The Italian Job

Plot synopsis:
Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), a Cockney criminal, is released from prison with the intention of doing a "big job" in Italy. He soon meets with the widow (Lelia Goldoni) of his friend and fellow thief Roger Beckermann (Rossano Brazzi), who was killed by the Mafia while driving a Lamborghini Miura in the Italian Alps. Mrs Beckermann gives Croker her husband's plans for the robbery that attracted the hostile attention of his killers, which detail a way to steal 4 million dollars in the city of Turin and escape to Switzerland.
Croker breaks back into his former prison to convince Mr. Bridger (Noël Coward), the head of a huge criminal empire, to finance the plan. Bridger, who has bribed almost all of the prison guards to work for him, initially rejects the plan, but changes his mind after he learns Fiat is set to build a new factory in China.
With Bridger's backing, Croker recruits computer expert Professor Peach (Benny Hill), his girlfriend Lorna (Maggie Blye) and a team of thieves and drivers. The plan calls for Peach to replace the programme in the computer controlling Turin's traffic control system, creating a paralysing traffic jam that will allow the thieves to escape with the gold in three Mini Cooper S getaway cars.
After planning and training, Croker and crew set out for Turin. Mafia boss Altabani (Raf Vallone) and his underlings are waiting in the Alps at the same pass where they killed Beckermann. Altabani warns Croker that the Mafia are aware of the gang's intentions and smashes their Jaguar E-Type cars, sending Croker's personal Aston Martin DB4 drophead off a cliff. Croker tells Altabani that Mr. Bridger will avenge their deaths by attacking the Italian community in Britain. Altabani lets them go, ordering them to return to England. Instead, they proceed with the plan, replacing the traffic control system's magnetic tape data storage reels. On the day of the robbery, Croker sends gang member Birkinshaw, disguised as a football fan, to jam the closed circuit television cameras that monitor traffic. The substitute data reel then causes widespread traffic chaos. The gang converge on the gold convoy, overpower the guards, and tow the armoured car into the entrance hall of the Museo Egizio. There, the gang transfer the gold to the Minis.
Altabani recognises that "If they planned this jam, they must have planned a way out." Pursued by the Turin police, the three Minis race through the shopping arcades of the city, speed down stairs, jump between rooftops, and finally escape the traffic jams by a pre-planned route across a weir. The getaway is timed perfectly, and they throw off the police by driving through a large sewer pipe. As Mr. Bridger receives the cheers and adulation of his fellow prison inmates, the gang drive the Minis into the back of a moving customised coach. They then unload the gold and dispose of the Minis by pushing them off the mountainside.
The rest of the gang, having sneaked out of the city in a minibus while disguised as football supporters, rendezvous with the coach in the Alps. On the looping mountain roads, driver "Big" William (Harry Baird) loses control of the coach. The back of the bus is left teetering over a cliff and the gold slides towards the rear doors. As Croker attempts to reach the gold, it slips further. The film finishes on a literal cliffhanger with Croker announcing he has a "great idea".

Tags: murder, flashback, action, revenge, entertaining

Review:
Maybe not the most original movie, but a very good one in the genre of the heist / action flicks.
One year later, in Los Angeles this time, the surviving team members create a smart and devious plan to steal back the gold and get their revenge on the traitor...The story on itself is of course not very original, since this is a remake of the original 1969 movie, but it has plenty of goodies to offer to make you forget about that.
Between watching the little Mini Coopers fly around the crowded streets of L.A. and the great bits by stereotypical computer geek-turned-crook (played gleefully by Seth Greene), I had a lot of fun watching this film.Special kudos to the background music.
Wahlberg proceeds to cold cock Norton with a right cross, and then asks him, "Were you surprised??" Hmmm, maybe you had to be there...) Of course the movie requires a certain level of "suspension of disbelief" to work, but if you just relax and go along with it (and don't think too hard about the mechanics of cracking a safe underwater, or the likelihood of anyone being able to successfully hack and manipulate LA traffic via a laptop, etc), you'll have a fun ride.
Mark Wahlberg (Charlie Croker), Charlize Theron (Stella Bridger), Donald Sutherland (John Bridger), Jason Statham (Handsome Rob), Seth Green (Lyle), Mos Def (Left Ear) and Edwin Norton (Steve) really did a good job.
