The Italian Job
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Paramount Home Entertainment / 1969 / 99 Minutes / Rated G
Street Date: October 7, 2003 
The 1969 version stars Michael Caine as Charlie Croker, a minor English criminal, recently sprung from prison. After re-introducing himself to sins of the flesh (in a scene that evokes Austin Powers), Croker inherits the plans for an audacious heist involving the theft of $4million worth of gold from an armored car in Turin. Once the gold is lifted, the plan is to snarl traffic so horribly that the police cannot reach three mini-Coopers ferrying the gold out of the city. Funding for the operation comes from Mr. Bridger (Noel Coward, in his final film role), who runs his formidable criminal empire from prison. Storywise, The Italian Job gets more credit then it deserves. The characters, except for Croker and Bridger, are lucky to be labeled anonymous and the car chase at the end is not all that amazing, although the Minis do end up in a sewer and atop a football stadium, which is certainly fun to watch. However, modern (read: younger) audiences are likely to be bored by it, especially compared to The Fast and the Furious and The Italian Job remake. The final 15 minutes begin with the Minis driving along the countryside to their rendezvous with a waiting bus. There is very little going on, except to watch three Minis drive along the countryside. What keeps it together is Quincy Jones' bouncy score, which includes the song “Get a Blooming Move-On (The Self-Preservation Society)”, the film's wonderful anthem. Despite some underwhelming aspects, the film has an undeniable and timeless sense of cool that makes it a justifiable cult classic. The movie showcases some beautiful Italian countryside and director Peter Collinson takes great and welcome pains to show off the landscape. When one of the Minis falls down a mountain, he stays with the shot, no edits, as the car tumbles and tumbles downward. The locations become a character in the film. The magnificently watchable Michael Caine, with his Cockney charm, is great as Croker. And Noel Coward is perfectly cast as Bridger, a man who commands such authority, even in prison, that the warden apologizes for the poor state of the facility. There's a great piece of trick casting as TV comedian Benny Hill plays a computer expert with a penchant for overweight women. The film never does enough with him, but it doesn't do enough with any of the supporting characters. The Italian Job's place in the hearts of many was assured with the playful, cliffhanger ending. The original denouement was to be a more conventional wrap-up, but the ending ultimately used is a true classic. And, like those final few moments, the film is ever-so humorous, ever-so sly and ever-so British. The remake, which conveniently waited for the reintroduction of the Mini-Cooper to the American market, cannot recreate that British sense of suave style. Big budget, American filmmakers don't do suave. They do loud, fast, sexy and colorful, hoping it passes for style. That being said, the modern Italian Job is a surprisingly serviceable action picture with a mostly solid cast. The tight, fluid direction comes from F. Gary Gray, who is able to transcend the Donna Powers and Wayne Powers screenplay, which carts out every action cliché of the last twenty years and features on-the-nose dialogue, lest someone not understand what's happening. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, who, after his amazing turn in Boogie Nights, is becoming less and less interesting as an actor. His blank stare worked perfectly for his portrayal of Dirk Diggler, but it seems that's all he's got as a performer. At any rate, he takes over the Charlie Croker role. As the film begins, Croker and his band of thieves pull off a complicated job in Venice, Italy. Presumably, the filmmakers picked Venice not because the movie is called The Italian Job, but because then we'd get shots of motorboats crashing into other motorboats as they speed unrealistically through the canals. Before the opening heist, Croker's mentor, John Bridger (Donald Sutherland), calls his daughter Stella (Charlize Theron) to tell her he loves her. In movies like these, it can only mean Bridger will be dead by the end of the reel. Croker's crew includes Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), Left Ear (Mos Def), Lyle (Seth Green) and Steve (Edward Norton). Since Steve is the only character who has a moustache (and a pencil moustache at that) it can only mean he'll be double-crossing our heroes after the Venice heist is successfully completed. And, like all movie villains, Steve leaves the scene assuming our heroes are all suitably dead, which of course they aren't. One year later, Steve has been spotted living the good life in Los Angeles. Seeking revenge, Croker gets the gang together, adding Stella, who has conveniently becomes a safe-and-bolt technician, hired to cracks safes to see how hard they are to