Gone in 60 Seconds [DVD]

Its the best chase scene ever filmed!!!StuntsThe car that flips during the earlier night-time chase in Torrance was overturned by six men lifting it up from one side. The film was later skip-framed to create the desired effect.The garbage truck that overturns when two police cars smash into the side of it was pulled over at the precise moment the cars hit by two tow trucks. Cables can be seen attached to the top of the garbage truck as it topples.To achieve the effect of cars sliding into each other when hit by the patrol car at Moran Cadillac, the filmmakers put oil under the tires of the first car to help it slide. According to the commentary track on the DVD only the first two Cadillacs in the row were owned by the film company. When it came time to do the stunt, the oil trick worked too well and many of the agency's own Cadillacs that were for sale were badly damaged. Halicki had to purchase all of them.The jump scene at the end of the chase is notable and set the standards for a number of subsequent pictures. Acting as the climax to the lengthy chase sequence, the jump manages to achieve a height of 30' over a 128' in distance -- a feat which would not be easily replicable without the use of modern CGI. Halicki compacted ten vertebrae performing this jump. The injury was not very serious, although according to director of photography Jack Vacek, Halicki never walked the same again.Real accidentsIn one scene at the construction area where the Mustang has been surrounded, a patrol car roars up a hill in pursuit and overturns. This was a real accident, and the officer inside was nearly crushed when the siren "can" on the roof caved the roof in. The scene was left in.J.C. Agajanian Jr., who plays a detective in the roadblock sequence at Torrance Mazda Agency, was almost killed when the stunt with "Eleanor" went wrong and the Mustang slammed into his unmarked police car, which he was standing behind.The scene where the Mustang tags a car on the highway and spins into a telephone pole at 100 mph was a real accident. Halicki was badly hurt and filming was stopped while he recovered. According to people on the set, after the mishap the first thing that Halicki said when he regained consciousness was "Did we get coverage?" Likewise, the scene in which a train derailment is observed in the film was not part of the original shooting script but it is in fact a real train that derailed and when Halicki heard about this he wanted to incorporate it into the film.General public as extrasWith the exception of a few extras, the bulk of the by-standers in the movie are the general public going about their business. This caused several incidents where people assumed a real police pursuit was in progress, with many trying to help the accident "victims." In the scene at the Carson Street off-ramp where the two cars collide after Maindrian drives against traffic, a pedestrian can be seen in the background shouting angrily at the passing police cars for not stopping to help the occupants. Much of the crowd at the gas station where Harold Smith is pulled over after the night-time Torrance chase were part of a real biker gang, who verbally abused the police officers "arresting" the actor and demanding they leave him alone.Ronald Halicki, the director's real-life brother and Corlis Pace in the film, operated the crane that lifted "Jill," the red Challenger, to its fate in the car-crusher at the junkyard."In" jokesWhen Maindrian is first telling Atlee about the new contract, a message on the blackboard behind them says, "Sgt. Hawkins called about Vacek case" -- a reference to director of photography Jack Vacek. The license plate of the Rolls-Royce outside the airport reads "HBH," the initials of the film's star/director/writer, H. B. Halicki.When Pumpkin tells Maindrian that they have to give "Eleanor" back because the car is not insured, Maindrian reads the owner's address from a newspaper: 18511 S Mariposa Ave, Gardena. This was in fact Halicki's own real home address at the time.Early in the film when the boys are stripping down the Challenger, they are conversing about how Atlee became a "professional." Atlee says, "Butch Stockton was a professional and he got caught." Butch Stockton is the driver of 1-Baker-11 in the film.

Glad to have found this on dvd after so long. Now I just need the Nick Cage to go with it.

People may wonder why this movie is such a sought after cult classic? Well considering almost half of this movie is one of the most intense car chases ever caught on film long before C.G.I. could make it possible to see thousands of pounds of steel fly, flip, roll & cartwheel hundreds of feet through the air ( without risking the life's of stuntmen) & you start to get a good idea of why this is such a benchmark in Auto related movies!!! If you have a section in your movie collection dedicated to " Car Movies" this is a MUST HAVE!!! Think about it this movie is 98 minutes long...so lets say it takes 28 minutes to set up the plot & endear you to the anti-hero & his back story. Add another 30 minutes of car heist's & comic relief that means literally half the movie is a incredible high speed car chase with more car crashes than I could count!!! So you have a 40 minute real time car chase with hundreds of cop cars, cops in the air, T.V. crews filming the chase you have to ask yourself...how can our anti-hero escape? Or does he? I'm not telling! All I will say is even if you don't have a " Car Movie" section in your movie collection this is a movie worthy of any movie collection!!! I will say the remake of this film does not do it any justice, as a matter of fact the only reason to purchase the remake is that proceeds go to H.B. " Toby" Halicki's widow! And if your into Muscle Cars watch this movie closely because many of the cop cars are Impalas, G.T.O.'s G.T.X's & many more awesome cars!!! If it wasn't for the " Billy Jack" franchise I'm pretty sure this would be the most successful independent film of all time!!!

First of all, I've loved this movie since I was 6 years old. My mom and dad saw it in the cinema -- more than once -- while they were dating in 1974. To say the least, this title holds special significance in my whole family. Which is why it's great to see it re-released on both VHS and DVD for all to enjoy.For those of you who, like me, have every scene, every line, every sound effect of the original movie committed to memory, you will be shocked when you play the "remastered" version. For one thing, the picture is beautiful. It's never looked so good. And the soundtrack has never sounded so good, either -- because it's been completely redone from scratch. That's the other thing. The sound effects are all new. Gone are the authentic, live-recorded engine sounds, tire screeches, and other hard effects. Gone also is the original music, including my favorite tune, "I Do Hope The Man Doesn't Catch Me", and the title song, "Gone In Sixty Seconds". For someone looking for a true re-release of the authentic, original film, this is disappointing. But for me, someone who already owns an original copy of the old MEDIA videotape release of the film, I see this remastered version just as a fun modernization of one of my favorite flicks.The new sound effects are beautiful. I am a sound designer among other things, and some of the new crashes and guttural V8 engine sounds made me drool. They may not be true-to-life anymore, but they are great in their own right. It's almost surreal, seeing all these old muscle cars, but hearing crystal-clear digital stereo effects. By contrast, the disturbingly mono original dialogue track underlaid beneath them sounds almost ridiculous! Fortunately, there is no need for much talking during the 40-minute chase, easily the highlight of the film.In short, to really enjoy the remastered version of Gone In 60 Seconds, you've got to take it for what it is -- a modern "refreshment" of the original film. It's been remixed to appeal more to the same young crowd who enjoyed the 2000 remake with Nicholas Cage. If you are a true Gone In 60 Seconds fan, however, don't stop here. Go in search of the original 1974 film in all its glory, on its original video cassette. A true fan must indeed have both, for the audio differences between the two versions are so distinct, you could almost consider them two separate films.

Great car flick