Gone in 60 Seconds 2000, Rated PG-13 Buena Vista Home Entertainment

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Starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, et al. Released to DVD on December 5, 2000.

Despite being another glossy, summer, action-blockbuster courtesy of producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Con Air, The Rock), Gone in 60 Seconds is a strangely different kind of Bruckheimer event movie. Where most glitzy, explosive action flicks get bogged down in ponderous dialogue or attempts to give their characters personality and develop them into 'real' people (an endeavor that almost ruined Bruckheimer's Armageddon), Gone in 60 Seconds starts out with a bang and maintains that hectic breakneck pace throughout its entirety. A remake of the '70's thriller of the same name, Gone in 60 Seconds benefits greatly from the simplistic sensibility that surrounded the production. Instead of trying to do too much, Bruckheimer and director Dominic Sena let the focus of the film fall onto the plentiful action sequences and car chases. Nicolas Cage stars here as Memphis Raines, a retired car thief, who is blackmailed into the world of grand larceny auto by Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston) who will kill Memphis' younger brother, Kip (Giovanni Ribisi), unless Memphis can steal 50 cars in the next four days. Fast, sleek and most entertaining, I can only hope that more Bruckheimer event pictures will look like this and less like Enemy of the State.