It features a "cool" cast with Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green and Jason Statham.The best chase scene is right at the beginning with a boat pursuit in Venice, Italy.
The cat-and-mouse game between Norton and Theron's characters is suspenseful and fun to watch.Once again, however, we are manipulated into rooting for criminals portrayed as "the good guys." How many times has this happened since the days of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in the 1960s?
Things were not helped in the run up to the film's release by it's main star {and drawing card} Edward Norton, proclaiming that the film was a contractual obligation and that fans of his work would be better advised to give The Italian Job a miss!Had to be a stinker then surely?
Gary Gray hasn't remade the Italian Job of 1969, in fact he hasn't even re-imaged it, the minis are in there, the gold is in there, but all the stand out moments so beloved by many in the 69 film of the same name are not to be seen at all.
So what we get is a very cool heist-come revenge movie-that's maybe a tad too glossy at times, but it's got a pretty sharp script, tight action sequences and a group of actors working very well as a team.
Mark Wahlberg, Mos Def, Jason Statham, Seth Green and the delectably delicious Charlize Theron all come out smelling of roses, whilst Edward Norton really had no cause for concern because his portrayal as Steve is a smarmy delight.I have jokingly titled this film Ocean's 5, but that is in no way detrimental to The Italian Job, it lacks the jazzy coolness of Soderbergh's Ocean's 11, but its a fun and enjoyable picture all in its own right, its rating of just under 7 here on IMDb is actually spot on.
Donald Sutherland has assembled a crack team of thieves all with special skills that include Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Mos Def, Jason Stathem and Seth Green.
The picture narrates how a motley group of thieves whose masterminds(Donald Sutherland and Mark Wahlberg) are gathering specialists (Seth Green , Mos Def , Jason Statham, Edward Norton) to pull off and execute a spectacular caper in Venice , attempting to rob gold bullion ; but they are betrayed by one member of the team .Then , they contract an expert safe cracker (Charlize Theron).
They pull off a perfect heist of millions of dollars , worth of gold , and there occurs several surprises.The film blends tense , action-packed , comedy , emotion, suspense and being pretty entertaining and bemusing .
However 35 years on it still hold it's own and has many merits including...Good music Lovely cars 60's Fashion Stunning backdrops Good stunts Original and plausible plot Memorable cliff hangerA very British film with plenty of character 8/10The new film is very different to the original movie.
I found that the plot involving the traffic light control method used in the new film to be rather geeky and unbelievable at best (another feature that worked better in the old film).Despite it's faults the film contains some nice action sequences and is watchable (although one viewing is more than enough).If I hadn't already seen it all before, by itself this might be a great film.
I haven't had the pleasure of watching the original which personified the 'heist' theme, but I surely can say, I know what 'The Italian Job' is all about.The film is about a team of thieves who plan to steal gold bullion from a former associate who double crossed them.
I like slick heist movies (Ocean's 11, Good Thief, etc) and i think this is a great cast.
there are several points in the movie where she is vulnerable (maybe trying to show more range than Jolie?), and in each of those scenes, when Wahlberg comforts her or says "you can do it", i thought i was going to puke.worst offender of all is Norton who sleepwalks thru one of the least complex characters he has ever played.there are all sorts of continuity problems with the movie and several characters are introduced and then grossly underused (there's a 400 lb somoan looking dude who may have been an interesting character if we saw him for more than 2 minutes).every plot twist is predictable 30 minutes ahead of time, every "funny part" is given away in the trailers (except some of seth green's screen time), and everyone is dragged down by the poor script and direction.
Why bother ruining a great film?And why on earth call it the Italian Job seeing as the whole thing is set in LA, Its just Hollywood stop taking good classic film dumbing it down, making the plot completely stupid and completely Americanising the whole thing.I went thinking if nothing else they would have chucked a bunch of money at the car chases, I was wrong, even where Hollywood could do what it likes to do best, and add loads of special effects and car chases they didn't.It doesn't come anywhere close to the original..
The Italian Job. A Adventure/Action/Crime/Thriller about a guy named Charlie Croker(Mark  Whalberg)who leads a bunch of Robbers on a heist to get a lot of gold  bullion 35 million to be exact.But the Robbers get robbed themselves so  Charlie is planning a new heist to take back the money that was taken  from him and his fellow Robbers but they don't just want the money they  want the revenge.
