Just like every true suburban Melbournite, Eric Bana loves muscle cars. More than any other, he loves one particular muscle car. In the early 1980s a teenage Eric Banadinovich and his mates slaved over his pride and joy, The Beast ((ndash)) a 1974 XB Falcon GT Coupe (the same base model that Mad Max's Interceptor was built from). It cost $1,100 to make it his and countless hours and dollars since to keep it going.

25 years, and several rebuilds, later Bana takes time out of his Hollywood schedule, assembles a crew of his old mates and takes The Beast back to the Targa Tasmania Rally. Rebuilt to original specifications, complete with leaf suspension, five speed transmission and almost 600HP under the hood, The Beast is in fine form to compete in what is regarded as one of the world's most challenging rallies. Not that anything would make it an easy drive!

Bana has put together Love the Beast as a tribute to his life's inanimate love, bringing in a host of fellow celebrity car nuts for their perspectives on car-love along the way; Jay Leno (footage of whose spectacular warehouse full of classic cars alone makes this worth a watch), "Top Gear's" Jeremy Clarkson and Doctor Phil. The movie works just as well for everyone else as it does for car nuts, opting for layman-friendly explanations, lots of inanimate eye candy, plenty of humble humour and some hearty male bonding.