The Cars That Ate Paris + The Plumber

Blu-ray, BFI Limited Edition, Region B, w/SLIP

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974), Peter Weir’s debut feature, is a dark satire set in the rural Australian town of Paris, where residents deliberately cause car crashes and repurpose the wrecks. Limited edition set also includes Peter Weir rarity The Plumber (1979).

A new 4K restoration of Peter Weir’s cult Australian New Wave debut, available on Blu-ray in the UK for the first time.

While travelling across Australia in search of work, two brothers collide with an oncoming car. The sole survivor is taken in by the residents of the nearby small town of Paris, but their strange behaviour—and the alarming number of road accidents in the area—quickly unsettles him. It soon becomes clear that the town’s feral youth rule the streets at night in souped-up cars, and the local hospital is overflowing with brain-damaged crash victims.
Shot in widescreen on Panavision cameras, Peter Weir’s (The Truman Show, Dead Poet’s Society) debut feature is a biting satire of small-town life. It was also one of Stanley Kubrick’s favourite films and a direct inspiration for George Miller’s Mad Max series.

This limited edition two disc set also include Peter Weir’s The Plumber. This made-for-television psychological thriller follows an anthropology student and her husband whose lives are disrupted when an over-familiar plumber begins intrusive ‘repairs’.

Digitally remastered by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

• Limited edition 2-disc set 

• Newly restored in 4K by the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia and presented in High Definition 

• Newly recorded audio commentary on The Cars That Ate Paris by Dr Stephen Morgan 

• My First Film: Terry Camilleri on The Cars That Ate Paris (2026): newly recorded interview with one of the stars of the film 

• Interview with Peter Weir – The Cars That Ate Paris (2003, 11 mins): archive interview with the director  

• Guardian Interview: Peter Weir (1985, 70 mins, audio only) extensive interview with the acclaimed director, recorded around the release of Peter Weir’s Oscar-winning film Witness 

• 3 To Go: Michael (1970, 31 mins): three young filmmakers, of whom Peter Weir was one, were commissioned by the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit to each write and direct a half-hour fiction drama on the theme of ‘Youth’. These were combined for cinema release as 3 To Go. Michael was Weir’s contribution to the project 

• ‘Nobody Leaves Paris! No One!’ (2026, 15 mins): a newly commissioned video essay by Chris O’Neill looking at The Cars That Ate Paris   

• Interview with Hal McElroy (2008, 6 mins): an interview with the one of the producers of The Cars That Ate Paris, originally recorded by filmmaker Mark Hartley for his documentary Not Quite Hollywood 

• The Plumber (1979, 77 mins): remastered in 2K, Peter Weir’s made-for-television thriller follows an anthropology student and her husband whose lives are disrupted when an over-familiar plumber begins intrusive ‘repairs’ 

• Newly recorded audio commentary on The Plumber by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson 

• Incredible Floridas (1972, 13 mins): a portrait of Australian composer Richard Meale  

• Interview with Peter Weir – The Plumber (2003, 8 mins): archive interview with the director  

• Peter Weir's Dream within a Dream (2026, 18 mins): sparked by the discovery of rare outtakes from Picnic at Hanging Rock, this newly made work by Polish filmmaker Jakub Duszynski offers new insight into Weir’s 1975 masterpiece 

• Trailers 

• Image galleries  

• Illustrated booklet featuring a new written interview with Peter Weir, an original review, essays on The Cars That Ate Paris by Dr Stephen Morgan and on The Plumber by Tara Judah and writing about his short films by Peter Weir