Mark Whalberg,Charlize Theron,Jason Statham,Seth Green,and Edward  Norton all give amazing performances especially Edward Norton he plays  such a good bad guy.The screenplay in this movie is very good the  directing is OK nothing special.The music in the movie is very upbeat  and exciting i enjoyed it a lot.There were some exciting car's in this  movie from the Austin Martin Vanquish to the mini coopers.The storyline  in this movie is refreshingly good every moment is exciting.
The film itself is pretty cool, good acting cool lines delivered by a cool cast, but like most people going to see this movie, I was there to see one thing only, the mini chase.
The mini chase to honest was rubbish, over way too quickly with no where near as much fun and excitment as the original, and the ending of the film.............well it just ends, with no suspense or anything coming close to the originals cliffhanger, it just turns out all nice and Hollywood.My advice is, if you haven't seen the original, watch it, if you have, watch it again..
This film is MEDIOCRE MELODRAMA meets MILLS AND BOON.It features: a bad and lazy script, terrible dialog, cardboard cutout characters, weak casting, major defects in plot detail and credibility, a romance as deep as speed dating, terrible editing of the main chase sequence, a telegraphed romantic ending and throughout it is full of technology silliness.It also features the moral perspectives that revenge is good, taking revenge turns baddies into goodies, and that stealing from baddies makes what you steal rightfully yours.No amount of reasonable sets and photography can compensate for the defects.This is NOT a remake of the 1969 English masterpiece featuring Michael Caine; it is RIP OFF of that title and reputation.
The film, a remake of a 1969 vehicle starring Michael Caine, is an entertaining caper tale that provides all the elements we expect to find in a film of this sort: the elaborate heists, the high tech gadgetry, the inevitable double crosses and the benevolent thieves who would give Mother Teresa a run for her money in the pure-of-heart sweepstakes.
A year later, thawed out and not a little peeved at the turn of events, Charlie and the rest of the crew discover Steve's whereabouts in Los Angeles and plot out an enormously complicated scheme to exact their revenge - more for their slain buddy, of course, than for the gold itself.The plotting is never really as compelling as it could be, but `The Italian Job' boasts enough finesse and skill in its execution to make the film fun for most of its running time.
The men have no disagreements, no differences of opinion and no conflicts of interest within their happy little group, a defect in the screenplay which robs the film of some of the tension it might otherwise have had.Still, `The Italian Job' is a smooth, fairly standard, fairly enjoyable little time waster with a few good chases both on land and sea, some deft acting and a smattering of amusing one-liners to keep us from walking out of the theater.
Well, for pushing their new Minis, ridiculously expensive and sadly, lacking the charms of the original, they obviously decided that for the millions they paid for being an unrecognized Extra in a James Bond movie, they might as well fund an entire film.
I do not know what it is about movies like "The Italian Job", but I just love to sit and watch them.
He has assembled a dream-team of criminals (Edward Norton, Mark Wahlberg, Seth Green, Mos Def and Jason Statham) to pull off the complicated heist.
But he gave a great performance and gives me hope for "The Hitch-Hikers Guide..." out later this year.As mentioned, the plot is best forgotten in favour of watching the characters interact, which is where the film really scores.It's good enough that I'll watch the sequel when it arrives, but just for the characters, you understand.
Now if they had given it a different title then maybe I could have accepted it as a standard Hollywood action movie or the sort of film to watch when hungover..
Believe me, people, I am not a film elitist to say the least...I enjoy trash as long as it's good trash, and The Italian Job is not that.
it wasn't even a good bad film, it was so insanely rubbish that i found myself laughing out loud more than a few times.inanely predictable, insipid acting, and less than compelling viewing, quite frankly, i only stayed cos i paid £4 to see this and i figured anyone that stupid deserves some sort of punishment.what this film does is what most dull and souless sequels do, makes money, gives people a few hours of entertainment, hits a few chart positions.
what it doesnt give you is that feeling you get long after watching a truly great movie, the feeling that you have really experienced something, its not a movie you will remember for years afterwards, it's simply a film to take you from late evening to a little bit later evening without any danger of actually achieving anything.
I can't believe they took a film as good as "The Italian Job" 1969 and turned it into this waste of time.