crack. Their plan is to steal back the money from the Venice heist. To do this, Lyle (who insists on being nicknamed Napster, because he claims he invented it) has devised a computer program that will snarl L.A. traffic so horribly that their three Mini-Coopers can drive onto a waiting train and leave the city. One thing I liked about the new Italian Job is that Gray puts Los Angeles to good use. He gets right into the Hollywood and Highland area. He doesn't cheat many shots. That really is L.A. and he makes sure we know it. Also, the new Job beats the old Job in the stunt-driving department. While the old version features one neat-o stunt across a rooftop, the new film's boat chase beats it in the first ten minutes. However, there is a difference between disposable style and a real, pervasive sense of cool. To compare the two Italian Jobs is to compare their leading men: Mark Wahlberg is pretty but vacuous. Michael Caine is working class, but charming. Pick your preference and you'll pick the Italian Job you're most likely to enjoy. Video: How Does The Disc Look? That the 2003 version of The Italian Job looks great is not a surprise. However, the surprise comes in watching the 1969 edition. It looks wonderful. Yes, there is the occasional fleck of dirt on the print, but much of the film is impressively free of blemishes. Colors are a tad faded, but the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen picture is generally bright and clean. This is especially noteworthy when you consider much of the film was shot against white skies that would betray even the tiniest nick. Fleshtones are accurate, while edge enhancements are barely an issue. The remake also features a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. It's much more colorful than the original and sharper as well. Said colors are vibrant and clean and there is no artifacting at all. The new transfer is also quite smooth and pleasingly film-like. Shadow detail is terrific in the remake, good in the original. Blacks are solid all around, which is just short of amazing for the 34-year old Job. Also, neither film has an issue with grain. For overall quality, the remake has the better picture, which is to be expected. However, Paramount has done amazing work with the original. Audio: How Does The Disc Sound? Not surprisingly, The Italian Job remake beats the original in the audio department. The update features English 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Surround and French 5.1 Surround tracks. The soundscape is very active, with all speakers and all dynamic ranges getting a workout. Probably the only negative is the dialogue, which occasionally sounds a tad muddy. But otherwise, there is plenty of imaging and the rear speakers are given a nice workout. Bass is the real star here: in the score and in the effects, expect some floor rattling, but it's not showing off. It's appropriate for the material. As for the original, once again the dialogue is the only noticeable negative. It's rather thin and hollow, the latter because the film probably had extensive ADR work. The Dolby Digital 5.1 has some activity in the lefts and rights, while the rears are only occasionally employed to any effect. Most of the audio creativity is reserved for the chase and the robbery. Both versions feature an English subtitles and Closed Captions. Supplements: What Goodies Are There? Both versions of The Italian Job are replete with extras. The supplements for the original are more interesting, if only because the film is such a product of its time and its British sensibility. Plus, many of the extras on the remake reek of studio puffery. Only the DVD for the original contains an audio commentary. Here we get producer Michael Deeley and Matthew Field, the author of The Making of The Italian Job. The commentary is vaguely disappointing. Considering Field is the author of an entire book on the movie, you'd think he'd have more to say. However, he essentially acts as a moderator, asking Deeley various questions and dutifully waiting for the answers. There are some tidbits to be culled, but for the real story, check out the documentary. Documentaries abound in both editions. In the original, we get one, 90-minute doc cut into three pieces. The first, called The Big Idea, charts the genesis of the production. Producer Michael Deeley originally wanted Peter Yates to direct the film, since Yates also directed the classic chase movie Bullitt. The most interesting part of The Big Idea is that director Peter Collinson grew up in an orphanage called The Actor's Orphanage, which was frequently visited by English performers. One of the men who'd come to visit the facility was none other than Noel Coward, who, decades later, would play Mr. Bridger in The Italian Job. The second documentary is called The Self-Preservation Society and it continues the story told in The Big Idea. Here we get more into casting, including Benny Hill. As originally envisioned, Hill's character was a kook