The Italian Job (1969)

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.

A fantastic classic British Movie from back in the 60s, I have watched it countless times, so much so I know many of the lines. The cars are great but there is one scene that will make any car guy cry. The story is great the cast fantastic a far better film than the re-make with a better story too and the ending is awesome. I often think it would be great to remake this story true to the original maybe with alternate endings that could be chosen by the viewer would be good. Caine plays a great part as only he could and you can't help but like the guy as do the ladies in the movie. Watch it if you love fun movies, cars, British classics or Caine, you will not be sad you did.

I don't know where to begin with this movie. It's full of flaws and weaknesses. I can only barely give it a 6 because Michael Caine is cool, Benny Hill was funny (but pointlessly underused) and the heist and car chase were generally creative and exciting. It was vaguely amusing (and sometimes very funny) the way Caine kept shouting at his team, who really were like a bunch of kids, so immature and selfish. Caine's character's general attitude is so care-free, he has no doubts about who he is or what he does. It's just his thing: attractive women, stealing cars or money and getting into trouble.But then we're left with the countless weaknesses. Some of the editing was very tacky. One bit with a woman complaining was sped up. It didn't work. Most of the comedy misses. Maybe you have to be British. Or live in the 60s. But then I've enjoyed comedy from all over the world, new and old, so it must just be weak. Caine was funnier in Golmember. Just before Caine's famous line about "the bloody doors", which was very funny for the 5 seconds of screen-time it took, the camera keeps zooming in as he counts down. It's completely unnecessary and very typical for the time. The music was also very dated. Actually pretty unpleasant to listen to, it adds nothing, almost anything else would have been better. The point is, it's not timeless or appropriate but is instead strongly attached to the time and place it was made. It was the latest fashion, a fad which now shows decades of age. This applies to multiple aspects of this film and many others.One of the worst mistakes in chase scenes is where they have the camera moving in the opposite direction to the action, as if to create more speed or velocity. It's a terrible idea. It's been used in Transformers, Big Hero 6 and countless other movies. It always looks awful. The best way to capture speed or action is a smooth, loose, long shot that stays with the moving vehicles. You feel the air, the road, everything moving past. Or you hold the camera still and let them whiz past. No sudden movements. No rapid cuts. The camera should always be roughly from someone's point of view. Trust me. Movies which have far better chase scenes include: Nolan's Batman trilogy, the Indiana Jones trilogy, Bullitt, the Star Wars movies (yes, all of them), the first two Terminator movies, most James Bond movies and most Pixar movies. The list goes on. This isn't an exaggeration.The chase here is fun but only mildly so. We don't see the natural flow from one place to another, there's no meaningful sequence, no build- up in tension, no anticipation or exhilaration. Just a random series of stunts. It could be shown in any order and make the same amount of sense. They seem to be getting followed by only one police car at a time. Their tricks are gimmicky and predictable and nothing more than gags. There is sense of danger or risk. Plus, they're dicks. They cause so much destruction and they don't deserve the money. They're not underdogs, just idiots.The cliff hanger ending is cringe-worthy. It's frustrating, not funny. This movie has no morals, no heart. That would be fine if it was hilarious and action-packed. But it is neither. It's tepid. It's like a soft drink that's gone flat. The characters are stupid and arbitrarily succeed or fail based on what the script decides.The Italian Job glorifies theft. These guys are jerks. They're not likable. Ocean's Eleven (2001) was also overrated. It had mild comedy and a convenient heist made possible through the magic of movies, not logic. It placed all its bets on its coolness, of which it had very little. A classic flaw in circular logic - "being cool" doesn't make you cool. This movie is very similar, overly confident and cocky but with little work or detail or depth put into it.They discuss their plans seemingly in public, in front of so many other people. There are no twists or betrayals. This seems highly unrealistic. With that many people, how does the information not leak? The mafia seem completely unnecessary in the movie. Many parts of the movie were difficult to follow. One character gets cheered in jail. So they knew he was behind the crime? Why do they care? Is it a rebellious act against rich people who we all apparently hate? When they get the minis into the bus, why do they keep the bus moving? Stopping would get them all on in seconds after which they can drive as fast as they want.If you watch this movie, have low expectations. This is not a clever crime thriller. Think of it as a silly, immature movie that's trying to be funny which has some nice stunt and chase parts. Maybe it'll help if you're drunk or haven't seen a good movie before.

A classic heist film directed with a lot of style and wit by Peter Collinson. Recent parolee Michael Caine enlists the aid of a group of not-so-bright criminals to rob an Italian city of $4,000,000 in gold bricks. The plan is to bring traffic to a halt and it's ingenious. This slickly made thriller has a lot going on and it's all good. The escape via mini-Coopers is spectacular. Caine is great, though his character is a bit grating, and the supporting cast including Noël Coward and Benny Hill is something to see. Coward is hilarious as a dapper crime lord, in prison but still pulling a lot of strings. Hill steals his scenes as a computer expert/masher who likes "large women." Lightening paced and very exciting. Raf Vallone (as a very competitive mafioso) and Rossano Brazzi are also in it.