Product Description

Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill, Tony Beckley, Raf ValloneDirectors: Peter Collinson

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #737 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Action & Adventure
• Released on: 2009-06-15
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, French, German, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .39 pounds
• Running time: 95 minutes

Synopsis
In this classic crime film, small-time crook Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) organizes a motley group of thieves to steal four million worth of gold bullion from an armoured car in Turin, Italy. The mastermind of the heist is Mr. Bridger (Noel Coward), an experienced convict who has come up with the idea, but can't take part in its execution because he's in jail. To pull off the plan, the gang must tie up traffic in the center of the city to divert attention from the robbery, and ultimately make off with their booty undetected. The caper leads to one of the most exciting automobile chases ever filmed.

Customer Reviews

"...I'm Glad You're Out Sir...I Mean Back..."
I ripped the shrink-wrap off this little gem this morning with the glee of a six-year old delinquent given a day pass to Cadburys. I then sat down to watch it and emerged two hours later with the grin of a 51-year old Cheshire cat on Viagra.

We all know "The Italian Job" is a Sixties classic, but what you don't know is that this 40th Anniversary reissue of it (issued today 15 June 2009) is simply off the charts good...

First up is the print - which is GLORIOUS - as pristine as you could hope for and a joy from start to finish. And although it doesn't state it on the outer box, this is the fully restored British Film Institute version, which has been cleaned up frame-by-frame (and those clean shots are used in the "Making Of" extras too). One of those features is the 30th Anniversary reissue trailer from 10 years ago, which uses the famous "...doors off..." van sequence. Untouched - it's covered in scratches and has no definition whatsoever - it allows you see what the film stock did look like as opposed to how beautiful it looks now after restoration.

There are so many scenes that now stand out - as Matt Monro's cheesy song "On Days Like These" plays and the car drives through the Alps in the opening credits - when Charlie comes out of prison as he walks through the gates and Maggie Blye greets him in a stolen car from the Pakistani Embassy - when the three Mini Coopers climb the roof of the football stadium with the Italian cops in pursuit - it's just all BEAUTIFUL. The BFI have also done "Zulu", "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" and "Saturday Night And Sunday Morning" and this is up there - done to the same stunning standard as they were (see my reviews).

The extras are generous too (nearly two hours worth):
1. Commentary with Screenwriter Tony Kennedy Martin and Author Matthew Field
2. Commentary by Producers Michael Deeley and Author Matthew Field
3. Mini Adventures (in HD)
4. "Self Preservation Society: The Making Off The Italian Job" (in HD) - features new interviews with the cast, writers, producers including Michel Caine, Maggie Blye, Troy Kennedy Martin, Michael Deeley, reminiscences on Noel Coward, the Director Peter Collinson, Quincy Jones on the cool score etc...
5. Music Video (in HD)
6. The Deleted Scene With Commentary by Author Matthew Field
7. Theatrical Trailer
8. Re-release Trailer

The casting of course was a mixture of luck, fate and genius - Caine perfect as Charlie Croker the likely lad, Benny Hill as the groping computer boffin, the suave yet deadly Raf Vallone as the Turin Mafia boss and Tony Beckley as the dandily dressed Camp Freddy. But the biggest coup of all was Noel Coward as Mr. Bridger - the master-criminal doing time in her Majesty's prison service. He has tea and scones, worries about the British economy and has his cell plastered with pictures of the Queen. Coward is just priceless as he lords about the decking of the prison block, "Rule Britannia" played behind him by a string quartet - it's enough to make you howl with laughter...

You see you forget how funny The Italian Job is - the catty gay tailor saying Charlie's pre-prison clothes could now be part of a museum exhibit, Coward standing beside two prison guards as they hand him his two newspapers and a toilet roll. Prison Governor John Le Mesurier's look of astonishment as Coward complains that 'his' toilet was invaded by Michael Caine (pitching the heist to him) - a man's toilet is his castle... The snooty garage manager played beautifully by John Clive counting the money Michael Caine has just given him for looking after his Aston Martin DB - it's been in his garage for two years while Caine was away in `India'. "I was shooting tigers old boy..." Garage owner counting the fifties, " ...there must have been an awful lot of tigers sir..."

The Turin locations are wonderfully colourful, the mountain scenes as crisp as those in the James Bond reissues and Caine's freckles clearer than ever - all of it - what a peach!

I've reviewed a lot of oldies on the new BLU RAY format of late - some successful, some woeful - but this is up there with the very best. In fact, I suspect that it'll tickle Michael Caine pink that his films "Zulu" and "The Italian Job" will go a long way towards establishing BLU RAY as 'the' format to restore old movies to and preserve them properly. Onwards to David Lean boys...

As you can tell - and if you'll forgive the pun - I was blown away.

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Recommended - big time.

A miracle
If you get extra points for being older, this has to be the greatest Blu-Ray of them all. The quality is unbelievable. This is a 40 year old film offering reference level sharpness and very good depth and plasticity. When you take into account that the format cannot guarantee that for films from the last five years, this disc ends up looking like a miracle. There is nothing to criticise on the picture quality side. Nothing. Colours and contrasts look perfect to me. Just a beautiful picture from start to finish that sucks you in.

The Dolby True HD 5.1 soundtrack is not at the reference level of the best modern films, but it is still very high quality with a genuine sense of surround. The music comes across superbly and the scene in jail where the inmates are clapping to the football supporters' tune 'dah-dah dah-dah-dah dah-dah-dah-dah ENGLAND!' is truly thrilling. When you think that England were world champions when this film was made, it takes on an extra piquancy too.

I was also surprised by how modern the film seems. Humour can date horribly, but the irony of the film still manages to seem quite contemporary. The general, classic attitude of the English to foreigners (especially foreigners who have the cheek to think they stop being foreigners when they stay in their own country :-)) is wonderfully captured. And the line "Now, remember, in this country they drive on the wrong side of the road" was probably the funniest of the lot; I cannot understand why the "blow the doors off" quote became this film's most famous legacy.

Michael Caine is brilliant and just manages to avoid crossing the line over to an all-out impersonation of himself. But the star of the film is, no, not the Mini, Noel Coward! He is just perfect in every scene and lends the film priceless style and gravitas.

If you want to have an evening of great fun in absolutely up-to-date HD quality, then buy this classic film. There are also fun extras, with plenty about the Mini's role in the film. Enjoy!

It blew my doors off!
How could this get anything less than 5 stars.

I have to say the picture quality of the Blu Ray seems "fine" (I do wonder if 32" is really BIG enough to appreciate Blu Ray)

But this Movie is fab, the sound through my 5.1 is great (and really makes it - the bit with mini's in the drainage tunnel - wonderful.)

I'm worried home many times I will keep watching this when I should be doing more "important things"