Gone In 60 Seconds Review

I'm a fan of the remake from 2000.  I know it isn't a great movie but it has a good car movie story and some decent comedic one liners.  It also has good car chase action and I'm a big fan of that.  So i finally decided to watch the original to see how close the remake was.  As it turns out, it isn't that far off.  The remake added a human element to appeal more to the masses.  but the basic mission is the same: these car thieves are given a list of high end cars that they have to steal.

Unlike the remake, there seems to be no consequences if they don't steal the cars in time.  They basically do it to just steal the cars.  There is the white whale of Eleanor and stealing that car seems to motivate the main character to some extent.  But other than that there is no real story or character development throughout the entire film.  At times, it even seems like just raw B-roll footage of guys stealing cars.  Because of that, there are times when it seems very realistic.  If it weren't for the wooden acting from some of the secondary and tertiary actors, you could almost think you were watching the news.

If you are looking for realism in that sense, this may be for you.  Also, if you are looking for some pretty decent car chase scenes, you may like it.  It seemed like (and may be the case) that about 1/3 of the entire movie is a big car chase at the end.  At times, it seemed to drag on a bit but, for the most part, it did keep me engaged thinking, "how is he going to get out of this?"  And that's one of the two main elements of a good car chase.  The other is to have a lot of speed, crashes, and changes in direction which it did too.  From a 2013 perspective, there wasn't a whole lot of innovation.  but this movie is from the mid-70s and, for it's time, I would think it was pretty innovative with the stunt driving and deterioration of the Mustang throughout the chase.

If you like car movies, this is a decent one that is boiled down to the basic element of pure cars.  So see it.  But give it a pass if you need any kind of character development and motivation.  if that is you thing, give the remake a try.