I've seen this film (or at least the same story)
about four or five times, but mostly the characters were riding horses, not
super-tuned cars.
The plot -- such as it is -- is a thin excuse to hang the cars, girls and
stunts on, but it's a good, solid, time-proven plot that works real good.
((My step-daughter, who has borne my
dissertations on why the lame Nick Cage remake of
Gone in 60 Seconds was inferior to the original due to
the producers insisting on adding an actual plot, pointed out that this film
has a plot and it's pretty good. I allowed as how that was because it was
a plot that made sense.))
While the thrust of the film (and of the article that inspired it) involves
super-tuned asian sedans, the big set-piece stunt sequence finale of the
film involves a truly awesome nine-second blown Dodge, proving once again
that there's no real substitute for plain old cubic inches when it's time
to really move the mail.
((Ford enthusiast that i was in the
Sixties and Seventies, i still had to look away the first time i saw that
sequence. No matter what make you prefer, it's still a painful few seconds
for any motorhead to watch.))
Most of the cast are adequate to their jobs; Vin Diesel is the outstanding
exception, recalling the young Lee Marvin in his portrayal of a tough man
who knows he's tough and doesn't need to prove it.
The truck highjacking sequences belong in another movie -- no way this sort
of Road Warrior-style stuff would be able to go on without the cops showing
up. The interactions between the local cops and the FBI are typical movie
stuff; amusing but improbable.
And that final stunt -- though not the equal of the final stunt in the original
Gone in 60 Seconds -- is both spectacular and appropriate
to the overall form and content of the film.
Fun, some really nice driving/stunt sequences, nothing really durable to
take away with you but you won't find yourself considering stopping by the box office and demanding a refund
of your wasted time, as i did after the Gone in 60 Seconds remake.
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