to a car-loving audience such as myself when a tow truck with an actual car in tow powerslides and fishtails and eventually gets away. This is not something you see in modern high-budget car chase movies. This is the type of genius you see only in a movie created by a guy who really knows the subject matter.If you want quality acting, well-written drama, and striking cinematography, go elsewhere... it's as simple as that. The world only needs one Lawrence of Arabia. But if you want to be stunned with incredible action scenes featuring REAL cars instead of oh, say a Lincoln Navigator like the one in the remake , pick up a copy of this movie. And if you must have something to accompany the car chases, listen closely to the dialogue; while it may not be poetic enough for some people's ears, it'll make you laugh whether the writer intended it or not.

class expensive cars in a matter of days. There is one catch, since Halicki lives by a code: the cars have to be insured. This is how the movie gets away with being able to steal cars and at the same time not make the robbers look like villains. This movie, whil being mostly action, is also a comedy. There are some really cheesey lines, but it's all in good fun so you have to laugh. One scene for example, Halicki steals the prized Eleanor, a 1974 Mustang. But her owner catches him and gives chase. They go tearing through the streets at night, causing wrecks all over the place. Finally the cops pull over the guy that was chasing Halicki and ask him what he was doing. He says he was chasing a guy that stole his car so the cops go back to his house to check. When they get there, though, they find the Mustang parked safely in his garage. HA. This movie contains something the remake doesn't, ACTUAL CAR CHASES. Not incredibly lame helicopter chases and FAKE stunts. No, all the stunts in this movie are 100% real, and a good majority are UNSCRIPTED. Also, 95% of the actors are played by real people. The cops are cops, paramedics are paramedics, pedestrains are pedestrians, and are REALLY running for their lives. The climax of the film is a 40 minute car chase between Eleanor and probably every cop in the city. There are at least 5 or 6 times when you think he is caught, but gets away. This is a really fun movie with the best car chase in movie history. I couldn't imagine anyone liking the remake more than this.

Furthermore, H.B. Halicki himself wrote, directed, and starred in the movie. He even drove the "star car" the Mustang throughout the chase!My only negative comment about the film is that the beginning of the movie is very slow; so slow that you may be very eager to get to the 40-minute chase scene. However, if you have the DVD, you can just watch the film starting from the chase scene if you want to.Overall, this movie had an awesome chase scene. It is the best chase scene ever filmed in a movie. It has to be seen to be believed.P.S: This movie is much much better than the awful remake.

Uno in disguise, this version keeps things simple and lets the action do the talking. Shallow, yes, but you'll hard pressed to find a more exciting car chase this side of Ronin.

movie. While searching for the 1974 H.B. Halicki video, I found that it was not captioned, so I was thrilled to recently find the 25th Anniversary DVD which was released in 2000, assuming that it would at least have subtitles. Surprisingly, it is neither captioned NOR does it have subtitles. Unfortunately, I did not realize this until I attempted to view the movie. I could not return it because I had opened the package. What a disappointment.I could not understand the dialogue and was a bit confused as to why the heist team ended up destroying the cars, I decided to check the plot at IMDb. It told me of a different reason for all of the cars being stolen as compared to the 2000 version, and that was helpful. Thank you, IMDb! So I decided to watch it anyway, because I was looking forward to the final chase scene, which had been described as even better than the N, Cage 2000 remake.I loved this movie - EVEN IN SILENCE! I really enjoyed seeing the fashions from the 70's, hilarious as they now seem to me. Did I really dress that way? Yes! Seeing the older cars was wonderfully nostalgic. And the heist methods were ingenious. The final chase scene was terrific. Although I couldn't understand the dialogue, I laughed in a few places that seemed comic to me. Possibly not hearing what was being said made the movie even more enjoyable than it really was. I recommend this movie very highly, even as a silent film.

moment, leading to what surely be the longest car chase put to film.The best thing about this movie is its low-budget feel. Many of the early scenes are almost mimed, with voices overdubbed later; you don't see actual dialogue, just hear it on top of the action. But as things progress, it begins to show more polish, and by the time we get to the big chase, you get what appears to be the entire 7th Cavalry Division in squad cars chasing one li'l yellow Mustang.A very smart touch during the big chase was to frequently cut to the aftermath of car crashes, with wounded cops and civilians being dragged from burning cars and hustled away in ambulances -- it added an edge to the film, to show there are actually consequences to these actions and how often is that shown on the big screen? .Aside from the marvelously-choreographed action sequences, there are many moments of great wit, which I won't describe so's not to spoil them.All in all, a brilliant piece of film-making, made not with glitz, glamor, star-power or special effects -- just sheer talent and pretty cars, o'course! .

automobile.Saw the movie for the first time a few years after that on VHS, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. It played out exactly as advertised. Later, when it was released on DVD with restored picture around the time of the 2000 Nicholas Cage remake , I picked up that disc and rejoiced in having a great copy of Halicki's art. The stunt driving is spectacular, and the direction and cinematography are both pretty solid.It is the writing of the script where things fall apart a bit. Have to dock the movie a couple points. Get serious, Halicki--you named all of the main characters either "Pace" or "Chase"? I guess that was some kind of pun on fast cars, but, Jeebus, not too confusing. And what the hell is a "Maindrian"? Is that a dyslexic Mandarin? Someone draining his main vein? Some of the storytelling elements are murky, dialog is stilted, and these are all not professional actors really, so the acting is pretty poor. I did like the smug wrap-up following the epic 45 minute car chase which is this film's raison d'etre. Thought that was pretty clever.But story structure is not why you're watching this film. It's for the primo 1974 atmosphere, big cars with huge engines chasing each other and crashing, and non-stop pace. If you liked The French Connection, The Seven-Ups, The Sugarland Express, Vanishing Point, or countless other 1970's car crash/chase epics, this friends, is your cup of Valvoline. Check it out before you crash.