It started off okay: the Italian heist scene; But when one of the thief crew, (Edward Norton), decides to take the gold for himself, the situation resulted into the rest of the crew ending up in freezing water, for several minutes - the death time exposure would kill anybody, but the crew lived through it.
Edward Norton and Seth Green can't help but let their talent show, but the rest of the cast's performances were forgettable at best.This film remained in my local theater for the nearly 4 months, which proves I live in a rather tasteless community.
and tries to wipe out the rest of the team as well,, So thinking that they are all dead he returns to L.A. unbeknownst to him only one member of the team died,, now it's time for revenge,, they recruit, Charlize theron ,, a safecracker, to join the team as well,, they slowly plot and plan their revenge on the evil Ed Norton,, who I thought did a great job playing the villain here,, he should get more bad guy roles..
Whatever the reasons, THE Italian JOB is a film that I've constantly watched on DVD after its release and can't help but enjoy tremendously every time..
The Italian job is an amazing heist film, and probably one of the best remakes ever made.
The Italian Job is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again and never get bored of it, it's an enthralling and pulse-pounding heist film that will have doubling over with laughter at the same time keeping you on the edge of your seat.
This is your basic remake of an old caper film and while it has nothing new to offer as far as the plot is concerned, the action sequences are thrilling to watch.
This remake of the original English film with Michael Caine and Noel Coward, among others, should have been left alone, as it suffers in the translation to the American screen big time.This film also points out how can a great actor of the stature of Edward Norton, work so differently with two directors.
Following this betrayal, Charlie and his crack team which includes computer genius Lyle (Seth Green), explosives expert Left Ear (Mos Def), and getaway driver Handsome Rob (Jason Statham) set to work in recovering the gold back from the 'rat' in the group with the assistance of safe cracker Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron).I saw the 1969 version of The Italian Job some time ago and remember finding it reasonably enjoyable (although I recall it having a rather bizarre ending).
However, with the Italian Job we're just given a straight-forward plot, but yet it's still entertaining enough to keep you interested.The chase sequences are fun, the direction, editing and basically all technical areas are also excellent resulting in a film that's not only fun, but it's also quite a good looking film too.Perhaps having low expectations helped here - I thought the original was a good film rather than a great one so I wasn't expecting much here, but the plot moved along almost as fast as the Minis, the script and the camaraderie between the cast were also top notch and above all else it was fun.
This Paramount film is a remake of the 1969 movie of the same name that was a very good comedy caper.
Edward Norton makes a good villain, however I have seen him in better films than this one or maybe just better roles.
This on the edge of your seat movie, makes you wanting the job of Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg).
This adds suspense to the film because of the populous places they are in.Mark Wahlberg along with Charlize Theron and Edward Norton are captivating in this movie.
Walhberg on the other hand steals the hearts of the audience by caring for Theron's character and wanting to steal back the money from Norton to, in a way, avenge Theron's fathers death.The action packed movie will leave you cheering for the team of cons and feeling connected to the all-star cast.
For anyone who likes fast paced films with an a-list cast and non sop thrills, then the Italian job is for you.
THE Italian JOB has style and a grand sense of speed and action in one of the better caper films of recent years.
Donald Sutherland and Charlize Theron (father/daughter team) are superb, and Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def, and Franky G establish a camaraderie that is destined to overcome their betraying partner Edward Norton.
With a promising opening scene of a great robbery, you would think this movie would have more potential like other robbery films such as The Score, which, ironically, also stars Edward Norton.
In 1969 very few criminals used 'shooters'.In my opinion, if you have seen The Italian Job, and feel like watching IJ2003, because you liked the original film, don't bother.
If you haven't seen The Italian Job, go and see the original first, admire it, then go and watch IJ2003, a totally different film without any preconceptions as to what it should be like.
I've seen the original Italian Job with Michael Caine, and that was a classic action/comedy.
The Italian Job is a pretty good, fast moving action film with lots of good car chases, but it is no Ronin.
`The Italian Job" is a stylish heist film beginning in Venice with exciting photography of St. Mark's and canal boat chases.
Just the perfect movie that leaves me behind with a big smile on my face everytime I see it.Starring the lovely Charlize Theron, the butch Jason Statham and Mark Wahlberg as leading characters who get conned by Edward Norton.
The Italian Job is unlike any other heist movie that you may have seen.