DVD Collectors Online

DVD Reviews => The "Marathon" reviews => Topic started by: Najemikon on August 15, 2008, 11:27:00 PM

Title: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 15, 2008, 11:27:00 PM
Car Movie Marathon

I haven't really done a marathon review before, so I thought I'd have run of car themed movies. I thought Death Proof (see here (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,952.0.html)) was great and it inspired me to look up some of the classic road movies referenced by both Stuntman Mike in the story and by Tarantino in the features. Plus, to make it a marathon, I threw in some old faithfuls and even some subtitled foreign muck! ;)

The criteria was simple: Motor Porn. :) Just having a good car chase or two isn't enough. So no room for Bond, Bullit, Bourne, Ronin or The French
Connection. Don't even think about seeing that piss-poor excuse for a car chase from Matrix Reloaded. In fact, move along if you're only interested in modern CGi heavy stuff, so goodbye The Fast and the Furious, Gone in 60 Seconds (remake!) and Transporter. Enjoyable fluff one and all, but I need to know stunt drivers are on the front-line for this run.

The characters must be obsessed with vehicles or at least use vehicles almost exclusively to perform their very significant part of the story. The quality of the film overall isn't really a consideration, much like martial arts movies. These are films where the most important crew members could be the stunt
drivers and their toys. In one example, the bloody car has a name and gets top billing!
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 15, 2008, 11:27:25 PM
WHITE LIGHTNING (1973)
3 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/whitelightning.jpg)

Burt Reynolds plays Gator McClusky, imprisoned for running Moonshine. He hears his brother has been killed and suspects the corrupt sheriff (Reynolds regular Ned Beatty) is to blame. He cuts a deal enabling him to get back into running liquour so he can get close to exposing the corruption and getting his revenge.

There was a time Burt Reynolds was as big a star as Clint Eastwood. Hard to believe now, but they were neck and neck until they both had a rough run in the 1980s culminating in the horrible City Heat. Eastwood came out on top (turning out to be the best American director around probably helped), while Reynolds spent a little too long as the Bandit and bankruptcy beckoned. I loved Smokey and the Bandit and the style is similar though not played for laughs (Hal Needham was stunt director here). But I prefer the serious Reynolds. He made several films like this and he was as solid an action star as they come.

The story is straightforward action-thriller, mean dialogue and great supporting characters. The sheriff is a first class villain. I'm only guessing, but this has to be a big inspiration to The Dukes of Hazzard, with such a familiar setup, just made fun. I've heard this takes its cues from Robert Mitchum's Thunder Road, but there's something about the 70s that gives this movie it's almost grindhouse feel.

Great movie anyway, but the driving is first class. Reynolds has several chases as he 'blocks' for the moonshine runner. Several stand out stunts, including one Tarantino talked about on the Death Proof DVD. Reynolds put his complete trust in the driver to pull off a truly iconic image at the films close.

The DVD is as barebones as they come!

The Car's the star: Ford Custom 500
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/whitelightning505.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xeEdOrteX0)

Pop quiz... name the film that uses the White Lightning theme, that can be heard at the start of the trailer... :)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 15, 2008, 11:41:28 PM
INITIAL D (2005)
2 out of 5

Movie based on the Manga/Anime about the drifting sub-culture in Japan... why am I even including this? Look, just read the bloody book. And I bet the animated version is far better. This is bollocks. Some cool driving scenes and using an older car against the flashy modern machines was great, but not enough to get in a lather about. The film is hamstrung by terrible MTV style editing that continually distracts. The kid looks good lazy and laid back while driving, but doesn't change when he gets out the car. His mate is a stupid character who really annoys me and the nail in the coffin was a completely daft subplot about his girlfriend
(click to show/hide)


Special mention for Anthony Wong who is a great actor. Here he plays the drunk dad who, in an unusually subtle part of the story, could be as good a driver as his son. He and the drifting kept me watching. As a pure car film, it's better than The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, but that film was more enjoyable overall. It just scrapes in for two stars because of Wong and some of the drift scenes. The other drivers are decent mysterious characters too, but I repeat, try the book or the series first.

The Car's the star: Toyota Sprinter Trueno
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/initialdtoyota.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsXYKtm4hug)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: addicted2dvd on August 16, 2008, 12:42:09 AM
Hey Jon... let me get my horror fix through you... watch Christine or something like that!  ;D
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 16, 2008, 02:28:56 AM
Sorry, Pete, I don't have that one! There is one though that might satisfy... ;)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Achim on August 16, 2008, 04:16:27 AM
Quote from: Jon on August 15, 2008, 11:27:25 PM
Pop quiz... name the film that uses the White Lightning theme, that can be heard at the start of the trailer... :)
Kill Bill, I believe, Volume 1

Quote from: Jon on August 16, 2008, 02:28:56 AM
Sorry, Pete, I don't have that one! There is one though that might satisfy... ;)
What's that? "The Car" with James Brolin? :dance:
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 16, 2008, 10:14:50 PM
Yup, Kill Bill it is, but the horror car film ain't The Car, it's...
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 16, 2008, 10:34:44 PM
DUEL (1971)
5 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/duel.jpg)

Dennis Weaver plays a salesman on his way to a meeting that becomes a terrifying battle of wits with an unseen truck driver.

I have to stick my neck out and say that on the basis of this film, that Steven Spielberg fella is one to watch for the future.  ;)

Before he made a definitive horror film with Jaws, he made this definitive horror film with a real monster [truck] that we could all be scared of. That we never see the driver or understand his motivation makes him even more terrifying. Weaver's salesman is in real, tangible danger and you can feel it right to the end. Such a simple set-up and it works perfectly.

The film amounts to little more than a chase and the tension never lets up. The driving scenes are paced so well; the film matches the cars acceleration to that very memorable conclusion. There's a handful of stunts, but it's mostly a masterclass in editing and staging.

Made for TV, but just so good they released it properly and the rest is history. It's tempting to think everyone has seen this gem by now, but if you haven't run to the shop and buy it. Don't drive... it's too bloody dangerous.

The Car's the star: Plymouth Variant versus Peterbilt 281
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/duelplymouth.jpg)(http://www.jonmeakin.com/images/cars/duelpeterbilt281.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhcVTWc8FR0)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: addicted2dvd on August 16, 2008, 11:02:27 PM
I never seen Duel... Will have to be sure to check it out... Thanks Jon :)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 17, 2008, 02:54:47 AM
You've never seen it, Pete? That does surprise me. Certainly it isn't a conventional horror, in the supernatural sense, but still I would have thought it was right up your street.
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: addicted2dvd on August 17, 2008, 01:53:02 PM
Well... until recently (last 3 to 4 years or so) I wouldn't watch anything before the '80s... so I am still playing catch up on anything before then... It has been recommended to me before... but I haven't had the chance to pick it up yet.
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 17, 2008, 04:58:49 PM
MAD MAX (1979)
5 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/max.jpg)

Mel Gibson is Max Rockatansky, a cop in a world on the edge of the apocalypse. A brutal motorcycle gang is terrorising the roads and Max's family come under threat.

Mad Max is a low budget sci-fi classic that made a star out of Mel Gibson and deservedly so. His quiet performance of pent-up anger anchors a film that might have been a bit too off-centre to work, despite featuring some of the best chase scenes you can find. And they are brilliantly staged, the opening especially (see below. I thought it more fun than the trailer!). A chase with "I AM the Night Rider!" is already underway and Max hasn't even started his engine. His colleagues are doing their best, but get wiped out in stunt after stunt. About 10 minutes long and full of confident gags, it sets the stage for one of the best comic book heroes who was never in a comic. This is all before his family are attacked and he sets off on a revenge mission against a biker bunch that can only work in a 70s cult movie.

It's a perfect case of using what you have. The sequels would expand the story a little more, perhaps a bit too much as the apocalypse has definitely been and gone in Mad Max 2. Here, it's just a thinly veiled excuse for tearing up the road. It's fantastic!

The Car's the star: Ford Falcon
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/maxfalcon.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMYLjlpP0NY)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 17, 2008, 09:44:26 PM
GONE IN 60 SECONDS (1974)
3 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/60.jpg)

A gang steal 48 cars. Well, they get 47 of them. The last is a little tricky... ;)

This film is awful. There's no way to sugarcoat that. It makes little sense, the acting is horrendous, the direction worse. Dreadful. Only the fundamental plot saves it, and the last 40 minutes.

That last section of the film is one long car chase, where apparently 93 cars were destroyed in the making of this stuntman's wet dream. It's jaw dropping! No fancy camera angles like you'd get in Duel or Mad Max, because they aren't needed; the stunts scream for themselves.

The film was made by H.B. Halicki, a stunt driver who wrote, directed and acted it. Luckily, he also designed the stunts and drove, which is what he was actually good at. Very good. He specialised in crashes, which you can tell. Despite the first half being tough to watch, still choose this over the remake as it is some of the best stunt work ever done and there is so much of it! I suppose it's the perfect example of the type of film for this marathon. All the substantial skill is in the driving while the story just about holds it together and gives you a reason to watch what amounts to a public demolition derby.

All the cars being stolen in the story are given names. But only Eleanor gets credited, and she is gorgeous... ;D  Somehow she survived the onslaught and what's left of the poor old girl still makes public appearances. Halicki has since died, but the DVD has a feature with his widow being taken for a spin in Eleanor by another driver. Really worth getting the DVD for that as well.

The Car'sEleanor's the star: Ford Mustang
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/eleanor.jpg)

I couldn't find a decent trailer on Youtube, so check out the first 10 minutes of the final chase instead.

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-KX0ESCnCE)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 20, 2008, 01:02:09 AM
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971)
4 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/TLB.jpg)

James Taylor (Driver) and Dennis Wilson (Mechanic) are driving across America in a souped up Chevvy, drag racing for money. Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker, played by Laurie Bird, and get into a race for "pinks" with Warren Oates in his G.T.O.

Time for change of pace. So far this marathon has featured people driving for a reason, but the early 1970s American cinema was defined by several classic movies that were more about the road than the journey. Aimless quests for freedom matched only by aimless filmmaking in some cases, started by Easy Rider in 1969. That's a film I found hard to really like, but I do admire it and it's importance can't be undervalued.

Two-Lane Blacktop is in some ways, Easy Rider in cars, though the characters have more interest in their vehicles than Fonda and Hopper who were more interested in drugs. It certainly shares it's laidback, cool vibe. Or is that lazy and comatose? Depends on your point of view, but Two-Lane is definitely better without compromising the idyllic idea of freedom.

The script is so lean the characters don't have names. Driver and Mechanic as they are credited, are also played by singers who can't act. That sounds like a criticism, but it's just an observation, because their manner was ideal and they weren't tasked with any sort of development. This is a film about mood and, I felt, a melancholic nostalgia for a time that surely couldn't last. The very final shot is as memorable and poetic as any.

The story, such as it is, follows the two as they drive across America challenging other drivers and entering competitions in drag racing to earn money. Get a proper job, you might say! But that's kind of the point. They pick up a hitchhiker... well, actually she just gets in the car when they stop for food. Then they get in and ignore her and carry on the journey. They say nothing for miles! Which pretty much tells you the whole style of things just kind of happening without argument or commentary. An urban natural order perhaps.

They keep tussling with the driver of a G.T.O. and finally make a bet for the cars on who can get to Washington first. That might sound like a plot, but trust me, it isn't! You have to see it to see why. Warren Oates plays an incredible character in a very poignant role as "G.T.O.". He's a show-off seemingly trying to fit in and be hip who annoyed me at first, but he gives the film a purpose and some much needed dialogue and by the end, he's a heartbreaking figure. For a film that seems so light, his part is brilliantly written. He picks up a string of hitchhikers (each one a comedy moment in their own right, especially Harry Dean Stanton) and gives each one a different story. One he tells the story to twice, so used as he is to lying. He reminded me a little of Leonard in Memento; it's impossible to know how long he has been out on the road or why. It gives the film a mysterious sad quality.

That character and the commitment to the mood make for a powerful screenplay, while Monte Hellman's direction is similarly restrained. There's plenty of driving of course and plenty of talk about cars, but very few stunts unless you count track shots at drag races. There is one highlight when they spin off the road to avoid an accident, but this isn't a pure petrol head experience. They do sound great though!

It's very hard to commit and say whether this film, like might be said about Easy Rider, is monumental work of art or a pointless exercise in boredom. It's wide open to interpretation. I loved it. G.T.O. made sense of the whole lot for me and made it a very memorable experience and I look forward to seeing it again. If you fancy challenging your conceptions about what makes a good film, give it a shot. It's a little bit of French New Wave played out on the American highways!

The Criterion DVD is superb. If you enjoy the film (big "if" possibly!) the interviews and features expand on it brilliantly. Nice feature about tracking down and restoring the Chevy too. Comes with a "book". Wasn't sure what to do with that; certainly wouldn't fit in the DVD player... :P

The Car's the star: Custom Chevy versus Ford Pontiac G.T.O.
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/tlbchevy.jpg)(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/tlbgto.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKcIGPQST9s)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Touti on August 20, 2008, 03:41:32 AM
Quote from: Jon on August 16, 2008, 10:34:44 PM
DUEL (1971)
5 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.com/images/cars/duel.jpg)

Dennis Weaver plays a salesman on his way to a meeting that becomes a terrifying battle of wits with an unseen truck driver.

I have to stick my neck out and say that on the basis of this film, that Steven Spielberg fella is one to watch for the future.  ;)

Before he made a definitive horror film with Jaws, he made this definitive horror film with a real monster [truck] that we could all be scared of. That we never see the driver or understand his motivation makes him even more terrifying. Weaver's salesman is in real, tangible danger and you can feel it right to the end. Such a simple set-up and it works perfectly.

The film amounts to little more than a chase and the tension never lets up. The driving scenes are paced so well; the film matches the cars acceleration to that very memorable conclusion. There's a handful of stunts, but it's mostly a masterclass in editing and staging.

Made for TV, but just so good they released it properly and the rest is history. It's tempting to think everyone has seen this gem by now, but if you haven't run to the shop and buy it. Don't drive... it's too bloody dangerous.

The Car's the star: Plymouth Variant versus Peterbilt 281
(http://www.jonmeakin.com/images/cars/duelplymouth.jpg)(http://www.jonmeakin.com/images/cars/duelpeterbilt281.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhcVTWc8FR0)

Only the french members can understand this joke but the french version could be titled "La mort d'un commis voyageur" ;)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Achim on August 20, 2008, 06:17:47 AM
Quote from: Jon on August 20, 2008, 01:02:09 AM
The Criterion DVD is superb. If you enjoy the film (big "if" possibly!) the interviews and features expand on it brilliantly. Nice feature about tracking down and restoring the Chevy too. Comes with a "book". Wasn't sure what to do with that; certainly wouldn't fit in the DVD player... :P
After your general description I was "worried" your verdict would be bad. I have this currently on the mail finding its way to Taiwan...
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 20, 2008, 09:56:27 PM
Quote from: Achim on August 20, 2008, 06:17:47 AM
Quote from: Jon on August 20, 2008, 01:02:09 AM
The Criterion DVD is superb. If you enjoy the film (big "if" possibly!) the interviews and features expand on it brilliantly. Nice feature about tracking down and restoring the Chevy too. Comes with a "book". Wasn't sure what to do with that; certainly wouldn't fit in the DVD player... :P
After your general description I was "worried" your verdict would be bad. I have this currently on the mail finding its way to Taiwan...

I have a feeling you'll enjoy it. I don't know why! Makes you think, I suppose, and there are several inspired moments.
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 20, 2008, 09:59:01 PM
Quote from: Eric on August 20, 2008, 03:41:32 AM
Only the french members can understand this joke but the french version could be titled "La mort d'un commis voyageur" ;)

I don't get it. :bag:

Actually, I don't even bloody understand it! :hysterical:
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Touti on August 21, 2008, 01:26:30 AM
"La mort d'un commis voyageur" (Death of a salesman) was a play that is very well know in Quebec because it was played in the 70's by one of our greatest actor (Jean Duceppe).

I don't know much about it since I was born in 64 but I was searching internet to give you info on it and just found out it's a Arthur Miller play that he wrote in 1949.  You can find it on Wikipedia.

Now that I know it wasn't a french canadian play my joke isn't funny anymore :weep:
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 21, 2008, 01:39:14 AM
Quote from: Eric on August 21, 2008, 01:26:30 AM
"La mort d'un commis voyageur" (Death of a salesman) was a play that is very well know in Quebec because it was played in the 70's by one of our greatest actor (Jean Duceppe).

I don't know much about it since I was born in 64 but I was searching internet to give you info on it and just found out it's a Arthur Miller play that he wrote in 1949.  You can find it on Wikipedia.

Now that I know it wasn't a french canadian play my joke isn't funny anymore :weep:

Oh, I know what you mean now! The literal translation really didn't help... ??? :laugh:
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 21, 2008, 01:39:22 AM
VANISHING POINT (1971)
5 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/vpoint.jpg)

Kowalski is only delivering a car, driving it from Denver to California. But he's going to do it loaded on speed in less than 15 hours!

This could be it. The best car movie ever made. First it was released in 1971, already responsible for Duel and Two-Lane Blacktop, so obviously this type of movie was in vogue. It has the best car of this marathon in the white Dodge Challenger, also used in Death Proof as a direct homage to Vanishing Point. But most of all the screenplay is superb, able to touch on the nostalgic freedom of Easy Rider and Two-Lane, but still set the standard for car chase action.

The driver is Kowalski, and he is determined to deliver the car to California in less than 15 hours, driving straight through, fuelled on speed. This quickly comes to the attention of several police forces who chase him across states. Along the way he is aided by blind DJ Super Soul, who promotes him as the last great American hero. Though he never has any idea of his celebrity, Kowalski meets several colourful characters along the way.

Played by Barry Newman, Kowalski may sound reckless, but through various tussles with police and fellow speed freaks, we see he is honourable and considerate. How many drivers in these sort of films do you see stopping to check someone they just ran off the road is ok? Or refusing to take the offered benefits of a naked girl on a motorbike, who is almost like a siren. Yes, I did say Naked Girl on motorbike!  :drooling:

So why the hell is he doing this? He must realise he is doomed. Therein lies the interpretation for the viewer, while attracted to the freedom of the open road. Long car chases always have lulls, but this cleverly folds in concise flashbacks to bridge the stunts, where we learn of Kowalski's past and as we piece it together, his current self-destruction becomes more clear.

The film effortlessly moves from set-piece to comedy and even to a bit of social commentary. In one hilarious scene, two gay robbers are dealt with, while in another, we see brutal racism as the police deal with Super Soul and stop his rallying support temporarily. There's also room for an existential pit-stop in the desert. In between, the scale of the car chase set-pieces are astonishing and superbly choreographed. Despite all these changes in tone, the pace of the film never lets up or feels forced, right up to it's incredible ending. The supporting characters are never forgotten and are all great fun. Super Soul makes for a great running commentary aiding the mood.

The influence this film has had can be felt ever since. Smokey and the Bandit for one is almost a full-on comedy remake (a time-limited smuggling run attracts dozens of pursuing police while the driver becomes a folk hero) while the car scenes have been rarely matched considering they are the film, rather than just part of it.

Strangely, the film was cut in the States, but uncut in the UK. However, the UK Region 2 DVD is the cut version, while the Region 1 has both. Go figure. Go get the region 1... ???

The Car's the star: Dodge Challenger
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/vpointdodge.jpg)(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/vpointgirl.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA4ymmXa8rs)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Achim on August 21, 2008, 06:32:11 AM
I enjoyed Vanishing Point too, when I saw it a few months back (originally purchased it thanks to Quentin's recommendation...). The cut scenes of Charlotte Rampling(!) but IIRC they didn't really include big revelations needed for this film.

I remembered seeing this film many, many, many, hmmm, many years ago and the one thing I actually had imprinted in my mind was that one iconic scene at the end.
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 21, 2008, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Achim on August 21, 2008, 06:32:11 AM
I enjoyed Vanishing Point too, when I saw it a few months back (originally purchased it thanks to Quentin's recommendation...). The cut scenes of Charlotte Rampling(!) but IIRC they didn't really include big revelations needed for this film.

I remembered seeing this film many, many, many, hmmm, many years ago and the one thing I actually had imprinted in my mind was that one iconic scene at the end.
(click to show/hide)

Perfect!
(click to show/hide)


I know what you mean about Charlotte Rampling. Not entirely necessary, but I did like her bizarre scene which continued the mood from the desert.
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on August 26, 2008, 01:34:03 AM
THE DRIVER (1971)
3 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/driver.jpg)

Ryan O'Neal is a getaway driver for hire. Bruce Dern is the cop willing to bend the rules to catch this "cowboy" red-handed.

No existential soul-searching here, just bruising action served ice-cool. O'Neal's driver (no names again) is the best money can buy and he covers his tracks very carefully. But Dern's detective is hot on his tail and even sets up a job for the driver to take. There are several car chases, usually featuring several police cars. They're good fun and plenty of vehicles are involved. Walter Hill's set-ups are solid no nonsense action, which he is known for. One fantastic scene features him driving a Merc around a garage, smashing the bodywork to pieces to prove a point to the criminals who dared question whether he was good enough. He refused the job after leaving them with no doors. 8)

The story is straightforward too. Bruce Dern is great fun as the cop working both sides to his own end. It has something of a western feel with the outlaw driver (Dern calls him "cowboy" a couple of times) and perhaps continues the genres idea of the last free hero, or last frontier. It's only let down by being a bit too cool and a bit too laidback in the lead couple of O'Neal and Isabelle Adjani. O'Neal is trying to channel Steve McQueen but often has an expression like he's just farted and hopes no-one noticed! I'm being a bit unfair; it's more a case he didn't do anything wrong and the script gave him nothing to say. It's just actors like McQueen sets the rules with Bullitt amongst others for this kind of thing, while Ryan was in Love Story. It just proves there is more to acting the cool anti-hero than standing still and not saying anything.

I thoroughly recommend the film overall. The inspiration for the classic game of the same title, it's an old fashioned noir played out in fast cars. I read in another review that people have drawn comparisons with Le Samourai and although it's hero shares the empty room and he seems only to exist when working, I wouldn't push it any further.

The Car's not really the star...
There are various cars; he starts in a Cadillac, then moves to a Ford, wrecks the before mentioned Merc and finishes the movie in a pick-up. Really, this isn't a film about the cars, just The Driver. The idea being, put him in a Flintstones car he'll still pull off the job. This goes someway to demonstrating Hill's direction as he doesn't waste time on too many bodywork angles, just the stunts.

Can't find a decent trailer, so here is the "Job Interview"... :D
Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cOhlDt7oDc&feature=related)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on October 01, 2008, 10:36:04 AM
 :-[ Oops! Forgot to finish this one off... :bag:
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on October 01, 2008, 11:10:39 AM
DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY (1974)
2 out of 5

(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/dmcl.jpg)

Larry and an accomplice -also his mechanic- flee a robbery with Mary in tow. They are chased across country by the police, while dreaming of breaking into the racing life.

This title stuck in my head after Death Proof and I when I saw that it was quite a popular cult movie, I was really looking forward to it. Therefore, it is without question the biggest disappointment in this marathon. It's simply put, crap. A rip-off of several elements from earlier classics, held together by a bloody awful cast, lazy direction and a poor script.

The basic story is Vanishing Point: small time robbery escalates into huge chase
(click to show/hide)

The basic characters are from Two-Lane Blacktop: gifted driver and his mechanic, with a female hitchhiker.

The dialogue is Easy Rider hip. Except Peter Fonda obviously forgot how to write such stuff. He definitely forgot how to act! Much as I don't really like Easy Rider, it demands respect and I don't know what went wrong here.

Susan George is a revelation. Was she trying to be this shit on purpose? I like her usually, but this was an embarrassment. Only Adam Roarke as the mechanic character was any good, and probably only because he plays it very laid back. He's undermined by a stupid shoe-horned in recovering alcholic "twist". Vic Morrow was the only genuinely good character AND actor. He pushes the rating up a full star all by himself as the sheriff.

Usually a film this bad can be redeemed by it's car chases, but they all seemed half-arsed. They are good, but there just needed to be more of them for longer. For instance, hot-shot driver cop is listening to the chase on the radio and wants the glory. He's the best driver with the best car and catches up with Fonda... and gets spun off at the first corner. Maybe it was supposed to be ironic, like The Sugarland Express, but Spielberg's film had other tricks and this needed all the help it could get.

Another example is the sheriff chasing them down in a helicopter. Great scene! They're getting closer and closer! It's so exciting... wait... he's flying away. What happened? Ran out of fuel apparently. That passes for plot development. A film like this, the 'copter should be bouncing off the roof of the car not running out of bloody fuel! Who wrote this thing?

To be fair, the half-arsed-ness of the action would be less noticeable if they didn't keep stopping. Obviously trying to catch the Two-Lane/Easy Rider vibe of little off-shoots for character building, they keep pulling off the road for repairs, a heart-to-heart, a game of pool... a game of f***ing pool!!??!! They're being chased by, erm, everyone, but they find time to deal with the mechanics alcoholism while shooting a couple of frames. Bollocks. Utter bollocks.

The Car's the star: Dodge Charger
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/dmcldodge.jpg)

Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0xE-68P4ao)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on October 01, 2008, 11:14:52 AM
A poor end, but a fantastic run of movies anyway. The one entry post 1970s was the rather rubbish Initial D, meaning Tarantino's Death Proof is truly one of the best car based films of recent years.

Who am I kidding? It is the best. It's the only one! It would hold up very well amongst these anyway and I hope a few more appear. Obviously petrolhead porn is a dying art.

By the way, I got a lot of the pictures from a great site, Internet Movie Cars Database (http://www.imcdb.org/)
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Antares on January 23, 2010, 05:15:36 PM
Quote from: Jon on October 01, 2008, 11:14:52 AM
By the way, I got a lot of the pictures from a great site, Internet Movie Cars Database (http://www.imcdb.org/)

I know I'm digging up another old thread, blame the RRG.

What a great website Jon!
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on January 23, 2010, 05:55:32 PM
Quote from: Antares on January 23, 2010, 05:15:36 PM
Quote from: Jon on October 01, 2008, 11:14:52 AM
By the way, I got a lot of the pictures from a great site, Internet Movie Cars Database (http://www.imcdb.org/)

I know I'm digging up another old thread, blame the RRG.

What a great website Jon!

I'm glad you dug up this one. I hadn't noticed all my links were broken since I got rid of one of my domain names. I'd "lost" all the car pictures and the motorbike girl! :slaphead: I haven't looked at that website in a while, but it is a good one to dip into occasionally...  ;D
Title: Drive *****
Post by: Najemikon on January 01, 2012, 09:34:16 PM
(http://www.jonmeakin.co.uk/images/cars/driveposter.jpg) Drive *****
Year: 2011
Director:Nicolas Winding Refn
Do you ever get that feeling, while you’re watching a film for the first time, that you’re so in tune with it that it just might turn out to be a real favourite? I felt that while watching L.A. Confidential and now once more withDrive. Within a few minutes it was already very different to what I had expected and it just caught my imagination. I saw it several months ago and now the DVD is due for release, I felt it needed bringing to your attention, because it’s something quite special. It is easily my top film of 2011.

It’s all about the mood. This is no fast paced petrol-head porn movie. In fact, there is very little in the way of traditional car chases, so little that a woman in the States even tried to sue the distributors for a misleading trailer! Its theme is derived from the central character, whose very existence is defined by driving, by being on the edge and just in control, even when he isn’t in a car. He works legally in the day as a movie stunt driver and part-time mechanic, illegally by night as a getaway driver (if you hire him, he’s yours for 5 minutes, then you’re on your own). In between, he merely exists. When he meets lonely single mother Carey Mulligan, the façade cracks, his own strict rules are broken and the mistakes creep in. Her husband is in jail and when released immediately gets into trouble and way out of his depth. Gosling helps him, through some misplaced sense of honour and a reluctant, sub-conscious desire to stay close to Mulligan. On paper, I could be describing Jason Statham in a Transporter film! I’m not. I’m really, really not. I like those silly films, but Drive is in a different class.

I always thought Carey Mulligan was a marvellous actress, but I would never have thought of her for this. She always has such a controlled, confident delivery and diction, that to see her handle an American accent along with such an open and brittle performance was a pleasant surprise. Unlike her previous roles, such as in An Education, there is hardly any dialogue for her to get stuck into, but if anything she is better for it. More obvious characters are the villains played by Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks. Brooks is incredible, considering this is a very different role to what you might usually see him in. The film belongs to Ryan Gosling though and he continues to defy expectations this year with Drive being one of several superb performances. This is on another level entirely though; he not only leads the film, he is the film.

Gosling’s character is not an original one. He is the classical Clint Eastwood hero Man With No Name, modelled on the silent hitman of Le Samourai and more specifically, virtually lifted from Ryan O’Neal’s very similar role in The Driver. There are more similarities with Walter Hill’s thriller and when you consider that the story is rather simple and, for fans of Film Noir in particular, even predictable, you’d be forgiven for wondering how it could possibly be considered with such high regard. I would go so far as to consider it a masterpiece.

Nicolas Winding Refn has crafted a film with a considerable commitment to a sense of time and place, where the character dictates the pace and the pacing dictates the action, not the other way around. It is a narrative film that ebbs and flows with a consistency you rarely see; a consistency that is impossible to grasp normally in the thriller genre. The story could so easily have been made by Quentin Tarantino or Michael Mann or any number of others and it would have gone off in a variety of probably brilliant directions, but there would have been the usual sense of trepidation and inevitability. Instead, Refn’s singular vision creates a melancholy nostalgia that is nothing short of addictive. It might be derivative, but it feels so fresh and I’m desperate to see it again.

I loved the look of the film. The environment is simple, filmed with a warm, flattened photography. The splashes of stronger colour, not least Gosling’s awesome jacket, bring it to life. And the titles are so garish! From the trailer and the plot I’d assumed the film was living in the 70s, but as soon as the neon pink script “Drive” appears on screen you know we’re in the 80s. Probably the biggest hook of all, essential to giving the film its heartbeat, is the soundtrack. It is fantastic, striking a perfect tone and I can’t stop listening to it!

Refn may have been heavily inspired by previous films, but if Driveowes a lot to them, it pays off by being a keystone of the genre. Gosling so embodies the spirit of this kind of character, that it not only requires a place in this spectrum of movie, it defines the very reason they exist at all. It perfectly encapsulates the very American and hard to define road movie, that unique existential thriller first seen in the 60s and arguably defined in the 70s. I associate the best of these films so much with that decade, it seems wrong to find one set ten years too late! Yet that simple decision has unlocked an entirely new angle, depending on how deep you want to dig. If you don’t want to dig at all, it’s just a cool movie with a good story, great characters and sudden, shocking violence.

You’re probably aware from my past reviews that as a film fan, my heart is in the 70s. Refn has just dragged me up a decade!

Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Mustrum_Ridcully on January 01, 2012, 09:40:37 PM
If you liked Drive, you might want to watch Winding Refn's "Pusher"-Trilogy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pusher-Trilogy-DVD-Mads-Mikkelsen/dp/B000FH8TZ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325450295&sr=8-1) too.
A great piece of Danish cinema!

The BluRay-boxset (http://www.amazon.de/Pusher-Trilogie-Limited-Blu-ray-Blu-rays/dp/B006K29XDW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1325450343&sr=8-2) will be released on 02/02 in Germany
Title: Re: Drive *****
Post by: goodguy on January 01, 2012, 10:52:51 PM
Quote from: Jon on January 01, 2012, 09:34:16 PM
Drive *****

...I felt it needed bringing to your attention, because it’s something quite special. It is easily my top film of 2011.

I agree, Drive is pretty great (although "only" #20 for me). In the way it distillates the essence of a certain type of film it reminded me a bit of last years Amer (which did the same with the Italian giallo genre).
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on January 01, 2012, 10:58:50 PM
Ah, thanks for the reminder. I've been meaning to look up Amer. Heard good things about it. Thanks to Silence about Pusher as well. I haven't really taken notice of Refn before, but I'll certainly be considering him more closely now.
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: samuelrichardscott on January 02, 2012, 12:23:17 AM
I second the Pusher recommendation (have seen only the first though). It's really unpredictable and the main cast are very understated.
Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Kathy on January 02, 2012, 01:29:38 AM
Cars & movies?

For me it has to be Steve McQueen's Bulitt and his iconic Ford Mustang GT 390.

(http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/9282/bullittmustang.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/710/bullittmustang.jpg/)

Title: Re: Car Movie Marathon
Post by: Najemikon on January 02, 2012, 02:58:58 AM
Doesn't count.  :tease:

In all seriousness, I love Bullitt, I love that car, it's an all round awesome movie and has the first or second best car chase ever. The French Connection also has the first or second best car chase ever. ;)

But neither of these films could be included in this category because they are not about cars or driving cars. These kind of films are only ones where the character is defined by his affinity with cars. In some cases this is quite slight (Duel, White Lightning), while in others it is deep and profound (Two-Lane Black Top, Vanishing Point). I noticed actually when scanning through earlier that I used similar phrases across the reviews of those two and Drive, so there may even be a sub-sub-genre of "Nostalgic Melancholy". :bag: Well, I know what I mean...

That's why I said when the marathon originally ended that Tarantino's Death Proof, despite being a mediocre film by relative standards, is the best car film since the 70s. Well, it was until this year! However what I meant was that there was nothing similar up against it. Had I included Bullitt et al, I would also have included Ronin and the Bourne movies and Death Proof would have been bumped down the list.
Title: Re: Drive *****
Post by: goodguy on January 11, 2012, 09:56:46 AM
Quote from: Jon on January 01, 2012, 09:34:16 PM
I always thought Carey Mulligan was a marvellous actress, ...

Interview with Carey Mulligan, pretty lengthy, but worth a read (*):
http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/interviews/carey-mulligan-17624 (http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/interviews/carey-mulligan-17624)

EDIT:
(*) At least for me as I hadn't read anything else so far. Or seen - dunno if she does the talk show thing in UK.