Forget the Cage/ Jolie/ Jones remake, this is the real deal.

H B “Toby” Halicki wrote, directed, starred in and did many of the stunts for this classic car heist/ chase movie. For $400,000 his character and a team of insurance investigators with a sideline in Grand Theft Auto have to steal 48 cars to order. Most of the thefts go smoothly, bar the occasional wild animal or trunkfull of heroin, but it’s the final car, Eleanor- a Mach 1 Mustang, that causes all the trouble and sets up a forty minute car chase across California.

The acting’s a little ropey, but in a charming way, and the film doesn’t slow down long enough for anyone to embarrass themselves with excessive emoting. The chase is the heart of the film, some of it shot on open roads and with genuine accidents incorporated into it. There’s none of the more-is-less feeling you get with car chases in so many recent movies. You know that half the stuff in Matrix Reloaded is done on a computer, so you’re not really excited by it (impressed, yes, but not excited). Plus it serves as a time capsule, holding the same sort of fascination as an episode of the Sweeney or similar, with all the 70’s hardware, cars and fashions.

Halicki died whilst making Gone in 60 Seconds 2, but also made Junkman, the trailer for which is one of the special features on this disc.

This is one of those cases where Amazon’s rental service has done its job.  I definitely want a copy of this film. As you can see from the list in the left hand column, we’ve got a varied selection of movies lined up for the coming months, all of which interest me, but none of which I’d just go ahead and buy without seeing them first. It’s a great system and I highly recommend it.