Well, I just finished watching the original Italian Job. Saw the remake yesterday. Normally, I’m a purist, prefer the classics. Also, I DO believe that Hollywood action films have really lost the plot in recent years. Too commercial, filled with characters that are even less than one-dimensional and filled with plot holes you can drive a Mack Truck through.
But. But…..The remake IS better than the original. Here’s why.
Firstly, there is no deep characterization in either version. We don’t get to ‘know’ any character in either film. However, the original largely has ONLY Michael Caine. No one else, male or female makes any lastly impression at all. Not even Bridger. Let’s not even talk about Benny Hills painful cameo. Conversely, the characters in the remake make more of an impact.
Second, it really seems as if the people in the remake worked as a team. In the original, again, it was all Michael Caine.
The team in the remake seemed to plan better. Comparatively, many parts of the getaway in the original depended on blind luck. Two examples. The three cars drive up this ramp and end up on the roof of this vaguely Sydney-Harbour-Opera-House Structure. They are followed up there by ONE police car. They then proceed to come back DOWN the ramp. What if the police car had blocked the ramp and called for backup? They would be trapped on the roof.
Second, At one point they take a hard right, and then park near some other cars. Again, ONE police car passes them by at which point they IMMEDIATELY retrace their steps….without waiting to see if ANOTHER police car could be coming around the blind corner, thus trapping them on both sides.
Where’s the meticulous, road by road planning of the route?
Then there’s the ending. Now, I have no problem with ambiguous endings…provided they fit. These kinds of endings normally work best with dramatic movies. Movies where the character/s and his/her/their foibles are made clear to us. Movies where we see the characters struggle against a powerful force, most notably themselves. An ambiguous ending lets us decide for ourselves whether the character/s truly made it or gave in. American Psycho? The ending fit. Here it’s laughable. When the bus went over the edge, I noticed that there were only 2 mins left of the movie. At that point, I assumed that they had split it over 2 discs. Instead I got this totally unsatisfying ending which leaves several plot threads just hanging. What happened to the Mafia’s efforts to track down the gold? Were they watching the border? Was the border closed? Do they win?
In an action movie, you NEED closure. Now, some might argue that it’s not necessary and the movie is better for it. I say, heck, we could have used that thought-process in Star Wars. What’s the POINT of seeing the Rebels win? We don’t need to show that! Let’s leave the outcome of the final battle up in the air!
Don’t think that would have worked, somehow. And nor did it work here. Heck, I WANTED them to get away with the gold. And I wanted to see them do it. Not imagine the ways they could have saved themselves from going over a cliff, then evade the mafia and cross the border.
Finally, the entire set-up made no sense. In the remake, the gold is stolen from these shadowy characters that may or may not work for the government. They don’t seem to, but they DO report the crime to the police. Either way, they can easily escape since they are UNDERWATER.
In the original, they are ripping off a GOVERNMENT. (I KNOW the gold is meant for FIAT, an auto company, but the newspaper Bridger reads CLEARLY says “ITALY-CHINA $140 MILLION DEAL – Down Payment On Automobile Factory, Chinese Gold For Italy” They have essentially pissed off a Government which controls the country they are trying to escape from, controls its borders. Naturally, the first thing they would do is check each car at the border. How do they plan to slip past the border guards, who will be on high alert for the gold? In a BUS! With the gold in PLAIN SIGHT! Yeah, that would work.
I’m not saying that the remake is high-drama, worthy of worldwide accolade. I’m only saying that the remake had better action, a more coherent plot, better characters and was much more fun to watch. The original only had Michael Caine and ‘You’re only supposed to blow the Bloody Doors off’. Sadly, that is NOT enough to make it a better movie than the remake.
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taffy_turner
18 years ago
Well the original had a lot more than just my signature below, for a start it had the swinging 1960's and the original and best Mini Cooper S, yes 3 of the little buggers. The remake was very dull in comparison!
"Your Only Supposed To Blow The Bloody Doors Off!"
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LarryBrownHouston
16 years ago
Well I like all of the movie, I wouldn't say the portions before the chase were a waste of time at all...it was great fun. Just look at the popular appeal this movie generates on the board here and you have to admit it must have a lot going for it. If you like Benny Hill, you should like his cameo, he's doing exactly the same shtick here that he does on his TV show. I like him and I like his cameo.
Also you want to critique the movie from a plot hole/character development/careful story point of view. It doesn't make sense to do that with this movie....the movie was intended to be silly and we shouldn't expect any of those things from a silly movie.
I have come to realize, by reading this board, that a large part of the value of this movie is the British patriotism. Unfortunately that content was completely lost on me, I didn't even notice it. So you see that a large part of the content may go over the heads of us non-Brits, we should consider that in our critical opinions.
As far as comparing the two movies...I don't think that makes sense either. I see them as two totally different movies, with the remake simply using the title and major gimmicks of the original as a launching point for a different caper movie. I like the new movie very much, perhaps better than the original, but the new movie is serious in tone whereas the original was a farce. The new movie may feature a meticulous plot outline, as you've said, but who's looking for a bullet proof plot in a farce? That actually would have been out of place and, really, a waste of time in the 1969 movie. Let's get on with Benny Hill and the fat lady, bickering about who's going to sit in the back seat of the van, visiting people in the privy...etc. hahahahaha. Also, if a 2003 action movie can't out do a 1969 action movie in terms of action...somebody seriously needs to get fired, wouldn't you say?
Finally, I don't like the ending either. It's unsatisfying. You give a great analogy with the Star Wars destruction of the death star, well said. However, consider that the ending has the effect of taking the movie experience out of the theatre and having it live on in countless and endless pub and water cooler discussions....even all these years later people are chatting about it on the board here. So the ending makes this bigger than a movie and turns it into a phenomenon. I think at this late date it's lost that value, but in 1969 may have helped make this movie bigger than simply a movie. So in that light the ending may well have been very effective.
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sun_scryer
13 years ago
See, I liked Benny Hill. He was totally sexist, but he paid for it and was shown as a buffoon for it instead of a hero or macho. That made him human and (dare I say) loveable, to me. This is definitely a period piece. It had its moments, particularly if you were alive when it was made.
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shez-dogg
12 years ago
You have completely missed the point of the film.
There may be glaring plot holes galore and countless continuity errors, but that is not the point of The Italian Job. The point is to give the viewer a bloody good time! I honestly didn't notice any plot holes when I watched it the first time, then I came here and people were complaining about them so I re-watched it and still didn't notice any. Why? Because I was having so much fun.
As for the ending, maybe it's like marmite, you love it or you hate it. I love it; I couldn't believe how cheeky it was and have since engaged in many, many discussions about what they could have done. It is one of my favourite movie moments (let alone endings) ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsi5jvteK_chttp://tinyurl.com/cyneuhg
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