Hong Kong Synopsis
“You'll root for them all…but you'll never guess who wins.”
A cross-country road race is based on an actual event, the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, organized by Brock Yates to protest the 55 mph speed limit then in effect in the U.S. The Cannonball was named for Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, who in the roaring 20's rode his motorcycle across the country. Many of the characters are based on ruses developed by real Cannonball racers over the several years that the event was run.
Audience Engagement
558 audience reviews — more than 94% of Hong Kong films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 87th percentile among Hong Kong films.
Action + Comedy in Hong Kong
150 Hong Kong titles in our catalog blend the Action and Comedy genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding The Cannonball Run itself).
The 1980–1982 Hong Kong Window
The Cannonball Run holds position #28 of 45 Hong Kong films in the 1980–1982 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1980s Hong Kong Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1980s in Hong Kong, 151 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Cannonball Run premiered alongside 17 others.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 35m runtime, production spent $189K per minute on screen and earned $760K per minute back.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 17 other Hong Kong films in 1981.
The 156th Hong Kong title from Hong Kong we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).
Our Hong Kong catalog contains 836 titles in total (828 films).
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #514 of 836 Hong Kong films indexed here (39th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Among Hong Kong Action productions specifically: #339 of 516 (top 66%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Hong Kong |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | United States of America, Hong Kong |
| Original Language | En |
| Spoken Languages | Japanese, Mandarin, Arabic, English |
| Production Companies | Albert S. Ruddy Productions, 20th Century Fox, Orange Sky Golden Harvest |
| Runtime | 1h 35m |
| Release Date | June 19, 1981 |
| IMDb | tt0082136 |