David S. Wallens said:
I’m going to add two to the list, and they involve a little history lesson.
All the way back in 2001, a car company–BMW, perhaps you’ve heard of them?–promoted its latest wares through, yes, car chases. And car chases involving all the usual ingredients, including crashes, gun play and even more crashes. Think more 007 than CHiPs.
You could watch the shorts on a dedicated site. This was before YouTube and all of today’s social media. Old school.
But, if you were one of the chosen, you could get your hands on a DVD containing the series. I got mine from my dad–I think he got it via the BMW CCA.
To make these shorts, BMW enlisted some of the biggest names possible: Madonna, James Brown, Ang Lee, John Frankenheimer, Guy Ritchie, Don Cheadle, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo, etc., etc.
The series starred Clive Owen as the nameless “the Driver.”
“The Hire” series debuted with “Ambush,” and I think it’s the star of the original run.
Why I still put these features on a pedestal all these years later: Each short contains a full narrative that happens to contain a chase. It’s more than just gratuitous cars crashing into things; the chase is needed to move the plot from here to there.
Also, the sound work. Listen as the car knocks over the orange traffic posts. You can feel that hollow “boink” as each one bounces off the BMW’s front bumper.
And then there’s the central character. Despite not saying much, “the Driver” brings in ethics, warmth and humanity. His simple “Buckle up” goes far.
BMW ended the original run in 2002 but brought back “the Driver” for one more appearance in 2016’s “The Escape.”
“I might be a little rusty right now, but I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m very good at that.”
I can relate, mystery man, I can relate.
I have the DVDs as well, were they that difficult to get? I can't remember how I came by them... I also have the comic books which are a pretty cool read.
