Fictional adventure, real thrills
The Wages of Fear, (Le Salaire de la peur) a 1953 film based George Arnaud’s novel of the same name, follows four men on a journey through the Guatemalan jungles and mountain ranges to deliver explosives needed to extinguish a fire at an oil field:
A massive fire erupts at [an oil field]. The only way to extinguish the flames and cap the well is an explosion produced by nitroglycerine. With short notice and lack of proper equipment, it must be transported within jerrycans placed in two large trucks from the [oil company] headquarters, 500 km (300 miles) away. Due to the poor condition of the roads and the highly volatile nature of nitroglycerine, the job is considered too dangerous for the unionized employees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPuO14OgTEc
In truth, the film is equal parts a very real economic drama and nail biting adventure thriller:
The journey, which comprises the second half of the film, is heartstopping. Three sequences rank with the most nerve-wracking in movie history: the trucks must back onto rotting planks over a mountain ledge; Van Eyck uses nitro to blow up a giant boulder that blocks the road; Montand drives his truck through an expanding pool of spilled oil while Vanel swims in the black liquid, clearing a path and trying to get out of the way. Georges Auric’s score and Armand Thirard’s cinematography, which dramatically opposes light and shadow, add to the tension. And Clouzot’s editing style “based on constant shocks,” punctuates the narrative perfectly. Consequently, as the New York Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote, “You sit there waiting for the theater to explode.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNSrBKzSJcE
Though never acknowledged, it’s hard to imagine Wages of Fear wasn’t an inspiration the 2009 Top Gear Bolivia Special. One Redditor describes it as “one crazy special, from Jungle to dangerous mountain road to high deserted plains and volcanoes.” The Wikipedia description goes on for pages, but MotorTrend’s reviewer writes more succinctly:
The episode included vehicle recoveries, handbuilt makeshift bridges, dead engines, snakes, bugs, deep water crossings, narrow mountain roads, significant impromptu vehicle modifications, altitude sickness, and the destruction of the Toyota (which Hammond had nicknamed “Donkey”) near the end of episode.
Scene after scene appears to be a campy homage to Wages of Fear. Consider this one along the “death road”: