Customer Reviews

The Italian Job [VHS]

5 star:		(141)
4 star:		(105)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

Well done! Now THIS is what I call a popcorn movie. No big drama, no great life issues; just a fun plot, great action, and good looking people packing the screen. "The Italian Job", a remake of the 1969 Michael Caine flick, is cinema escapism at its best and a great bet for a Friday night date.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Charlie, acting head of a gang of high-tech, high class thieves. He's taking over for his mentor (played by the always welcome Donald Sutherland) as his team sets up a brilliant scheme for $35,000,000 in gold bars (the "Italian Job" of the title).
But things don't go quite as planned, and one year later Charlie reassembles his mates, plus his mentor's daughter (Charlize Theron) to take revenge on the man who betrayed them and set things right once and for all.

The action here is splendid, imaginative and well filmed. The script is tight, with plenty of snappy lines to go around (including a great running gag about just who invented Napster) and the musical score is surprisingly nice. All the actors have fun with their roles, especially Seth Green as a computer geek and Edward Norton as the slimy bad guy. And of course there's Wahlberg.

I like Mark Wahlberg. I can't help it. I like him more with every movie he makes. I like his quiet, confident walk, his little boy smile, and the way his forehead crinkles whenever somebody yells at him. He seems to actually get better looking as the movie goes along, and his chemistry with Theron is low-key but sexy.

I give "The Italian Job" five stars not because it was a masterpiece, but because I had a great time and know the film will hold up well with future viewings (it was a lot like "Ocean's Eleven" in this regard). Go on and see it; you'll like it. And probably want a Mini when you get out.

GRADE: A-

(By the way, I LOVED the way our heroes never carried guns or shot anybody. Old school baby!)

"The Italian Job" is your classic summer movie: one villain, one hero, one beautiful intelligent woman, one computer geek, one ladies' man, one explosive expert, shake, stir, add a bunch of car chases, a few last-minute surprises, voila. The story is about a group of master thieves led by Donald Sutherland cleverly steal $35 million in gold bars from a safe in Venice, only to have it stolen again. The group must pursue the villain to get the gold back, using Mission-Impossible style technology and an enormous amount of wit.

Two things raise this far above its genre: absolute super settings: a boat chase through, under, and around Venice; a set of tricked-out Mini-Cooper cars vrooming through the sewer pipes of LA like kids through a water slide. Really fine performances: Donald Sutherland as the patriarch of the thieves, Seth Green (Scott Evil from the Austin Powers movies) as the funny computer geek, and the supremely creepy Edward Norton as the villain. Only Mark Wahlberg fails to project much of a personality.

The thing I appreciated most is that none of the action was faked by computer: it's just good old-fashioned stunt-driving. It's really pretty impressive (it's 'actually happening'); as much as you might have liked this summer's Matrix movie, this one is at least as thrilling because it's 'real.'

Strange that they called this one the Italian Job, since it has little in common with the caper classic it was named after. All the two movies really have in common is stolen gold and Austin Minis. The plot of this movie is really about the oldest trick in the book. The double cross.

In an attempt to put a new spin on that old plot, the creators of this movie decided to have the double cross very early in the film. After a somewhat interesting heist, the gang responsible for it is betrayed by one of their own and their gold stolen. This basically makes the rest of the movie our lovable band of thieves (and very well cast for the most part I might add) getting back the loot that they rightfully stole. This early plot twist might have made for a more interesting movie had the best actor in the film (Donald Sutherland) not been killed off in the process. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

You're a Good Man Charlie Brown

Our main character Charlie is played by Mark Wahlberg. Now don't get me wrong, he's a likable enough fellow. And he seems to do best playing the nice guy in films. But he really doesn't do much in the way of acting in any of the films I've seen him in. If there was one actor who could be replaced by a cardboard cut-out without anyone noticing, it would be him. I seriously cannot remember him saying one memorable line in the entire film. Perhaps it's because he said them all the same...

The Cast's the Thing

Well even though our main character isn't exactly Hamlet, does that make our film derail completely? No, no, no. For he is supported by a fine cast in the grand old tradition of caper films. Seth Green (the REAL Napster), is totally hilarious in this film. Sure, we've all seen a supposedly brillaint hacker in films before, but somehow he just rises above into new levels of geek parody. And then there's my man Jason "The Transporter" Statham. This guy has just got "the Driver" and "Action Star" written all over him. He's like the new Steve McQueen of Caper and driving movies. He's too darn cool. In fact, my favorite scene in the movie is one where he steps out of the car to sweet talk a girl into giving him exactly what he needs, and Seth Green (the often stereotyped super-nerd hacker genius) starts imitating both the voice of the girl and Statham's voice. Now that's funny! And then of course we have our love-interest safe-cracker (and the daughter of the guy who got iced), and the required demolition expert. Everyone does a pretty good job in their roles, but no one else really stands out in my mind.

Get Some Action

For all the hype and popcorn popping, you'd think the minis were going to be flying down the streets of L.A. in long, extended, over-the-top driving sequences. Sorry guys, but the driving action simply ain't all that. The Bourne Identity has got a way better chase scene than this movie. So does The Transporter. Heck, so does Gone in 60 Seconds. If that's all you're interested in, by all means, rent one of those.

All in All

I'd say this movie is worth seeing once, especially if you particularly like any of the cast members or love caper-flicks. It's also suprisingly low in violence, sex, and foul-language, something of a rarity in popcorn flicks these days.

This is a truly terrific caper movie, one that works well by both showcasing the emerging star power of both Donnie Wahlberg and Charlize Theron and also having a terrific storyline. It is also a smart and well-photographed movie that proves the old adage of depending on the use of a great story and then embellishing on it with all the bells and whistles. The plot is as believable as anything can be that posits the existence of people so smart, so devious, and so daring as to be able to do some of the things that are done here. Yet the qualms about believability quickly fade with each nosiy and exciting revving up of the action, which is well choreographed, full of pyrotechnics, and absolutely fresh and new, adding to the charm of the movie.

The cast adds immeasurably to the charm of the movie, with Donald Sutherland, Ed Norton, and several notable others lending both credence and a certain gritty feel to this tale about life on the margins, on the far side of the law. I also got the impression that given the box office success of this film; much of the crew may be back to thrill us again in an inevitable sequel. I am up for it. After all, given the aplomb and cool they displayed in driving a trio of Metros through the streets, sewers, and tunnels of Los Angeles at rush hour, and added into this mix was a certain level of style and intelligence often missing in such caper flicks, it would be fun to consider a series of such films. Compared to other recent offerings at the theater, which have by an dlarge been disappointing affairs indeed, it would be a relief to consider more caper flicks like this. Enjoy!

While I love Michael Caine, the original Italian Job was just overall goofy, for today's standards, and the heist wasn't believable, as he had poor technology, a fat blubbering professor, an inept Mafia at his tail, too little money to divvy up amongst a bus full of incompetent nincompoops, and a brain-dead girlfriend. All of which would have better made a Brit Com series than an action movie.
I was reluctant to see this movie when I heard it was coming out... Until my Original Italian Job-loving (and MINI loving, to boot) Dad bought it. I watched it and it was brilliant!
Suspend disbelief for a while and just enjoy the possibility of mastermind thieves and safe-crackers pulling one over the ever-sleezeball-portraying Norton, and getting away with MINI loads of gold bars.
Mark Wahlberg plays well the cunning master-thief Charlie Croker and Donald Sutherland gets an all-too-short, but very well-acted role as the surrogate dad for Charlie, sometimes better than his role as dad for his daughter Stella.
I enjoyed the mix of characters and thought Charlize Theron does a good job as grieving daughter Stella trying to keep away from everything that reminds her of her father, including Charlie. The writers did a good job holding off on cheezy love scenes that so easily could have been inserted in tender, vulnerable moments between the Stella and Charlie.
The others play well with and off each other, from the goofy Seth Green as the resentful ex-Napster Lyle, to a half-deaf loveable Left Ear, and a swaggering smooth-talker of a Brit in Handsome Rob. This small group of characters, as opposed to the large posse Michael Caine had around him, would more believably go along with the heist for a large chunk of the more abundant millions.
While the only resemblance to the original is the three red, white and blue MINIs (originally a nod to the Union Jack), and the heist through a traffic jam (a traffic jam in LA is much more believable than the one in the original, and I thought the writers did a good job reworking that), and a wee bit of Italy in the beginning, this movie holds its own as an original, fun, fast-paced joy ride.
Don't be too hard on the advertisers! It wasn't their idea to incorporate MINIs into the mix. It was from the original movie, after all. But hey, if it encourages you to buy a MINI and do some stunt driving in your own neck of the woods, please do! MINIs rock! And so did this movie. It's worth buying.

