Gone In 60 Seconds (1974) - this is the original version

December 11, 2004

Rated: unrated Runtime: 98 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

If you’ve seen the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) starring Nicholas Cage and enjoyed the car chase sequences, but have not seen the original version of this movie, you haven’t seen anything yet! The final chase sequence in the original takes up literally half of the movie and is one of the best chase sequences ever filmed.

The storyline here is similar at best to the remake as the only things they really have in common is they have to steal alot of cars. In the original, the story exists only to setup the chase. The deal is they have to steal 46 cars, one of which is a 1973 Mustang Mach 1, which they’ve codenamed Eleanor. The whole movie leads up to the cops getting after the driver when he steals Eleanor. And then the chase is on for the remainder of the movie.

The movie stars stunt driver extraordinaire H.B. Halicki. Actually, the whole movie is H.B. Halicki. He wrote it. He directed it. He did the stunts. He produced it. He even distributed it. Most of the cast members you see are his friends, neighbors and relatives, plus the occasional person who helped him out with some financing in exchange for getting a little screen time. As a result, the level of acting is not quite as good as what you might find in a porn flick. That is with the exception of the true star, who is of course Eleanor and she turns in one heck of a performance!

If you like car chases, you just quite simply must have this movie. They crash around 100 cars and get some of the best chase footage you’ll ever see. The remake was ok, but I do not think the original will ever be matched. Halicki was killed in a stunt gone bad while making the sequel, and even if someone else was crazy enough to try to make a movie like this again there’s no way the studio could stand to foot the bill for the insurance. The movie is a bit hard to find on video. We recommend getting it from Amazon. As always their pricing is excellent and even if they’re out of stock, you’ll usually get it faster from them than by trying to special order it via your local store.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, DVD, Eleanor, H.B. Halicki, Unrated, and a bunch of Halick's friends, relatives