Lovesusti
The Worst Film Ever
CommentsXp
Best movie ever!
Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Anoushka Slater
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
zzzorf
I watched this movie because only a few days back I rewatched the redo starring Mark Wahlberg. While I barely liked the redo I thought well gives me a good opportunity to compare the two. Well that was a bad idea in my part.First off the movies are nothing really alike accept for maybe the cars. The redo seemed more like a sequel then an actual redo. Beside that however watching the redo first meant I was expecting something I just didn't get. I do enjoy older movies at times but I do have a tendency to lean towards more modern things so sometimes older things can be left out dated because of that, this is one of those cases.The movie itself I struggled to keep myself interested in. I knew that the hook of the movie was the job itself and that was where the movie really went up a notch but I found myself no longer interested when the time come. The hijinx of the car chase were good but by then I was so disinterested they hardly registered. For my 10 year old son however it was a different story. He only started watching around the time of the job and therefore was not in my bored state. His eyes were glued to the screen, loving what he saw.My advice, don't watch the redo just before you watch this. Watch it in its own bubble to make up your mind and then maybe watch the redo.
JohnHowardReid
I was surprised that Paramount issued a DVD (a 10/10 job too!) of The Italian Job (1969). I remember watching this film on its first release. It was a Friday night and I was sitting alone (not counting four usherettes) in a cavernous, 1,514-seats cinema. Box-office-wise, the film was a complete dud in most towns, though it did good business in Liverpool and Manchester. The conclusion gets my nomination as the worst movie cop-out of all time and as for Mr Caine, here repeating his Alfie image in the broadest possible way, the less said the better. True, the car chases were expertly filmed with a certain amount of inventive gusto (but the best sequence was left on the cutting-room floor. Fortunately, it has been rescued from obscurity in the Paramount DVD) but cars do not a movie make. You can see them any day on the street or (if you're dead keen) at an auto show. On the other hand, it was certainly a grand idea to have Noel Coward receive such an overwhelming on-screen ovation in his last film.
christopher-underwood
It's a funny thing with Blu-ray, well Blu-ray discs and me, anyway. I always find that the cars, the buses and coaches, the truck and lorries and the airplanes all look sensational in the increased quality of picture but that the actors look worse. It must be to do with the use of make-up intended to be seen on the old 35mm projection and that doesn't quite cut it with the new technology. In any event the vehicles look great, as do the snow capped mountains and Caine gives an endearing performance in a slickly produced film from Peter Collinson. Its not really to my taste, I prefer the Italians own rather more exploitative and rough versions or even the earlier and more realistic British films like Robbery although it has to be said that the final chase is full on and very effective. I've no idea why Fiat were so co-operative when it was our own cars that stole the show and I also think it was a good idea to have the film end the way it does. Oh, and a very bad idea to have that terrible jingoistic song given so much exposure and to have allowed Noel Coward to appear so stupid - but then we all used to love the criminal class then - or were supposed to.
Python Hyena
The Italian Job (1969): Dir: Peter Collinson / Cast: Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Maggie Blye, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone: Amusing comic caper about operations. In this case Noel Coward will divert the authorities from inside a prison by causing a massive traffic jam. Michael Caine assembles a team and they will use the traffic jam as a means of stealing $4, 000, 000 in gold. Filled with funny sight jokes mostly involving car chases but the plot is detailed and the ending gives new meaning to the word cliffhanger. Directed by Peter Collinson who tries to detail the operation while capitalizing on humour. The cast is headed by a fantastic performance by Caine as the confident front man who organizes the scheme because he is the best qualified, and his last comment just before the credits roll indicate that his mind is still in motion even despite terrible odds. Coward also holds strong as a confident figure from the confines of prison. Unfortunately supporting roles play too much like a standard roll call that plays much like the structure Ocean's Eleven, and this rarely works out unless detail is given to characters. Maggie Blye plays Caine's underwritten girlfriend, and Benny Hill plays a computer genius who has a thing for overweight women. Raf Vallone plays a mafia boss who is also entangled in the plot. Well crafted film with beautiful locations and an operation that doesn't go as planned. Score: 9 / 10