A Fuga

The action scenes are top notch. Maybe I'm just a sucker for colorful characters and the bank heist angle is well done. Best of all is Alec Baldwin's character, Doc. Baldwin and the rest of the cast really deliver their lines with panache.

Bank jobs, car chase, cat-and-mouse in a four story hotel, steamy sex, crazy characters.... what else do you want?

Roger Donaldson's remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1972 gangster movie classic "The Getaway" is alright, but cannot - as many remakes - reach the power, humor and style of the original version. There are some plus points - the bloody and lengthened showdown in the hotel at the end tries to overpower the impact of the original version, and it works.

There are some good supporting roles from James Woods and Michael Madsen (with dreadful hair style that belongs rather into an Ace Ventura or Wayne's World movie). The plot, even many story details, are just repetitions of the Peckinpah movie, but the tempo of the film is okay as well.

Otherwise there are also too many low points: the score is boring and can't compete with Quincy Jones' original jazz funk fusion grooves. The photography is to clean despite all the Mexican dust and sometimes too MTV style and without the dirty atmosphere that was typical for many Peckinpah movies.

Kim Basinger is alright in the Ali McGraw role, but Alec Baldwin is trying too hard to copy an image of Steve McQueen which isn't working at all. The dialogues aren't as witty as with McQueen and McGraw, and Donaldson would have done a far better job if he could have managed to give an individual life to this picture instead of just doing a 1994 techno grunge remix of an early seventies classic.

Anyway, if you like to watch an entertaining contemporary gangster and road movie, the 1993 version of "The Getaway" is still fun to watch. But if you have the choice to take the original VHS or DVD, skip the remake.

The Getaway is a remake of the action classic that stared Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. Now I haven't seen the original so I can't compare the two but by it self this is an OK action thriller. It goes old school with its desert/western setting, bad criminals and finale stand off. The story is simple Doc McCoy (Alec Baldwin), his wife (Kim Basinger) and his partner (Michael Madsen) are hired to get a man out of prison. When the job goes sour, McCoy is locked up for a year in a Mexican prison. With the help of his wife and a Phoenix crime boss Jack Benyon (James Woods), he released and hired to do one more job. This job goes semi good but after it has been done many people end up dead and the McCoys are on the run from many different people all with their eyes on the large amount of cash they have. The performances are OK. Baldwin is the American version of Pierce Brosnan. He's much more calm, composed and edgier than Pierce. Basinger is tough yet still has that soft side and she very good with guns. Madsen is a good mix with Baldwin and Basinger, he add the funny but villainous third part of the gang. The cast is bigger than normal for an action film but since this was made in the early ‘90's some of the actors hadn't hit it big yet. Jennifer Tilly, Phillip Seymore Hoffman and David Morse round out the cast. They all have small parts but they do the best with what they have. The action is not really original and there are a few Woo slow-motion shots thrown in for good measure. There's only one explosion but a lot of guns. In the end The Getaway is an OK action movie that if it's on TV it would be enjoyable to watch, if there's nothing better on.

I'd had this tape around for a while before finally viewing it on a slow night. My expectations were not high. I've always felt Jim Thompson was over rated, reviews had been generally poor and I'd heard that the earlier version (which I've yet to see)was better. Perhaps because I wasn't expecting too much I found myself enjoying it. There was enough plot momentum, weird characters and spectacular action, not to mention some steamy sex (no need to be shocked, I understand Baldwin and Basinger were married at the time) that it held my interest throughout.

Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were a married couple when they portrayed the married McCoys in this 1994 remake of the 1972. Their on-screen chemistry is incredible. Any time you get this kind of casting occurrence in a film, it is at least worth checking out. Here it really works.

The thing that distinguishes this Jim Thompson story is the catch-22 Carol McCoy is faced with- and the percussive effect her necessary action has on the McCoy couple- while the tension is ratcheted up to 11- in their non-stop hour-and-a-half getaway throughout the Southwest.

It is a juicy role for a married couple, and Baldwin & Basinger make the most of it. They both are in prime form here and very compelling to watch together.

Besides the McCoys (and Richard Farnsworth), it is a B film. Michael Madson's hair is a real challenge to deal with. At least you can cut out of the Richard Marx end credit song. You have to live with Michael Madson's hair for the whole ride. IMDb rating should be around 7.