Star

After the introspective FOLLOW, Guy Ritchie's STAR is a complete 180-degree turn away in terms of style, mood and subject. Fortunately, it's a roaring success.

Clive Owen showcases a previously unseen facility for comedic timing. From his mock innocence as the Star berates him to a later moment when he says with tongue firmly planted in cheek, "I've think we've lost them.", Owen is a delight in this charming little revenge fantasy for those who have had to put up with rude, insolent customers in their line of profession.

Ritchie directs the film pretty much as an extension of the style he used in SNATCH and LOCK, STOCK, & 2 SMOKING BARRELS. All his trademarks are here; Freeze frames, voice overs, and gratuitous use of English pop songs. Combined with the fact that yes, as everyone now knows, that's his wife Madonna as the Star who gets her fateful comeuppance, and the film ends up being the most crowd-pleasing of the series. Highly recommended.

This was pretty cool. I am impressed at how each film in this series has been able to take an entirely different spin on the car chase, considering Hollywood's been making these scenes for decades. These shorts should feel repetitive, but the films are short and each director has a very unique style. Here, Clive Owen has a good time talking about how hot Madonna is (a not-too-subtle hint by director and boyfriend Guy Ritchie reminding the audience that he gets to sleep with her) just before tossing her around like a ragdoll in the backseat of a BMW M5. The chase is very cool, although it's more about looking slick and having fun than getting away from any pursuers. And can somebody come up with a new rock song to use in movies other than Blur's "Song 2"? I'm getting tired of hearing it whenever the filmmakers want the audience to get pumped up. Anyway, check it out.

Oh my, this is by far the most exhilarating of the BMW films... Clive Owen's antics are just amazing, especially since he's always behind the wheel... One thing I've noticed, that a lot of people have missed out, is that Glen, the spineless manager, obviously hired the Driver to do all these stunts... just listen carefully to their phone conversation... breakfast, lunch and dinner... Even though Song 2 is a bit old and overused, it's just so appropriate for this video... the way it comes back on the chorus just as the car lands is just perfect :)

Anyway... Gotta love BMW's M5, truly a rather frightening car, which yet looks so unassuming.. :p I suggest you look up the british TV show Top Gear's review of it... Gotta start saving up for one ;)

As for the person wondering how they did some of the filming from the angle of the car with a fixed camera at a distance, the camera is fixed to the car, you can see that in the "making of", I guess they just camouflage the mounting hardware, most likely digitally. Anyway it gives a seriously impressive (yet videogame-y) effect.

Anyway I give it a hearty and well deserved 10/10, and shall now attempt to perfect my handbrake-turning skills :D

Guy Ritchie is one helluva director, as was apparent in both "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch." He shows his directing prowess in short films as well with Star, featuring the freakin AWESOME actor of understatement Clive Owen and the "surprise" addition of Madonna playing the famous personna from hell. Cool dialogue, INCREDIBLE cinematography, and of course, awesome direction. How'd they lock the camera down to the car when it's 30 feet away? Amazing! If BMW doesn't release these films on DVD, they're crazy. If Clive Owen isn't starring in a ton of great films in the next few years because of these films, hollywood is crazy. If Guy Ritchie ever makes a bad film, I'm crazy.

If you've got the CPU power and harddrive space, I'd totally recommend downloading BMW's propriatary movie player from their site so you can watch the films in nice high-resolution and director commentary, just like a DVD! Looking forward to the Making Of and Powderkeg.

BMW: Please release a DVD of these films! Please! Please! Now! Thanks.

I thoroughly enjoyed this 6 minute film! Clive Owen is a great "shady", BMW-driving agent. I would SO vote for him as the next James Bond. I really appreciated Madonna's sense of humor in making this clip. She must be crazy about Guy to make herself the butt of the joke here. Much has been said about Ritchie's directing style being all flash and no substance, but I think nothing gets your attention faster than his set-up: the expository voice-over followed by unrelenting visual movement. I think it worked well in "Snatch" as well. I wonder of BMW has any plans to run these clips as trailers or edit them down for commercials. They raise the level of advertising to... well... if not art, at least excellent entertainment.