Name: Kansas City Bomber
Genre: Action
Released: 1972-08-02
Rating: 37
Cast: Raquel Welch, Kevin McCarthy, Helena Kallianiotes, Norman Alden, Jeanne Cooper

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Robert Sullivan

Los Angeles Free Press

Kansas City Bomber is not only the best film Raquel Welch has ever been in, it's also one of the better films to come out of M.G.M. in quite some time.

Jan 6, 2020

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CodyZamboni

The stunning Raquel Welch is the whole show, in a nicely understated, appealing performance. Movie gets demerits for a slight plot, lots of shaky hand held camera work for the underwhelming roller derby scenes, featuring obvious stunt doubles wearing terrible wigs.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/23/23

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Audience Member

I first saw this picture at an all-night movie marathon of B-pictures. I liked it then (40 years ago). Love it now. It has all sorts of problems associated with poorly budgeted films, but it's early pro-feminist storyline should be celebrated. Watch it and consider all the tribulations the Raquel Welch character goes through and you'll find her character to be truly inspiring.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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dave s

Kansas City Bomber may have had a fighting chance at success had it not tried to pawn roller derby off as a legitimate sport and simply tried to delve into the subculture, like Aronofsky's The Wrestler. As it stands, it is simply scene after repetitive scene of implausible action, periodically interrupted by meaningless dramatic scenes away from the roller rink that don't seem to advance the plot (whatever plot there is) or do much of anything else. The acting is uniformly mediocre, at best, the sound in muffled to the point of being inaudible at times, and the end of the final match race features the worst editing imaginable. Much like the ‘sport' it depicts, Kansas City Bomber goes around in circles but doesn't really go anywhere.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

good film about the old roller derby events which i remember from way back. the action sequences were well played and the ongoing story was interesting. i've heard this sport called "pro wrestling on skates", and i agree; it's obviously staged but who cares, it was always fun to watch the skaters roughhousing antics.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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steve d

It's a whole lot of fun.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

K.C. Carr (Raquel Welch) has just left her former Roller Derby team in Kansas City, Missouri to start her life as a single mother over again in Portland, Oregon with a team called the Portland Loggers. Loggers' owner Burt Henry (Kevin McCarthy) is clearly interested in her and not only as an Roller Derby player. But Burt has a rather ruthless side to him: he trades away K.C.'s best friend on the team, and when he sees that star male skater "Horrible" Hank Hopkins is interested in her, he manipulates the audience into booing Hopkins, causing him to go crazy and lose his job. Henry's endgame is to set up a match race between K.C. and her teammate and rival Jackie Burdette (Helena Kallianiotes), with K.C. deliberately losing so that she can join Henry at a new team he's setting up in Chicago. K.C. has however other plans... "Kansas City Bomber" is a slightly unbalanced sports drama with a stunning Raquel Welch in the main role. The touch of a B-Movie lingers all over the film and in one way it fits, in another way it makes it hard to take in the drama in a proper manner. The acting is hardly up to scratch and the roller derby action is more or less on the same level as the action in "Slapshot" which came out a few years later. However, the latter is of a different standard. We see a bunch of second-rate athletes trying to be someone while playing. They travel from city to city in buses, performing to dingy and half-empty arenas, hang out together in cheap bars and the greatest joy is to sign autographs. It´s a very incoherent movie that isn´t put together in a way that makes the film flow and several scenes feels random in my opinion. And the dramatisation of K.C.´s life and person never really gets a proper chance to develop into something tangible. The only real treat in this movie is the lovely and beautiful Raquel Welch. Trivia: Judy Arnold, women's captain of the Philadelphia Warriors Roller Games team, doubles for Raquel Welch's in the skating sequences. She also has a small speaking role in a dressing room scene. She had to wear a long wig for the skating scenes, covering her short blond hair.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Jerrold Freedman

Director

Raquel Welch

K.C. Carr

Kevin McCarthy

Burt Henry

Helena Kallianiotes

Jackie Burdette

Norman Alden

Horrible Hank Hopkins

Jeanne Cooper

Trainer Vivien

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Cox Brothers Sell Roller Derby Spec to Paramount

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Synopsis

Roller girl K.C. Carr (Raquel Welch) skates for the Kansas City Bombers, until a rivalry with one of her own teammates gets her traded to the Portland Loggers. The team proves to be a mess, run by the dishonest Burt Henry (Kevin McCarthy) and led by drunken captain Jackie Burdette (Helena Kallianiotes). The only teammate K.C. befriends is the veteran "Horrible" Hank Hopkins (Norman Alden). But when Hank ends up being traded, K.C. is forced to fight back against her crooked team.

Director: Jerrold Freedman
Rating: PG
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 2, 1972, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 39m

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