Carradine's Subversive Performance Propels 'Fast Charlie... The Moonbeam Rider'

Growing up, I vaguely recall seeing this negligible film on HBO that starred that guy from the "Kung Fu" show and the girl from the tampon commercials. It had a lot of annoying racing scenes in it that bored me. I don't even think I watched it all the way through – atypical for a budding cinephile.

Well, "Fast Charlie...The Moonbeam Rider" made a much better impression on me four decades later. While I still find the racing scenes somewhat murky and lengthy (blame director Steve Carver), I appreciated this little indie about a World War I vet, Fast Charlie (David Carradine), who deserted his troops overseas yet manipulates them into helping him take part in the first transcontinental motorcycle race back at home.

While scamming his way towards St. Louis, Fast Charlie finds himself swindled by Grace Wolf (Brenda Vaccaro), a waitress who now owns his precious Moonbeam motorcycle, so he's forced to bring her and her son along for the ride. Romance, of course, ensues.

But the heart of this darkish comedy is Charlie's journey towards redemption and it's a mostly engaging one with a trio of terrific character actors (L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, Terry Kiser) providing support and Vaccaro excelling in the early part of the film – only to, unfortunately, be relegated to the sidelines in the second portion. That's when the seemingly unending race kicks in.

Carradine's performance is a delight and rather subversive. It's reminiscent of his own troubled film, "Americana" (which took a decade for him to make and release), about a damaged Vietnam vet who obsesses over restoring a carousel. "Fast Charlie" would come out two years before "Americana," and both central characters carry the ravages of war in their backstory psyches. Charlie is a deserter and a grifter, yet we sympathize with him. And a great deal of that is due to Carradine's onscreen charm.

The Brand new 2K transfer looks decent enough on Blu-ray, but there are blemishes – probably because the film was pretty much discarded for decades.

The main special feature is an audio commentary with film historian Eddy Von Mueller, who provides some nice tidbits.

Produced by B-movie vet Roger Corman, "Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider" is an enjoyable ride that also has a few anti-war, anti-capitalism statements to make.

Blu-ray Extras Include: