Hostage

Those words pretty much start off this nine minute BMW commercial with Clive Owen back as "The Driver."

He must race to help a kidnapped victim escape from the trunk of a car with only a cell phone to talk to her.

Famed Hong Kong director John Woo made this film, and that's pretty surprising considering it IS basically one long commercial.

But I'll be darned if it isn't one of the best commercials I've ever seen.

4/5 stars -

John Ulmer

I don't know who in BMW is responsible for the "Hire" series but this is the best advertising I've ever seen. No longer are we bombarded with logos and SELL SELL SELL BUY BUY BUY images. Rather, we get a nifty little story that really doesn't make much sense, but it's all in good fun. Other companies need to try this approach.

This short has probably the best car from the series in it. Of course that is personally so let's talk about the movie. Again it is pretty good. So far no short from the series has disappointed me. In this one a girl is held hostage and The Driver visits the guy who holds her. She is not there and the guy kills himself, now it is a race to the clock.

Very exciting and it looks beautiful.

I've been a huge fan of the BMW Film Series "The Hire" since the first season that was produced by David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club). These latest three episodes were produced by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator). It's a match made in movie-fan heaven: Hollywood's hottest directors, Britain's coolest actor, and Germany's most kick-ass cars!

"Hostage" is directed by John Woo, the action virtuoso who brought us "The Killer," "A Better Tomorrow" and "Face/Off." Although John Woo is famous for his ballistic shootouts, he is also quite adept at doing drama. This short film showcases that to perfection, with flawed characters and a delicious surprise twist at the end.

This short film rocks in the action department! You get to see The Driver do all sorts of cool maneuvers in this one, including a 180 then driving high-speed in reverse, a 12-foot-high car jump, and he even out-drives a fleet of police cars!

For the best action in the "The Hire" series, I recommend "Hostage" along with "Ambush" and "Ticker." "Powder Keg" has the best drama and "Star" is the funniest one in the series. I can't wait for Tony Scott's "Beat the Devil" to come out!

Wow. This is yet another of the series of 8 brilliant short films commissioned by BMW that were released on the internet in 2001 and 2002. Apparently, somebody at the car maker had a butt-load of money and spent it assembling some of the top directors in the world (such as John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee and Wong Kar Wai) and gave them HUGE budgets and often top acting talent to make these shorts. Not surprisingly, a BMW is featured prominently in each short--in this case the tiny Z4. In addition, playing a James Bond-like hero (and anti-hero in one) is Clive Owen in all eight films!

This one was directed by John Woo and I almost gave it a 10--it sure came darn close! Why was I so impressed? Well, because although all the films are great, this one is more like an entire full-length film shoved into only about 8 minutes! It manages to convey a heck of a lot and provide lots of twists in this tiny time frame. Tense, ironic and heart-pounding--this is definitely a must-see.