I just got home from thoroughly enjoying a preview showing of The Italian Job, 2003. The theme is familiar, the schtick is familiar, but the story is completely different. The new movie is to the old movie what the new Mini is to the old Mini. Similar, but very different, modern high tech verses basic seat of the pants... and both are very entertaining. I'm a long-time fan of the original Italian Job and will never get rid of my copy; but I now have a new favorite movie and will be adding The Italian Job 2003 to my collectionn. BTW, the new version has a great sound track too and I'll be buying that as well.

John Bridger, an aging robber, helps out with one last job before passing the reins over to his protégé, Charlie Croker. The job: to steal a safe full of gold bricks from a heavily guarded house in Venice, Italy. The plan goes without a hitch until the team is double-crossed by Steve, one of its own members, who kills Bridger and believes the others dead.

A year later, Charlie's been searching for Steve and the gold bricks and finally tracks them down to Los Angeles. With the aid of Bridger's daughter Stella, a top-notch safecracker working on the right side of the law, the team plots to exact revenge on Steve and to steal back the gold bricks.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The script takes a back seat to the action sequences: the opening heist in Venice with a power boat chase through the canals to the Mini Coopers racing through the Metro of LA to the carfeully planned re-routing of armored cars via hacking into the traffic mainframe. The actors work very well together: Donald Southerland as John Bridger; Mark Wahlberg as Charlie Croker; Charlize Theron as Stella Bridger; Jason Statham as Handsome Rob who has a way with cars and women; Mos Def as Left Ear, an expert safecracker; Seth Green as Lyle the computer genius; and Edward Norton as Steve, the double-crosser.

The DVD extras are prettygood, especially the documentary about the car chase sequence throught he Metro tunnels. This is a fast-paced, exciting movie sure to get your adrenaline pumping

I have this movie on regular DVD and the quality far exceeds the Blu-ray version. As another reviewer wrote, I have so much noise and a line through the center of the screen, that the movie is not watchable. These things should be recalled.

First of all, the film is terrific for its plot, acting and beautiful scenes but when you see it in Blu Ray you feel as though you can reach out and touch it. Crystal clarity and natural colors elevate the movie experience causing me to want to see it over and over again. Enjoy

I'm normally not a fan of action-type movies, but the Italian Job is really well-made and has a great plot (note: I have not seen the original). The actual "Italian Job" is a gold robbery pulled off in Venice, Italy. But it is discovered one of the team is a selfish traitor. He takes everyone else's share of the loot, kills the safecracker leader of the gang and leaves the rest for dead, but they methodically plot revenge to get their gold back - adding the 'legit' safecracker daughter of the assassinated safecracker to the team. There are plenty of plot twists, one involving the Russian mob. Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron have wonderful chemistry and Edward Norton is perfectly cocky. Seth Green is also funny as the computer hacker (again - first was Enemy of the State). The Mini Cooper chase alone is worth renting this movie - it is awesome!