BMW Films "The Hire"- What did you think of it?

[Whiskey Tango]

Back in 2001, BMW commissioned a series of 5 short films (executive-produced by David Fincher) as a way to showcase their cars performance. Starring Clive Owen as "The Driver", these shorts were initially produced for the internet, with BMW later producing DVD's (free plus shipping) due to the series growing popularity. One year later another three shorts would be made, this time exec-produced by Tony and Ridley Scott, as Fincher was busy with Panic Room.

Season 1

Ambush
Directed by John Frankenheimer

Chosen
Directed by Ang Lee

The Follow
with Forest Whitaker, Mickey Rourke, and Adriana Lima
Directed by Wong Kar-wai

Star
with Madonna
Directed by Guy Ritchie

Powder Keg
with Stellan Skarsgård and Lois Smith
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Season 2

Hostage
with Maury Chaykin and Kathryn Morris
Directed by John Woo

Ticker
with Don Cheadle
cameos by Ray Liotta, F. Murray Abraham, Robert Patrick, Clifton Powell and Dennis Haysbert as US agents.
Directed by Joe Carnahan

Beat the Devil
with James Brown, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson
Directed by Tony Scott
_________________________________

I was one of the people who sent off for the dvd back in the day. I remember watching them and thinking they were pretty cool. I didn't know who Clive Owen was at the time (season 1 debuted a year before The Bourne Identity), but they had pretty slick production value for what were essentially 8-minute BMW commercials. At any rate, I soon forgot about them completely. However, I found the dvd today while sorting through some old boxes and plan on rewatching them this weekend to see how well they hold up.

So with all that unnecessary filler out of the way, I open this thread to the rest of you. What did you think of The Hire? Love it? Hate it? Never heard of it? State thine opinions, Oh denizens of Misc. Films.

Poll to come, as soon as I decide on options.

 

[Clouseau]

i also ordered the DVD way-back-when, and i still pull it out once in a while, just for the fun of it...

personally, i thought the BMW films were excellent! of course, i'm slightly biased, i guess, since i'm also a huge fan of Clive Owen films in general, but still... my favorites have to be Hostage, Ticker, and Star, but there's not a single one that i actually dislike... they're all top-notch material, IMO!

for me, these films just furthered my already pre-existing belief that Clive Owen really should have been the new James Bond, but that's a subject for another thread, i guess...

 

[Carmine Falcone]

Beat The Devil is so ****ed up. It's genius. James Brown V.S Satan. How can one not love that? Star is pretty good aswell. 'Owned' would be the word to summarize it. And Ticker is okay. Haven't seen the rest of 'em.

 

[Clouseau]

Star is pretty good aswell. 'Owned' would be the word to summarize it.

or in this case, perhaps it would be "Owen'd"... t:

 

[xwolverine2]

holy crap the first episode rocked!!...i never even heard of these!

 

[Whiskey Tango]

holy crap the first episode rocked!!...i never even heard of these!

I knew it! Haha!

Enjoy, xwolvie2, they're too damn good to go unappreciated.

 

[xwolverine2]

the hulk ang lee ending one was hilarious!

 

[JTStarkiller]

I got the DVD from way back when, but it skips like hell now, and there's no way to replace it since it's OOP.

Shame, because I love em.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

I only saw the stuff from the second season, but I dig the hell out of these. Just fun-ass action shorts. I think "Star" and "Beat the Devil" is the best of them, 'cause they're so f**ked-up it's genius. t:

 

[Carmine Falcone]

Traded the sunrise for the sunset. That's what I did.

 

[xwolverine2]

holy crap i couldnt even tell if that was gary oldman or not!!

 

[Carmine Falcone]

holy crap i couldnt even tell if that was gary oldman or not!!

Yeah, and I love how he becomes scarier in every shot during the race.

And Danny Trejo is awesome, especially when he yells ''JAMES...BROWN!'' right before Brown himself randomly bursts out in a performance of Sex Machine.

Damn, Beat the Devil is cool.

 

[xwolverine2]

just watched all of them
my favorite is still the first one though...
it had the most style and use of car advertising....

Star in close second, because who doesnt like to see a bichy celeb get own3d! lmao

powder keg was the worst... the car was barely used,lol... and nothing happened.

the last too were too flashy(as are all of tony scotts movies)

John Woo actually managed to do a good one.

ang lee-did he do that that before making the hulk????... lol what are the chances?

the follow i loved the narrative point of view... but thats it.

 

[Clouseau]

ang lee-did he do that that before making the hulk????... lol what are the chances?

actually, yes... he directed Chosen in 2001, and Hulk in 2003...

 

[xwolverine2]

woah lol

 

[Dr. Manhatten]

I own a DVD of it, it's pretty good series. But I HATED Beat the Devil. It was so unnecessarily flashy and boring that I thought it flat out sucked. It gives me a headache just thinking of it, and paved the way for my hatred for the movie Domino for similar reasons

 

[xwolverine2]

I own a DVD of it, it's pretty good series. But I HATED Beat the Devil. It was so unnecessarily flashy and boring that I thought it flat out sucked. It gives me a headache just thinking of it, and paved the way for my hatred for the movie Domino for similar reasons

yeah really.... it was just out of continuity and tone really...
plus, when did this turn into sci-fi?...lol

 

[Carmine Falcone]

To those who hate Beat The Devil; May Gary Oldman damn your soul.

 

[Sava]

my fav is The Follow, everything in it and the way its shot and the music is just beautiful

 

[xwolverine2]

To those who hate Beat The Devil; May Gary Oldman damn your soul.

too flashy sorry

 

[MaskedManJRK]

To those who hate Beat The Devil; May Gary Oldman damn your soul.

In-motherf**king-deed.

my fav is The Follow, everything in it and the way its shot and the music is just beautiful

Yep. Plus seeing "Dwight" and "Marv" in a short scene was kinda fun. t:

 

[ImTheWombat]

Im a big fan of Ticker. I just love the dramatic structure of it as well as the great ending.

 

[Clouseau]

Im a big fan of Ticker. I just love the dramatic structure of it as well as the great ending.

yeah, Ticker and Hostage both have a very James Bond feel to them, don't they?

 

[Carmine Falcone]

Clive Owen is the coolest mother****ing actor working today.