Israeli motorcycle flick ‘Full Gas’ to hit screens
Film tells the story of a 17-year-old biker in the Negev
The old saying goes that Israel would become a nation like all others when a Jewish cop arrested a Jewish criminal, and that can be extended to the first time a Jewish teenager buys a ticket to a Jewish dirt-biking movie.
That day will be here soon, when the movie, Full Gas, is released in theaters on August 8. The first trailer has just come out, and it’s clear the movie is a kind of Israeli version of The Karate Kid, but on bikes.
It tells the story of Tomer (Tuval Shafir), a 17-year-old biker who moves to an isolated town in the Negev a month before the national dirt biking championships are set to be held. Nimrod, the local bully who expects to win, is threatened by the arrival of this newcomer. He and his gang harass Tomer, who challenges Nimrod not only as a racer, but also for the heart of Amalia, a local girl. By chance, Tomer meets Albert, a mysterious
former biking champ who has been living alone in the desert for 30 years, who becomes a master teacher for the young biker and helps prepare him for the fight of his life against Nimrod, both on his bike and off.
Full Gas is another sign of the vitality of the Israeli film industry. While there were many genre movies in the 1960s and 1970s, this kind of popular and profitable filmmaking went into decline for decades as arthouse movies became predominant. But in the last few years, the genre film industry in Israel has experienced a renaissance, with the recent success of comedies like Mossad and Maktub, as well as comic adventure films such as 4 X 4 (an Israeli version of The Hangover set in the Sinai) and The Last Band in Lebanon. There have even been Israeli zombie movies such as JeruZalem, Cannon Fodder and Another World, as well as children’s hits such as Abulele.
Full Gas will mark the big screen return of popular young actor Tuval Shafir. He is best known for playing Yonatan in the Galis television and film series, and also for appearing in the show, Ha-Shminiya. He proved he could act when he played the lead in Avi Nesher’s 2010 drama, The Matchmaker, which exemplifies how Israeli actors move seamlessly between crowd-pleasing dramas and more serious films.
The cast of Full Gas also includes Kevin Rubin, Naya Bienstock, Zohar Liba, Ori Pfeffer (Hacksaw Ridge) and Eden Saban.