who liked collecting toy trains. However, writer Troy Kennedy Martin was not pleased when the character's toy train fetish was replaced by a fetish for fat women. As in part one, many crew members are interviewed and the picture looks great. The third and final section, Get a Bloomin' Move On, chronicles how the chase scenes were done and how the all-important music was created. We also learn of the classic ending that was actually not in the original script. Producer Michael Deeley, hoping for a sequel, devised it with then-studio head Bob Evans. Finally, for those who wonder what ever happened to director Peter Collinson, he died of cancer at the all-too-early age of 40. The DVD for the remake also contains a bunch of featurettes, but these are fluffier than the ones featured on the DVD for the original. Pedal to the Metal: The Making of The Italian Job is an 18-minute look at how the project came about and the casting. It's one of those “everybody loves everything” featurettes, which becomes pretty disingenuous after a while. The second featurette on the remake DVD is Putting the Words on the Page to The Italian Job. It's a six-minute interview with writers Donna Powers and Wayne Powers. They discuss, well, not much. They said they watched the original only once to get the flavor of it. They wanted their version to honor the original, but be its own beast. As with all the featurettes on the remake DVD, video is crystal clear and full screen. Next on our hit parade is Driving School. It's one of the better featurettes on the disc, if only because it relies on real behind-the-scenes footage, not Hollywood ass-kissing. It's about the training the actors received to do the stunt driving. A digital camera follows Wahlberg, Theron and Statham around a specialized track outside of Los Angeles where they took lessons from a professional stunt driver and underwent various driving tests. The Mighty Minis of The Italian Job is a standard look at the car featured in the film. This five-minute featurette should have been more interesting, considering the Mini Cooper's iconic status. There is some talk of how the cars were customized to facilitate production. Lastly is High Octane: Stunts from The Italian Job. It's a fluffy 7 and a half-minute look at the stunts. Some attention is paid to the opening boat chase and how boat neophyte Jason Statham actually piloted his character's boat in the scene. There is also a helicopter stunt in the movie, which is the focus of the last two minutes of this supplement. Considering that digital tape was rolling in anticipation of creating DVD extras, you'd think something like a stunt featurette would contain more cool footage and insight. The only interesting inclusion is the Jerry Maguire-style mission statement Gray wrote before filming began. Everyone but Edward Norton is interviewed for the mini-doc. It's fairly common knowledge that Norton only did the role to avoid being sued by Paramount Pictures, to whom he owed two pictures after doing Primal Fear. Both DVDs contain deleted scenes. The original DVD contains the only scene deleted from the film. Called the "Blue Danube Sequence," it shows three police cars chasing the three Minis in a concert hall in Turin. Playfully choreographed, the scene is about three minutes long. Matthew Field provides the optional audio commentary on the sequence, which was cute, but rightfully excised from the final cut. The new version contains six deleted scenes that add up to about eight minutes. A couple scenes feature some decent stunt driving, however they do seem redundant. One sequence involves crackerjack driver Handsome Rob giving the wheel to Left Ear, who can't drive a stick shift car. Why Rob would want Left Ear to drive during this important, potentially life-threatening heist, made no sense. Video is workprint quality, while the audio is good. The remake DVD does have one Easter Egg. Find it and you'll see Seth Green improvising the scene where he watches Handsome Rob try and pick up on a beautiful girl. Finally, each Italian Job DVD contain its own theatrical trailer. The DVD for the original version also includes the trailer for the film's 1999 re-release. DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC? No ROM extras have been included. Parting Thoughts While the original Italian Job wins on points, the remake is a solid Saturday night entertainment. Both feature excellent transfers (surprisingly good in the original's case) and solid extras. Viewers of a certain age will thoroughly enjoy the original, which rarely plays on American TV. Younger viewers who only know Michael Caine as Austin Powers' father may find the movie silly, although its sense of style cannot be denied. As for which one to buy: picture buying both versions and placing them in your DVD collection. Six months later, which version of The Italian Job are you most likely to watch? The right and only answer is the original. |
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