If you’re looking for that dumb but highly entertaining action movie, Torque is the right choice. After exactly twenty years, it also packs a pretty strong nostalgia punch. Ahhh, the early 2000s were such a magical and over-the-top period. I remember seeing the poster of this movie and thinking this is exactly what I need. I wanted to watch something dazzling and fun that requires zero brain effort. And this movie fits the bill perfectly. Add to this a bit of humor, hot chicks and dudes, and finally, a lot of cool racing scenes, and you’ve got yourself quite a guilty pleasure.
You can think of Torque as Fast and Furious but with motorcycles instead of cars. It even fires a few shots directly at the car-centric franchise. I’m sure you’re going to notice them. Moreover, you won’t find any of that family bullshit here. Our main man is looking out for number one and that’s it. Okay, okay, maybe he also wants to reunite with his old flame but that’s it! We will be following biker Cary Ford who will soon get into a lot of trouble. Not only the heads of two dangerous biker gangs will be after him but also the FBI. He will have to get out of this hot mess with the help of his wit, friends, girlfriend, and one mean motorcycle.
The story is as stupid as it sounds but it’s just so damn entertaining. I’m dying to tell you all the hilarious shit you’re going to be watching but I simply can’t. I want you to discover these little gold nuggets for yourself. The whole thing reminds me of the eighties oddity The Wraith. As is customary with these action movies, the shit hits the fan pretty early on. Moreover, the pacing is fast and the running time short, just eighty minutes. Now, what more do you want from a guilty pleasure movie? Perhaps dazzling visuals? You’ve got it. Maybe you’re in the mood for some pretty outrageous and physically incredibly improbable motorcycle racing?
Well, you’re getting it anyways. I remember how I started laughing the first time I saw Torque’s final chase scene. And I laughed just as hard last night, twenty years later. It’s just so over-the-top that you can’t do anything but fall in love with it. It exudes that “new century we’re the hot shit” attitude. This is why a lot of movies from the early 2000s remind me of the eighties movies. They have the same smug but also charming spirit. The director of the movie Torque is Joseph Kahn, the guy behind such music videos as Britney Spears – Toxic, Wu-Tang Clan – Gravel Pit, Korn – A.D.I.D.A.S., and many others.
So, it’s not surprising that there are a lot of these juicy scenes with hot girls on motorcycles and cool editing tricks. The stunts are excellent and there’s a lot of bike racing footage. And all of it feels like it belongs in a music video. When the bike accelerates we go inside them and see the flames shooting out and shit. You know the stuff I’m talking about. At this point, I should tell you that Torque is not an “old-school biker movie” but a modern one featuring modern motorcycles. These guys are not riding Harley-Davidson but Hondas and Yamahas. As such, it is the second of its kind.
The first was quite disappointing, but it is still worth checking out for fans of the genre. That’s the 2003 movie Biker Boyz. We would have to wait more than ten years to get a new addition to this peculiar subgenre. Burn Out and its remake Centauro are not too bad and I recommend you check them out. If you’re looking for more standard-issue biker movies take a look at Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Stone Cold, and Beyond the Law. Of course, it goes without saying that you simply must watch The Bikeriders, an immersive look at an early biker culture.
Speaking of motorcycles, you’ll have the opportunity to see some pretty cool and rare ones in this movie. Torque features MTT Turbine SUPERBIKE which the lead character Cary Ford calls Jet Turbine Y2K bike. And he ain’t lying as the bike uses a Rolls-Royce Allison 250 turboshaft engine which you can commonly find on helicopters. Yes, that’s one hell of a bike, my friends. For most of the movie, Cary drives a sweet-looking red Aprilia RSV. Until he crashes and jumps on a Honda RVT 1000 SP2 in the middle of a highway chase.
The rest of the stable is just as impressive: Triumph Daytona 955i (Trey’s bike), Yamaha XV 1700 Road Star Warrior (Henry’s bike), and many others will make an appearance. Torque features quite an odd cast led by Martin Henderson, a very popular actor at that time. We also have Ice Cube, Jaime Pressly, who looks absolutely stunning, and young Adam Scott. I’m not going to bother you with the cast too much as this is not that kind of a movie. Still, I think that everybody was up to the task. Finally, I should mention that the producer of Torque, Neal H. Moritz, is the same guy behind not only F&F but also SWAT and XXX.
Director: Joseph Kahn
Writer: Matt Johnson
Cast: Martin Henderson, Ice Cube, Monet Mazur, Jaime Pressly, Adam Scott, Jay Hernandez, Will Yun Lee
Fun Facts: The director of the movie Torque, Joseph Kahn, didn’t know anything about motorcycles when he set out to make this movie. His intention was to make a “dumb movie for smart people”.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329691/
