Customer Reviews

BMWFilms.com Presents The Hire

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How does this sound for you: 8 short films, directed by the likes of John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Woo, Joe Carnahan, and Tony Scott!

That's some serious power. Multiple Academy Award nominations and countless millions in box office.

But as great as these directors are, what holds this series is Clive Owen. Ever wonder what might have been if Owen had been cast as James Bond? Wonder no more. Owen is the Driver, the cypher who adapts to any situation but brings a calm competence and more than a bit of world-weariness. Owen grounds the sometimes over-the-top action with his excellent performace, although he is helped along by a cadre of excellent guest stars, including Gary Oldman, James Brown, Stellen Skarsgard, Forest Whitaker, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle, Dennis Haysbert, F. Murray Abraham, Ray Liotta, Madonna(!) and Marilyn Manson(!!!).

Almost every one of these films stands on its own as an excellent piece of short filmmaking. Some of them focus upon the high speed car action(Frankenheimer's Ambush, Ritchie's Star, Carnahan's Ticker, Scott's Beat the Devil) while others use the conceit of the Driver to tell something with a bit more depth(particularly Kar-Wai's haunting The Follow and Inarritu's political Powder Keg). Lee and Woo also bring their trademarks to their films in interesting ways. Lee creates a ballet of rival cars in Chosen and Woo invokes plenty of slow motion in his Cellular-esque piece.

Proof positive that commercials don't have to be crass, but that they can be art as well. Unfortunately BMW discontinued their DVDs of this in 2005, so until they revive the films(unlikely given they are advertisements for now obsolete cars) you'll have to pay for the used versions. For true collectors, try to find the original DVDs that contain only the first 5 episodes, but also contain the "interludes" directed by Ben Younger. The "interludes" contain clues that were part of a highly obscure alternate reality game that eventually gave away a BMW car to the lucky winner.

Okay so it isn't exactly a mash-up, but BMW has provided a great venue for power directors to dabble in the sort film medium. Each episode is not related to the last but the main character, Clive Owen, is always the hired driver. Think of his character as a modern "Man with No Name" like Clint Eastwood.

Each piece is great and are often rooted in action but feature a central theme or story that is easy to follow and intriguing to watch. Given the short amount of time, the talent of these directors are clear as they create characters, a plot and an ending that an audience can follow, invest in and appreciate.

Other notable talent is included in some of the films aside from Clive Owen. The series is a high production, finely crafted set of films.

This is a great gem if you want to find small shorts film makers have came together to create for bmw. Its a little spendy but its outta print. So the cost is worth it.

Thanks

Mickey

I actually got these because of my interest in their revolutionary marketing (at the time). It is very interesting to read about why they decided to make a film series on the new cars. BMW is a really cool brand and their marketing at the time was truly revolutionary. That makes these films so cool and if you love BMW these are a must have in the DVD cabinet. It is a piece of car/marketing/film history. How cool is that?!

The contents of the short stories can be found on Wikipedia or critic websites.

What's awesome about the product is the "Behind the Scenes" footage. They give you alot of insight from the directors and talent as well as crew men. It's refreshing that there was so much detail involved with the special features before it was even possible to share it with viewers on a disc medium. There aren't many discs available that will take a viewer as in depth as this one will.

The shorts are a great way to teach students the importance and simplicity of story telling while the special features reveal how basic and complicated the production can be.

The only thing better than enjoying the dvd was the opportunity to get it under $6, shipping included.

bmw films managed an outstanding way to promote their vehicles and do a perfect branding for a niche.
the directors different perspectives, to approach the safety issues and needs for unique passengers, helps you in having a front row seat as if you are actually seating on an m5 on madonna's self-ridiculousness; or on a 540 or on a 740 or even better, on an x5, racing drug cartels over a sugar cane field in a cruel González Iñárritu classic language.

Mr Owens outstanding acting, outburst the drama each one of Frankenheimer, Lee, Kar-wai, Ritchie, González Iñárritu, Woo, Carnahan, and Scott films was meant to be.

a truly contemporary cinematography classic

clap clap clap

Just as the title says... BMW managed to join adventure, explosions, great driving and the coolest cars in this series. Totally cool.

I am so relieved now that I see other people experiencing my problem. I have also lost accesss to my favorite short in the DVD: "The Star". I loved the hard driving and humor (especially the ending). But I can't watch it any more. I don't know how they did it but obviously BMW Films products are not up the standards of their cars!
Now that these DVDs are very hard to find, their price (originally $9.99) have soared.
Still a very valuable addition to any DVD collection. You can't find such great talent coming together for such a unique project again.

the DVD split into 8 short films. the six I watched are awesome but two didn't work on my disk. It is worth the price, just be careful where you get it.

Great action, and good acting from owen. He should've continued in this vein with his later projects. I hear he actually turned down the bond series. Too bad for him, he would've been good at it.