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shite content - bad movie cock up of a 'british street'


AnthonyG

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Again, another movie review from AnthonyG, with added shite content.

 

Just watched a bit of big budget spy rubbish called 'Body of Lies' from Ridley Scott, who used to be a good director, who cared a bit about accuracy.

 

Iraq, Jordan, Syria etc locations are all obviously a former North African French colony -would the Jordanian secret police really use Pug 407s and Citroen C4s?

 

Anyway reason for rant is the absolutely pathetic attempt at a 'Manchester, England' terraced street, which in the aerial shots is obviously some North American city collection of 'row houses' - probably filmed in Philly, Boston or somewhere in Canada like Ottawa (the 'houses' are all far too big, have flat roofs and no backyards or gardens)

 

Vehicles in said 'Manchester street':

 

1990s Suzuki Super Carry with no doors and an electric motor 'whine' dubbed on - this is meant to be a milk float (however the handbrake ratchet is still very audible when the 'milkman' stops the vehicle).

 

c.1990 Geo Tracker (Suzuki Vitara sold through Chevrolet dealers in the 1990s) still with Geo Tracker badges on, with a '55' reg plate.

 

c.1989 Nissan Maxima with an '07' reg plate!

 

Other vehicles (I think they are meant to be abandoned/defunct) are a Volvo PV544 (never imported into the UK) a circa 1966 VW beetle (with shiny paintwork and the earlier 1960s bumpers), a smashed up Subaru Legacy Estate and a Xedos 9 with a missing rear bumper.

 

FFS, If they can afford to spend 6 months in Morocco you think they could spend a few days in a random Northern town in the UK.

 

A bit of 'Baghdad' looked suspiciously North American too, particularly since at one point there appeared a W115 Mercedes 200 with US spec lights and bumpers. There was also a 'Flower market' building in Amsterdam that looked very similar to a bit of Boston I have visited as well.

 

Comically Russell Crowe is given a beer belly and grey hair, or maybe that's just how he is these days :lol:

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To be fair they do blow up the Supercarry (that might be a Daihatsu :wink: ) :lol:

Yep, I'm pleased to report the Vitara gets it too! :twisted: You probably right there about the milk float Andew - could have been a Daihatsu Hijet. I think Piaggo were doing a version of these when Daihatsu gave them up - I have seen a couple about, and a local Skoda dealer did have some brochures but never any actual vehicles (Skoda UK probably told them to stop being so silly and pack it in :lol: )
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Bless em they try, but sometimes get fed a lot of tosh, which they believe. Some Directors also think they know everything. I just didn't have the heart to mention the Mk1 transit used in the Bank Job had Mk2 mirrors on it, as did the Mk1 amby.....

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Bless em they try, but sometimes get fed a lot of tosh, which they believe. Some Directors also think they know everything. I just didn't have the heart to mention the Mk1 transit used in the Bank Job had Mk2 mirrors on it, as did the Mk1 amby.....

I agree, but Ridley Scott is British, so you'd think he knows what a Northern city's terraced street looks like.Maybe he had financiers/producers on his back re time & costs, which I imagine is very common. I normally really rate him - 'Black Hawk Down' was very, very well done - Moghadishu(sp), Somalia created out of an abandoned shell of a 'new town' in either Morocco or Tunisia. I had great fun identifying all the dead Fiats!On this theme, a HBO series called Generation Kill about US Marines in Iraq was mostly filmed in South Africa - In one 'urban warfare' scene, a rustfree Mk1 Escort shell gets blown to pieces :shock: - any OS Forder would have cried into their Stella!
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Bless em they try, but sometimes get fed a lot of tosh, which they believe. Some Directors also think they know everything. I just didn't have the heart to mention the Mk1 transit used in the Bank Job had Mk2 mirrors on it, as did the Mk1 amby.....

Yeah, but you have the benefit of being able to recognise such things. To your average bloke who's only taken his girlfriend to the cinema to get her to put out later, it's hardly going to ruin the film :)Really you've got 'really old' (classic/vintage), 'old' (shite) and 'new' cars. Many directors don't really care what they get as long as it's roughly right, so you don't get an E36 parked up in Life on Mars for example. That's why you get stuff that looks wrong to you and I, like a V-reg Sierra, but gets through anyway. I guess they have to be even pickier when it comes to stuff to blow up, if all there is available is a 1983 Capri and the hero is driving round in a Maserati well it'll just have to be painted the right colour and a fuzzy lens put on the camera :)
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Wasn't one of the Aston Martins destroyed in The Italian Job (The real "only supposed to blow the bloody doors off" version) actually a Lancia?I must admit, I did take my GF to see The Bank Job, and no - I didn't notice the transit wing mirrors :oops: What happened later is nothing to do with you lot! 8)

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Wasn't one of the Aston Martins destroyed in The Italian Job (The real "only supposed to blow the bloody doors off" version) actually a Lancia?I must admit, I did take my GF to see The Bank Job, and no - I didn't notice the transit wing mirrors :oops: What happened later is nothing to do with you lot! 8)

You didn't blow her doors off did you... 8):wink:
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Wasn't one of the Aston Martins destroyed in The Italian Job (The real "only supposed to blow the bloody doors off" version) actually a Lancia?

Only briefly. It was quite a good mock up and I doubt anybody would have noticed at the time, although the number plate was pretty poor.

 

Aston Martin

Posted Image

 

Not Aston Martin

Posted Image

 

If you watch the clip carefully you can see it turn into a left hooker with a different coloured interior.

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I have obviously never watch the Italian Job close enough! :lol: As for things being roughly right being acceptable, it's rarely the case. Few art directors know a lot about classics and older stuff. The director of The Bank Job picked at just about everything else, but didn't notice the mirrors. On the green Mk1 they were chromed so not too obvious, but on the amby they were black and straight from Ford. No earlier than 1978. I don't mind, as long as I don't get the stick about it. Don't pick at the colour of the grille and wheels on one van (even though it left Ford like it) and leave the mirrors alone on something another van. If it's OK to leave one small detail, leave the other small details as well.

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If you watch the clip carefully you can see it turn into a left hooker with a different coloured interior.

The car was actually an Aston Martin in the first take. However, the bit down the hill went wrong with the explosion, so they had to retake it.

 

One of these were used:

 

Posted Image

 

Lancia Flaminia 3c Cabriolet

 

In actual fact the DB4 was pushed over the side of the mountain, but the crew weren't happy with the scene as they wanted it to burst into flames. But the special effects crew member (Pat Moore) with the 'explode' button had to run for his life as the Aston was heading for him, so they employed the services of an excellent body building firm in Turin, who dressed up a Lancia Flaminia 3c Cabriolet. (Not a Lancia Appia Cabriolet nor an Alfa Romeo which many have noted). You can tell when the car flips down the gorge, because the bonnet opens with the hinge at the windscreen end, whereas the real DB4 bonnet hinges at the headlight end - as seen when Charlie recovers his money from the engine bay after getting out of the nick.

 

They were having difficulty actually getting the Aston over the wall, so bus driver Fred Toms dressed up like one of the mob and did the job! Rumours have it that the Aston has been restored, but there is no info available at the time of writing.

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Rumours have it that the Aston has been restored, but there is no info available at the time of writing.

Seemingly so!

The vehicle details for 163 ELT are: Date of Liability 01 12 2008 Date of First Registration 15 09 1962 Year of Manufacture Not Available Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3671CC CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type Petrol Export Marker Not Applicable Vehicle Status Unlicensed Vehicle Colour GREY

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