Review of Gone in 60 Seconds

Introduction

Earlier this year, "Gone In 60 Seconds" starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie played at cinemas - the story of a mass organised car theft culminating in a car chase was seen by a great deal of people - but how many of them knew it was a remake, or had seen the original.

26 years ago, back in 1976, the time of flared trousers and dodgy music, H.B. Halicki almost single-handedly put together a film featuring the large-scale theft of desirable cars, but concentrating on a 40 minute chase through Los Angeles that includes the destruction of some 93 cars.

The movie has been remastered and re-released, hoping to attract both those who saw it all those years ago, along with those who`ve only seen the new film.

Video

The video has been remastered and transferred in 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. Whilst I would have preferred anamorphic video, for 99% of the film the picture quality is remarkably good, especially considering the film`s age and it`s relatively low budget. The missing 1% is a very short scene when two characters are walking through a park for about 15-20 seconds which is badly out of focus - presumably this was poorly shot in the first place and impossible to correct today.

Visually, the main thrust of the film is the car chase through Los Angeles. This 40 minute scene would be impossible to make today, featuring accidents at virtually every junction and high speed pursuit through crowded streets. It`s pretty entertaining stuff despite having the usual share of Police incompetence which lets the villain continue to get away!

Audio

Another surprise is the remix of the soundtrack into Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. Naturally, I opted for the DTS soundtrack when watching the film.

Like the video, you`d never know that the film was 26 years old - the opening titles feature some classic style 70`s movie music and the sound has good range and clarity.

Despite the remix into 5.1 channels, the sound is still effectively mono with the sound extended around the room and cleaned up - there`s no cars zooming around the room during the chases!

For the most part, dialogue is easy to understand, with a couple of scenes having the level set a little low.

Features

Extra features include an audio commentary by Cinematographer Jack Vacek and Film Editor Warner Leighton, Interviews with "special friends" including Lee Iacocca "the father of the Ford Mustang", trailers, 300 photos, deleted footage and an introduction by Denice Halicki.

DVD-ROM features are also included, but these are officially limited to web-links - anyone who browses the disc will find lots of nice JPG images from the film to look at!

The extras are all easily found in the simple menu system.

Conclusion

The remake of Gone In 60 Seconds concentrates on the relationships between several of the cast members, some action on the stealing front and a 10 minute chase featuring The Ford Mustang, "Eleanor" and a ludicrous jump at the end. The original spends little time worrying about character building, and the first half of the film features the theft of many of the cars on the shopping list. The second half concentrates exclusively on the spectacular chase through the streets of Los Angeles...

...running for 40 minutes, the chase features every stunt or manoeuvre you`ve seen in a car chase over the years - most directors probably got their ideas from this film - along with numerous accidents and wrecks. It`s entertaining stuff despite featuring some classic Police stupidity and culminates in a surprisingly effective ending.

As far as the DVD goes, the image quality is very good, despite not being anamorphic and the sound is also of a good standard - it`s pleasing to see the use of both Dolby Digital and DTS on an older film. There are plenty of features and it seems that the DVD has been properly produced as a tribute to the film and not hurried out to cash in on the release of the remake on DVD this week.