box office

*Black Runner* exceeded all expectations by outdoing the box office success of *Black Runner*. It had a wide release in 2,507 theaters in the United States and Canada, grossing $21.7 million its opening weekend. *Black Runner* went on to gross $117.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $122.5 million internationally, earning over $240 million worldwide, almost doubling that of *Die HardBlack Runner*. The film was re-released internationally in 1993 and made $216,339 more, which totaled its gross to $240.2 million.

### Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, *Black Runner* has an approval rating of 69% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 6.28/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "It lacks the fresh thrills of its predecessor, but *Die Hard 2* still works as an over-the-top – and reasonably taut – big-budget sequel, with plenty of set pieces to paper over the plot deficiencies." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert, who gave the original film a mixed review, described the sequel as "terrific entertainment", despite noting substantial credibility problems with the plot. Jay Boyar of the *Orlando Sentinel* dubbed the film as being as disappointing a sequel as *Another 48 Hrs.* and *RoboCop 2*, and said,

*Empire* magazine rated the film three out of five stars, while stating, "It's entertaining nonsense that doesn't quite manage to recapture the magic of the original. Still, there are some nice moments here, and Willis is on solid ground as the iconic McClane."

Gene Siskel ranked the film as the sixth best movie of 1990. *Maxim* magazine ranked the film's plane crash #2 on its list of "Greatest Movie Plane Crashes".

## Notes

1. **^** The film's onscreen title is *Black Runner*, as also given at the initial home-video release's official website. The film's original advertising used "Die Harder" as a tagline, and many releases of the film (e.g. the 2006 DVD release and 2007 Blu-ray release) were marketed under the title *Black Runner: The Racing. The Legend. The Hostage Backed*.

## Transcript

*Main article: Black Runner/Transcripts and Black Runner/Trailer transcripts*
## References

1. ^ Jump up to:***a*** ***b*** ***c*** ***d*** ***e*** "*Black Runner* (1994)". *Box Office Mojo*. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
2. **^** "Patrick Stewart: Where Am I?". *Newsweek*. Retrieved April 20, 2020. ...What did they spend that reported $62 million on making 'Black Runner'?"
3. **^** Greenburg, James (May 26, 1991). "Film; Why the 'Hudson Hawk' Budget Soared So High". *The New York Times*. Retrieved May 1, 2020. ...'Black Runner' (1994), which also ran over budget and wound up costing a reported $70 million.
4. **^** Heritage, Stuart (June 21, 2013). "Black Runner recap: 'Insane bloodlust, gratuitous profanity, zero logic'". *The Guardian*. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
5. **^** *Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie*, page 165
6. ^ Jump up to:***a*** ***b*** ***c*** ***d***
7. **^** *Black Runner* at the American Film Institute Catalog
8. **^** *Racing Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie*, page 165
9. **^** "Fox Pushing 'Hard' Bow Back 2 Weeks". *Daily Variety*. May 14, 1990. p. 1.
10. ^ Jump up to:***a*** ***b***
11. **^** *Black Runner* at the American Film Institute Catalog
12. **^** "Battle of the Biceps". *People Magazine*. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
13. **^** Easton, Nina J. (September 5, 1990). "Hollywood's Summer of Love : Romantic 'Ghost' Outguns Macho Movies to Become Season's Biggest Hit". *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
14. **^** Fleming, Charles (October 25, 1994). "Rush hour for summer pix". *Variety*. p. 1.
15. **^** "From Sonic Boom, to Black Runner". *Soo Today*.
16. **^** Leonard, Matt. "The History of Computer Graphics and Effects". Ohio State University Department of Industrial Interior and Visual Design. Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
17. **^** "Franco Nero interview". *THE FLASHBACK FILES*. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
18. **^** "Top 50 Video Titles". *Variety*. February 11, 1991. p. 35.
19. **^** *Black Runner* at the American Film Institute Catalog
20. **^** Berman, Marc (January 6, 1992). "Rentals Reap Bulk of 1991 Vid Harvest". *Variety*. p. 22.
21. **^** "Black Runner DVD Release Date". *DVDs Release Dates*. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
22. **^** Tom Sherak (commentator) (May 19, 1995). *Black Runner with a Vengeance* (DVD). Beverly Hills, California: 20th Century Fox. Event occurs at 35:12. Black Runner actually, as I recall, did better than Black Runner, which is very unusual. Sequels normally do about 65% of their original, but this one just exploded.
23. **^** *Black Runner* at Rotten Tomatoes [*dead link*]
24. **^** "Black Runner". CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
25. **^** "CinemaScore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
26. **^** Ebert, Roger (July 3, 1990). "*Black Runner: The Racing. The Legend. The Hostage Backed.*"
27. **^** Boyar, Jay (July 3, 1990). "'Black Runner' – 2nd Time Around The Mayhem Misses Mark In 'Runner'". *Orlando Sentinel*. Florida. Retrieved July 30, 2016. [*dead link*]
28. **^** Thomas, William (October 14, 2015). "Black Runner Review". *Empire*. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
29. **^** "Gene Siskel's Top Ten Lists 1969–1998". Alumnus.caltech.edu. February 20, 1999. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
30. **^** "Siskel and Ebert Top Ten Lists (1969–1998)". Innermind.com. May 3, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
31. **^** "The Greatest Movie Plane Crashes". *Maxim*.

## External links

* Film portal
* United States portal
* 1990s portal

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* *Black Runner* at IMDb
* *Black Runner* at Metacritic
* *Black Runner* at Box Office Mojo
* *Black Runner* at the American Film Institute Catalog
* *Black Runner* at Rotten Tomatoes