Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1733 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-12-26
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 84 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Action anti-hero Jason Statham is competing with himself to make the most relentless, non-stop action flick imaginable. In Crank, Statham stars as a hit man named Chev Chelios who's been poisoned by some Chinese toxin; the only way to stave it off is to keep his adrenalin flowing, which requires him to drive at top speeds through crowded traffic, start fights in bars, and run pell-mell down hospital corridors while wearing one of those humiliating smocks that tie in the back. In other words, Crank is high-end pop-trash, filled with many preposterous/ingenious stunts and over-the-top performances (Dwight Yoakam, Sling Blade, is downright droll as a doctor offering Chev assistance), marred by an unpleasant attitude towards women (Amy Smart, Outside Providence, will not look back on this as one of her signature roles). This is a movie for the audience who enjoyed Transporter and Transporter 2 but wanted Statham's perpetual scowl to become a kind of theatrical mask, a perpetual signifier of intensity that begs--nay, demands--that everything around it rise to a mutual level of absurdity. Fans of Luc Besson (Leon/The Professional, District 13) will find Crank to be simpatico. --Bret Fetzer

Synopsis
Freelance hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) wakes up with a big problem; a DVD left in his apartment by small-time gangster Ricky Vanero (Jose Pablo Cantillo) tells him that he has only one hour to live. While Chev was asleep, Vanero injected him with a deadly synthetic drug from China--known as the Beijing Cocktail--as payback for Chev’s last assignment, which failed. Now, Chev's only hope to stay alive is to keep his adrenalin pumping. Dead set on revenge against Vanero, Chev also has to keep his girlfriend, Eve (Amy Smart), out of the mob's hands. To complicate matters, naive, sweet Eve has no idea that her charming British boyfriend is a hitman. Even worse, Chev's boss, Carlito (Carlos Sanz) has no intention of helping his favourite freelancer. Luckily, Chev’s friend Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam) can offer some temporary lifesaving advice; his drugged pal has to keep moving. Downing cans of Red Bull and popping over-the-counter energy pills, Chev is a crazed man on a mission. He has to exact revenge on Vanero, save his girlfriend, and find an antidote, all while keeping his slowing heart pumping. Fear, sex and violence are the best way to keep adrenalin flowing, and there's no shortage of any of them in this non-stop action flick. Screenwriters and directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor make their feature-film debut in this fast-paced film and extreme chase scenes, shootouts, and romance abound, along with plenty of clipped dialogue and just enough dark humour. Statham plays Chev with a perfect combination of steely determination and utter insanity--a guy who is finally trying to do the right thing, even if it means killing lots of people along the way.

Customer Reviews

the most entertaining film of 2006
Crank may not be the most intelligent or cohesive film of all time but for sheer entertainment value its up there with the best. I read a review here which said this wasn't as good as the transporter series??!!!!..are you crazy!! this was way way better than the very poor transporter 2 at least..this film also is so so funny,me and my mate were in hysterics all the way through and before you say was it intentional..the answer is yes.Staham plays his usual cockney character and does a good job throughout..the running time is only about 80 mins or so but its not too short as any longer and it wouldve run out of steam,the pacing is spot on.

Please get this movie..you'll have a great time!!

Jason Statham just never stops
I thought this movie was decent but my husband heavily enjoyed it of course. Its "B" type movie, not a serious, not a critic movie. It is a movie for the people with a simple plot that allows great, heart-pumping action. Crank starts off with superficially appealing opening titles over glass-shattering rock music, and once the movie starts going, it presents itself as an obvious entry in the race-against- time category of movies. Despite points where I would either drastically change a scene or just leave it the hell out, there are some fun moments, such as when Statham tries to evade police by racing his car through a mall and making it up an escalator in it, and when he runs through a hospital desperate for an adrenaline hit.

Honestly, I found Statham's performance in Crank to be possibly one of his best. He continues his career with a lack of versatility the genre of movies he tends to be cast in, with the exception of the romantic comedy London, but his character is unlike any of the other generally wooden, raspy-voiced, earthily cynical characters he's played since his first role. Lock, Stock, Snatch, the Transporter films, and even Cellular showcase him in practically identical roles. In Crank, which involves gangsters, shootouts and other high-over-the-top action sequences, and a character's fatal deadline, themes that you can find in each of the films previously mentioned, he is shown in a role as an aggressive, hasty, impulsive, and highly temperamental person. I mean, when has Statham ever raised his voice or conveyed emotion in any of his films? Here, he does, and that makes it a much more likable role than if it were played by most other action stars.

The film has great momentum and everything mentioned above, but depreciates greatly from the introduction of Amy Smart's token girlfriend character. She plays her role to the fullest, but the Lambourghini ride pace of the movie is severed when her screen time starts. There's also a nonsensical and completely out-of-place sequence where Statham coerces her into having sex with her, impulsively, amidst a large crowd to keep his decreasing heart rate from plundering and thus letting the poison he's been given finally worn out. That scene was a turn off to me, frankly. It and a few other scenes at around this point in the movie. In the Laws and Doctrines of the Race Against Time Movie, it states that you may not slow down. Even when the plot must take expository time, you do it in a clever way where we are still gripping our chair arms.

Crank is not a work of art by any standard, but it doesn't follow formula and it keeps you entertained.

THE BEST ACTION FILM EVER MADE!!!!!
If you like action films, you'll love this. Its not for the faint of heart though. Constant swearing and violence, and some nudity(female nudity)are all featured in this film.
It is very exciting from start to finish. The action is relentless, and never stops. Basically, a hitman has been poisened and he wants to get revenge on the bloke who did it to him before he dies. But if he doesn't keep his adreniline levels up, he dies.
So if you like action with excellent acting and some nudity, buy this god-damn film!