"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
09/26/2014 at 13:46 • Filed to: None

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is on HBO right now, and I'm watching it ... again.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (9)

ACESandEIGHTS > Steve in Manhattan
09/26/2014 at 13:50

Lovin' the oldschool Colorado plate on that rig.

Had no idea they remade this. Apparently good enough to watch twice.

Steve in Manhattan > ACESandEIGHTS
09/26/2014 at 13:58

I didn't see it in the theater, but I think on VHS (remember that?) at some point in the late 90s. Sadly, they wreck a '69 Charger - but great driving sequences.

Tohru > Steve in Manhattan
09/26/2014 at 16:39

There are just two bad things I can say about the 1997 Vanishing Point remake.

1. They gave it a plot.

2. That plot heavily references Ruby Ridge and Waco.

Steve in Manhattan > Tohru
09/26/2014 at 16:44

I didn't mind the references so much - there will always be a black helicopter crowd. Watch the final scene again and see if you can detect the big error.

Tohru > Steve in Manhattan
09/26/2014 at 16:59

Which one?

You mean about how at the speed he was going and how close he was when he saw the dozers by the time he hit the brakes he still would've plowed into them?

Or that when he starts flat-spotting those Goodyear Polyglas tires the car is sliding all over the place, but they later show the skid marks to be straight?

Or how he hits the brakes at the top of the crest, yet comes to a stop at the top of the same crest?

Or how when he takes off he's about 300 yards from the dozers but the run-up he has to them is about 2 miles?

Or how very clearly you can see that his launch point is where he first accelerated away from the four green Crown Vics?

Or do you mean how they said it hit at 185 mph?

Or the obvious green screen work? The Challenger drove through once at speed without the dozers there, then parked in front of the dozers and blown up. Clearly, their insurance couldn't cover firing the car at the dozers.

Or how they float the theory that he dove out of a car doing 120+ and none of the cops shooting at it noticed?

Or how the necklace hanging on the rear view mirror ended up on a rock 40 yards away at a 90 degree angle from the direction of travel?

Steve in Manhattan > Tohru
09/26/2014 at 18:13

The car that bursts into flame is alsost certainly not a Challenger, at least to my eyes. The rear wheel you can see through the flames looks like it's from a GTO, and the rear quarter is wrong - I think they crashed a garden variety Tempest, or whatever the car the GTO was based on at the time.

Of course it's nothing compared to the famous James Bond Mustang mistake - go to 4:00 and ignore the dubbing:

Tohru > Steve in Manhattan
09/26/2014 at 18:26

I remember that one. The story I've heard there is that Film Unit 1 filmed it going into the gap, and Film Unit 2 filmed it exiting on a different day. By the time the mistake was realized, they were unable to go back and re-film the stunt, so they did the best they could with the footage they had.

Steve in Manhattan > Tohru
09/26/2014 at 18:42

There's a documentary somewhere out there - I think Hammond does the interviews - where they interview the director. You're right; they were so far into post production they couldn't go back and reshoot. I love the idea that this could happen. Like when that stormtrooper runs into an overhead in one of the early Star Wars movies ....

Tohru > Steve in Manhattan
09/26/2014 at 18:50

It is pretty amusing that this could happen, and make it into a major motion picture.

The stuff that slips by nowadays isn't quite so obvious. The most recent one that comes to mind is the runaway train movie Unstoppable. At the end, they have an F250 Super Duty chasing the train. As it's accelerating, there's a clip of the speedo climbing - to reinforce the truck is speeding up, I guess.

The problem is that it's not a Super Duty speedo - it's actually a clip from the LA River chase from the Nick Cage remake of Gone in 60 Seconds. They use a round Mustang speedo and try to pass it off as a Super Duty speedo.