Let's be realistic.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Boy, was I ever let down by this lousy, low-budget piece of Australian junk.From start to finish, this film continually struck me as being equivalent to a limp-wristed project carelessly slapped together by some incompetent, ass-backwards film students from Idiots-ville.Filled to over-flowing with lifeless, unattractive characters, rambling dialogue, terrible acting and long, "WTF?" stretches where absolutely nothing happens, The Cars That Ate Paris's title was, without question, about 10x more intriguing than was the result of its dumb and virtually humorless story.This is one of those truly grate-on-your-nerves films where right from the word "go!" one immediately senses that its scriptwriters were trying way too hard to elevate this one to the status of a bizarre & quirky "Cult" film. But, they failed miserably.I've got nothing, whatsoever, good to say about this dreary & asinine picture. Even its much-anticipated final climax (where the cars come to eat Paris) was totally anti-climatic. In fact, this finale was downright stupid.Thank goodness for the joy of fast-forwarding!

A movie done in style, all about relations between people, not normal people but where everyone is insane to varying degrees. These insane people try to create a town whose purpose, whilst fulfilling the normal needs is done in an insane fashion. They trap passing motorists at night and run them off the road. Should they survive they handed over to a macabre doctor who lobotomises them with a power tool to become his, experiments. There cars are stripped of any valuables than burned. Any equally disturbed individuals are recognised and kept to become a part of the insane community. To be best enjoyed as art background when suitably intoxicated and quietly partying. A movie clearly done to be enjoyed in this style, as it drifts from sane to insane in the same activity, as moments drift from sense to senseless. A movie that keeps you hanging on the edge of having a plot, of accelerating the story, of having real meaning only to leave you drifting along with it.

At least as bizarre as it sounds, this early feature from Peter Weir (Picnic At Hanging Rock, Witness, The Truman Show, Dead Poets Society) begins with two brothers driving into a small, isolated, rural town. Upon entering, they have a serious car accident which kills the older brother and leaves the grief-stricken younger brother, Arthur Waldo (Terry Camilleri), to undergo his physical and psychological rehabilitation in an unknown place, surrounded by more than a few rather strange characters. The local mayor takes Arthur under his wing, offering him board at his house with his family and a respectable job at the local psychiatric ward, later on appointing him town Parking Officer. On the surface all is well in Paris... although newcomers seem to have rotten luck on the roads in and out of town.The film operates very much within the confines of a western (overtly so during one scene, being something of a standoff - Arthur is asking some of the local carheads to park their vehicles in a different spot).Performances are generally very good, particularly John Meillon as the mayor. Also features a demented Bruce Spence, who many will recognize from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, in a supporting role.The film's score may well divide audiences. Personally I liked it very much as it was willing to take risks. There wasn't just the usual dramatic flurries and simmering undercurrents - there are some great pieces and it offers a bit more than many modern Hollywood productions. Disturbingly effective at several points was the gentle music following the restoration of the idyllic structure of the small town, so restored often as a result of grossly immoral acts. (Think of the Men's Group in The Stepford Wives or "the greater good!" mentality of the townsfolk in Hot Fuzz).The Cars That Ate Paris comes admirably close to being a full-on classic, and offers much to seasoned genre fans (providing you don't mind Australian accents, and I notice they were noticeably thicker in these older films).Peter Weir would later go on to bigger and better things, but The Cars That Ate Paris remains a genuine cult classic and an important piece of early Australian cinema.

This is the biggest piece of crap i've ever watched, There's no real story to it and has some of the worst acting i've ever seen....Pity i can't give this shite any lower than a 1. its driving me mad just thinking bout it. The director should be shot for unleashing such a monstrosity upon us. But its not only the directors fault, the dam writers are to blame also. I'd get a better story off my daughter and shes only 4. Now i don't want to be insulting the Australians but they ain't the most talented people wen it comes to movies r acting, except for a few actors. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPP