I can't believe that I missed the opportunity to see this film in the cinema. It is definately one you have to watch on the big screen to fully appreciate it. I remember when it first came out, and I promised myself that I had to see it - unfortunately I didn't have a chance to while it was in the cinema so the other night I went down to Blockbusters and there it was! I knew which film I had to rent!
I'm a big fan of Nicholas Cage - I just love Con Air, so this was one major reason for wanting to watch 'Gone in 60 seconds'. The other reason is down to my love for cars, and in this film you will be witness to some of the most amazing motors ever created!
Who else stars in this film? Well there's Robert Duvall, Angelina Jolie and a certain Vinnie Jones! Good performances by all, but nothing amazing due to the lack of character development.
'Gone in 60 seconds' is a remake of the 1974 film, but not having seen it I cannot comment on the differences or improvements, if there are any.
So what is this film all about? Well... :) mainly cars! LOL
The basic story is about a group of car thieves who steal these amazing cars to fill an order, of a total of 50 cars, by some British criminal called Raymond Calitri. At the beginning of the film you see three members of the group steal a Porsche but they get followed by the police and their warehouse is discovered. They manage to escape but the cars they have stolen for Calitri are impounded. He goes crazy and captures the 'leader' of the group, a young man called Kip Raines, and threatens to kill him. His older brother, Randall (with the nickname of Memphis), is tracked down. He used to be one of the greatest car thieves but now lives a 'normal' life away from the life of crime in a far away town. He is told his brother is in serious trouble so he goes to meet Calitri to sort it out. He is told that to save his brother's life he has to steal a list of 50 cars within four days.
That is the basic storyline behind the film - which starts off a whole load of car chases, fights and the expected 'nice' ending.
Having had a look on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) to see what the overall rating for this film was, I am not so surprised that it has only been rated 5.8/10. The reason I say this is not because it is a bad film - as I have told you I really enjoyed it and my rating confirms this, but I can understand why many have been somewhat disappointed by what they have seen.
The storyline is simple - Memphis has to save his little brother's life by stealing 50 cars in a short space of time. That's basically it. The rest of the film is filled up with car chases - allowing those of us who appreciate fantastic cars in all their glory, to sit there open-mouthed throughout. There is hardly any character development and you don't really warm to any of the characters as a result of this.
If you are not too keen on films with a lot of car chasing and racing then steer well clear! You will not find much to keep your attention here.
If, however, you are into cars and are looking to watch a film purely for entertainment value, not wishing to get bogged down into a deep script, then this film is an ideal pick!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Action/Adventure - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Jack Ging, Marla Heasley, Lance Legault, Melinda Culea, Mr T, Dwight Schultz, Dirk Benedict, George Peppard, Carl Franklin
Are we allowed to do 'update' comments? Well, I saw the film recently and ... I was disappointed. Nic Cage was disappointing (no up to the standards of Con Air, Face Off and The Rock), Angelina Jolie appears to have died before filming commenced and everyone else was fairly unremarkable. I like cars. Especially fast cars, but Memphis's diatribe about Eleanor (a Cobra Daytona) being his 'unicorn', oh and by the way it's been fitted with nitrous injection. Please God, end the pain. Do Blockbusters give refunds?
drummingbunny 20.06.2001 15:44
Like your opinion, Deenie, and unusually it was enthusiastically written and pointed out the downsides! I'll be going to Blockbusters tonight, then...
Connoisseur_Haggler 17.06.2001 17:08
Your exotic title lured me into reading this opinion..and I love cars so I think I will enjoy this film too! wonderful opinion, thank you.
The Assignment: To steal 48 muscle and exotic cars.The Challenge: avoid getting ... more
caught!When the cops catch up with master car thief Maindrian Pace, he has no choice but to rock them through a full-throttle chase, wrecking five cities making his escape....
![Gone In 60 Seconds [DVD] [1974]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78497805.jpg "Gone In 60 Seconds [DVD] [1974]")
very helpful by (97%):
helpful by (3%):
