Gone in 60 Seconds

I have long held the opinion that the best car chase in movies is the one in Bullitt (1968), but some prefer the chase in:

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974).

Gone in 60 Seconds, not to be confused with its remake Gone is Sixty Seconds (2000), is the passion project of H. B. Halicki, who wrote, directed and starred in it. I do mean passion project because Halicki wasn't really a film maker, he was known as the car crash king.

This is the story in a nutshell: Maindrian Pace (Halicki), his sister Pumpkin Chase (Marion Busia) and her husband Eugene Chase own and operate an insurance investigation firm. They use this as a cover to steal cars and they are very good at this. One day, Maindrian accepts a commission from a South American drug lord for 48 cars ranging from muscle cars and sports cars to high end luxury cars. The drug lord pays 200k upfront with the same upon delivery, and some dire threats should they fail to deliver. The real problem is that they only have five days to do this.

One of the first things I noticed is that the dialogue is, well, not good. The interior scenes are also somewhat clumsy and the whole thing has the feel of a student movie made by someone who just started in film school. There is a real good reason for this though: most of the lines were improvised on the spot, and the poor editor had no idea why some scenes were shot, where anything was supposed to go in the final product and when he'd get which scenes. When he complained about the lack of a coherent script, H.B. Halicki said “That's the Dust Bowl. We went around it twice. There's your script”.

There are shots that have no business being where they are, and make zero sense to the ongoing action. It's amateur hour and it shows. This hap hazard way of making movies is tricky and can easily fall apart, and if it wasn't for the car chase, Gone in 60 Seconds wouldn't be remembered at all, never mind have its cult status.

So lets talk about the car chase. Maindrian needs the final car, a 1973 Ford Mustang, code named Eleanor. The cops receive a tip and are on scene as the car is stolen, prompting a 40 minute car chase, which is impressive, but when you remember that the entire movie is 97 minutes, it's even more audacious.

The car chase is the real star of the show, let's be honest here. Without it, Gone in 60 Seconds wouldn't have gained any attention, but this isn't a normal chase. It is absolutely insane. At one point they suffer a real accident, and Halicki's first question when regaining his consciousness was “Did we get the footage?”

Later, he jumps the Mustang 30 feet (9 meters) high and clears 128 feet (39 meters) over some cars, a great shot, but it cost him a compressed spine, which affected his walk for the rest of his days.

I couldn't help but notice how much Gone in 60 Seconds must have inspired the popular series of video games, Grand Theft Auto, as there are several scenes that show actions that I have done in those games, like using a Jerry can to burn a car, how the garage of luxury cars is presented and so on. There is more like this, but that sits in spoiler territory.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes and no. The chase is spectacular, but the rest is completely forgettable. They do a good job showing how destructive a chase like this is on society, and how innocent people get hurt, but the editing and the flow is all over the place. At least the terrible wigs they wear are in-story disguises and aren't supposed to be the characters real hair. If you are curious, do give it a watch, otherwise just look up the actual chase, that is essentially what the movie is about.

Oh yes, is the chase better than Bullitt? No, not in my book. It is very good, but the length drags too much, and despite the stunt work, Bullitt retains the crown.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!