Gone In 60 Seconds

Written, Directed, Starring (and Produced by) H.B Halicki (Maindrian Pace/Vicinski). Also Starring Marion Busia (Pumkin Chase), Jerry Daugirda (Eugene Chase), James McIntyre (Stanley Chase)

Bottom Line: Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) is a car chase movie if there ever was one. It aims to create the experience of driving fast and does so beautifully.

3.5/4 

In Quentin Taurantino’s Death Proof a couple of stunt drivers are trading car stories over lunch. Each mentions their dream cars. One of the top picks, I believe, is the 1971 Ford Mustang Fastback from Gone in 60 Seconds (“The 1974 version, of course, not any of that Angelina Jolie bull----“). Up to this point, my experience with Gone in 60 Seconds was, indeed, only with the 2000 remake starring Nicholas Cage. I have a soft spot in my heart for Nicholas Cage so I’ve always had a fondness for that movie. Now, I won’t be getting into a discussion about the merits of the remake or of Cage’s acting ability; I’ll save those topics for later. At the moment, I will look at the original Gone in 60 Seconds but I will do so a little differently than my previous reviews.

I normally start out with basic plot synopsis and then move onto parts that stick out to me most. I try to touch on some of the major topics about the movie, though I feel have a tendency to dwell on plot and characters. If I followed this outline here, I would be missing the point of the movie. Simply put, Gone in 60 Seconds is 70’s car porn if ever there was such a thing.

What does this mean? We are supposed to be watching for the cars and the car chases (not the plot). The introduction exemplifies the experience of this movie. We watch an unknown driver cruising down an empty morning road. In another movie, I would expect to see a shot of the steering wheel with the driver’s hands followed by a shot of his eyes before cutting to his jaw as he lights a cigarette. We don’t know anything about this man but he is the first person we see so he must be important. He steps out the car and we finally meet our hero. Now, in this case, the focus is away from the driver and on the car.

We see a shot over the hood to get a sense of the speed at which he drives. A couple super long shots capture the vehicle it flies down the road. We see the driver’s eyes in the rear view mirror: the driver is integrated into the car itself. Alongside these images, the initial text appears on screen. The most telling credit is “Starring name Eleanor”. Eleanor, as we will learn, is the code name for a 1971 Ford Mustang Fastback. Even more interesting is that this is really the only credit in the start of the movie so the car itself takes center stage.

Story-wise, we follow a family of car thieves (who also work as insurance claim agents) get a job from some Argentinian gangsters to steal forty high-end cars. To give the heroes a Robin Hood tone, they only steal cars which have insurance (so the Man has to pay for a replacement). This also comes into play when the crew realizes that the “Eleanor” they stole didn’t have insurance. Nobody wants to steal from a nice, little old lady so they find another one. The police get wind of the theft and stake out the location. Cue a 40 minute chase scene. Just like that, by summarizing it as “a chase scene”, it is easy to dismiss what makes this movie so much fun.

I had always looked at a car chase as a bunch of fast cuts, screeching tires, a flipped over car here, a smashed police car there and then the hero arrives at his destination. Gone in 60 Seconds made me realize what I was missing. Instead of a bunch of tight city streets, we ride through on the highways and interstates across California. Long cuts of super long shots are intermixed with the camera on the hood of the car: the sound and power of the car is featured. Consequently, there is a noticeable and interesting effect on the style of the chase. The flow and sensation of speed create the excitement instead of quick cuts.

Overall, I would say that Halicki captured the experience of a car more than anything I have ever seen. The plot is nonexistent but, again, it doesn’t matter because our attention is elsewhere. I’d highly recommend this movie simply to experience a really good chase sequence just like I would recommend Enter the Dragon for the fight scenes.