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I thought we had a thread going about this, but I can't find it.
Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts. I just saw it last night (first time I saw it from beginning to end). The final car chase through the city of Turin is spectacular, rivalled only by the climax of The Blues Brothers, perhaps.
It felt very much like a film before its time, especially towards the end, though I can't quite put my finger on why that should be: Something to do with the way it was edited or photographed (by one of my all-time favourites, Douglas Slocombe, incidentally), perhaps?
Anyway, after a patchy first half, the second half was great entertainment.
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The Italian Job (1969)
MultiQuote
#2
Posted 02 March 2005 - 11:14 AM
Alvy wrote:
: I thought we had a thread going about this, but I can't find it.
Nor I. The remake came out in summer 2003, after we had moved to this message board, no? Odd.
Anyway, last night I finally saw the 1969 film, and then my friend and I watched the 2003 film again. I have to say, while the 1969 film definitely has its merits, I think I like the 2003 film better overall -- I find it harder to sympathize with a womanizer who steals gold purely for nationalistic-tribalistic reasons and is ready to physically assault police officers etc. than with a guy and a girl who are avenging her father's death yet make a point of not doing anything violent themselves. I also think the manner of heisting in the 2003 film is more clever. On the other hand, the chase scenes in the 1969 film are pretty funny (even if they become a little predictable in that Italian-cops-are-so-stupid-and-clumsy way), and I LOVE the way that film ends.
Incidentally, the night before, D and I saw Be Cool (the sequel to Get Shorty), and it was directed by the same guy who directed the 2003 Italian Job, and it, too, featured Seth Green and Russian mobsters (okay, okay, The Italian Job's mobsters were Ukrainian, but close enough).
: The final car chase through the city of Turin is spectacular, rivalled only by the
: climax of The Blues Brothers, perhaps.
That exact same comparison occured to me, too.
: Anyway, after a patchy first half, the second half was great entertainment.
Yeah, I could agree with that.
: I thought we had a thread going about this, but I can't find it.
Nor I. The remake came out in summer 2003, after we had moved to this message board, no? Odd.
Anyway, last night I finally saw the 1969 film, and then my friend and I watched the 2003 film again. I have to say, while the 1969 film definitely has its merits, I think I like the 2003 film better overall -- I find it harder to sympathize with a womanizer who steals gold purely for nationalistic-tribalistic reasons and is ready to physically assault police officers etc. than with a guy and a girl who are avenging her father's death yet make a point of not doing anything violent themselves. I also think the manner of heisting in the 2003 film is more clever. On the other hand, the chase scenes in the 1969 film are pretty funny (even if they become a little predictable in that Italian-cops-are-so-stupid-and-clumsy way), and I LOVE the way that film ends.
Incidentally, the night before, D and I saw Be Cool (the sequel to Get Shorty), and it was directed by the same guy who directed the 2003 Italian Job, and it, too, featured Seth Green and Russian mobsters (okay, okay, The Italian Job's mobsters were Ukrainian, but close enough).
: The final car chase through the city of Turin is spectacular, rivalled only by the
: climax of The Blues Brothers, perhaps.
That exact same comparison occured to me, too.
: Anyway, after a patchy first half, the second half was great entertainment.
Yeah, I could agree with that.
#4
Posted 03 March 2005 - 03:09 AM
I haven't seen the remake, so I can't really compare them. I'm reading my short review above and wondering what on earth I meant when I said it "felt very much like a film before its time"...
Oh, hey, Rich -- we're still bruvs, no matter what those danged Anglicans say!
Oh, hey, Rich -- we're still bruvs, no matter what those danged Anglicans say!
#5
Posted 03 March 2005 - 12:03 PM
Oh, hey, note to MattPage: one of the heist crew, a guy named "Yellow", is played by Robert Powell (star of Jesus of Nazareth) -- though he's generally kept in the background and has only a few lines of dialogue, so it's hard to compare him to his other, more famous character.
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