Die Blechpiraten

A guy who has a normal job works an additional sideline as a car thief and ranks among the best in the business. He and his team are hired to steal a large "order" for a powerful client, but right as the last car is being jacked our hero realizes that the cops have been tipped off and he goes to do what he does best - puts the pedal to the metal.

This movie has really not much to offer you unless you go gaga over car chases. And if you do and can excuse the highly amateurish production and the thin storyline in the first half then be prepared for a fun ride during the spectacular second half. Our hero tears through five cities in a nice 1973 Mustang leaving a slew of wrecked cars in his wake of high speed mayhem. Going on highways, alleyways, fields, and just about everywhere that a car can go, he goes! Terrific breakneck fun. 7/10

Rated PG for metal crunching mayhem

Hey guys, if you want to REALLY enjoy this flick, watch the horrific remake first. You had to be young in the mid 70's to remember the hype that went with this flick. A total B-Grader that had audiences (including me and my 19 year old wife) queued up around the block.

Considering its microscopic budget, H B Halicki delivered precisely what audiences wanted to see - truck loads of cars smashed up! No more no less! No-one handed over their (then) $5 expecting to see Sir Laurence Olivier do Hamlet, they just wanted some serious fender-bending and this they got!

Admittedly I suspect most people who own the video or DVD these days fast-forward to the actual 40 minute chase each time they load it up. I am actually watching it as I compose this critique! (Right at the sequence at the end where Harley pulls off the big swapperoo at the car wash!) Absolute stand-outs are the incredible smash on the freeway when Halicki takes out the power pole at 80 mph plus and the unimproved-upon final scene as the Mach-1 leaps several cars at the intersection. That shot, lovingly photographed from multiple slow-motion camera angles was worth the ticket price alone. The climactic scene in the 2000 version is just plain wimpy!

The plotline for the film is remarkably simple. Man steals cars for a living! For trivia fans who may NOT know. H. B. Halicki died during a stunt filming the sequel GONE IN 60 SECONDS : THE JUNKMAN which features arguably the greatest car stunt of all time. (Sorry, not telling!!)

In this day of "so called" independent film making, the majority of

which is backed by big studio money and ruined by the meddling

of "suits", it's so refreshing to see a truly independent film! "Gone

In 60 Seconds" was written, produced, directed and distributed by

the same man, H.B. Halicki, who also stars AND did most of the

stunt driving! This is truly a film the likes of which we will never see

again, thanks to our over-protective, sue-happy, society of wimps

and victims. Several comments are made about the acting in this

film. I would say that for none of the cast being professionals, they

handled themselves very well. And as for this being Halicki's first

film as a director, he must've known a few things and/or had some

great tech people working with him because the film is cut

together so wonderfully. Then too there is the sheer guilty

pleasure of see cars obliterated. I wish I could've seen this on the

big screen. So, if you're looking for a film with a lot of meaning,

skip this one. If you just want to enjoy a well crafted little film, and

see lots of Plymouth police cars get crunched--run out and get

GONE IN 60 SECONDS (but drive safely, please)!

I saw Gone In Sixty Seconds in 1974 at this broken down theater in West Memphis, Arkansas when I was 10 years old. From that point on I have been a car chase/motorcycle/Evel Knievel stunt fanatic. The fact that H.B. Haliki was a high school dropout who made his millions in the auto junk business is reason enough to admire the man behind this drive-in classic. With his knowledge of the biz, he made the most hair raising car chase flick ever while teaching himself filmaking 101 at the same time! He was the Jackie Chan of the seventies. A one man demolition squad who teamed up with family and friends and made this movie on a shoestring budget that made over 40 million worldwide during its release. His efforts alone should inspire not only filmakers but anyone who has been putting his or her dreams off for one reason or another. Do like Toby Haliki,Do some research, find a way, stick to it and "CHASE" your dreams.

The original "Gone In 60 Seconds" will be remembered by many viewers as the best car-chase film of all time. It will also be remembered as the film that featured lots of destroyed cars in a 40 minute chase. As said in the film's IMDb trivia: "93 cars are crashed in this 97 minute movie."

The best part of this whole movie is the 40-minute chase scene. So many cars are crashed and destroyed during the chase, including original city police cars. What's more, the chase scene had absolutely NO special effects, meaning that all the crashes and smashes were real. 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.