Another thread about a car spotted in a music video got me thinking about cars sourced by film makers.
In a lot of productions a nice car is used then treated roughly or destroyed despite it being a gleaming classic.
For instance in the original Italian Job, the Mafia crush Michael Caines Aston Martin ("preety car") and a few E-Types are bulldozed off a mountain road.
Did the production crew buy these new and would it have met the approval of the car manufacturers?
Did they buy knackered cars and tart them up for the film?
How many Dodge Chargers were destroyed in the making of the Dukes of Hazzard film?Do they buy mock-ups or the real thing?
More recently in the program links for Channel 5 (it may even be Fiver or Five USA) there's a clip of a lovely American muscle car jumping off those steep hills in San Fransisco and landing in slow motion. The car is almost a dustpan and brush job afterwards. its horrible to watch so what's the deal?
What film makes you cringe as a car lover when a vehicle is totalled?
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Often duplicates are made and destroyed minus the expensive components when totalling a car.
Top Gear - Morris Marina's seem to get flattened a far bit.
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If the car is current then there must be the option to use shells etc. For classics then they hopefully are not damaged.
Once spent an interesting day when the BBC were filming a drama that "needed" a relatives car. We got there early and it was interesting. Three course lunch included (the stars pushed in!).
Uncle got paid to turn up and park....
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insurance write offs are used in this country (the damage is the other side to the camera action stuff)
im sure uncle sam uses similar ways to procur late registered stuff for dismemberment
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"insurance write offs are used in this country (the damage is the other side to the camera action stuff)"
Rubbish BB. A stuntman worth his salt wouldn't step into any car that had its integrity compromised on safety grounds. You might have seen the odd one in your time on some low budget affair, and they do use wrecks for the demolition derby sort of filming. But this is definately not the norm when it comes to stunts.
As for cars used in film work they are sourced from agencies or simply hired for the shoot. There are specialist agencies that have their own vehicles (eg police cars) and hire to film companies. I've never seen any wrecked cars on any TV shoot. They are always in pristine condition. You can even register your own car with an agency to loan out for filming.
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Top Gear - Morris Marina's seem to get flattened a far bit.
It is perhaps arguable that this might not quite qualify as a cause to go into mourning.
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For instance in the original Italian Job the Mafia crush Michael Caines Aston Martin ("preety car") and a few E-Types are bulldozed off a mountain road
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I was horrified - nay, traumatised, seeing that scene at the cinema in the sixties.
'Dad, Dad,' I kept asking, 'They were not real cars, were they?'
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>> For instance in the original Italian Job the Mafia crush Michael Caines Aston Martin ("preety >> car") and a few E-Types are bulldozed off a mountain road >> I was horrified - nay traumatised seeing that scene at the cinema in the sixties. 'Dad Dad ' I kept asking 'They were not real cars were they?'
I have a vague memory that the Miura which was trashed at the beginning of original Italian Job was in fact a real one although the engine and gearbox had been removed. The makers of the film reckoned that doing that was cheaper than building a replice. I think a Miura was about eight and a bit thousand then on these shores.
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How many Dodge Chargers were destroyed in the making of the Dukes of Hazzard film?Do they buy mock-ups or the real thing?
No, they were real. I read somewhere that this series had a genuine impact on the supply of 1969 Dodge Chargerss right through to the current day as they destroyed so many. ISTRC it was around 300 of them in total while filming the series.
I remember crying when my uncle told me the General Lee was actually several different cars in every episode. Back then I didn't notice the bad editing in which you could see the car crumple like a paper bag on every jump landing before cutting to the "brand new" pristine car in the next scene. The General Lee couldn't die - it was a character in itself in the series.
Aah, memories.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 24/09/2009 at 01:38
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Lots of info about cars and movies here
www.imcdb.org/
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And watch very carefully the way films and tv programmes are edited. You may see a shot of a recognisable car speeding along a road, it will skid, spin round, and then ....cut....to something rolling over or smashing into a building. It may not be the same car you saw in the travelling shot, but it will be covered in dust and smoke and surrounded by all kinds of rubbish and you won't really know.
Edited by Armstrong Sid on 24/09/2009 at 10:06
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On TV I've noticed sudden , minor, damage appear then disappear on vehicles.
This is usually a sign that further mayhem will ensue in films.
When in holiday in Venice, USA, 2 years ago, an episode from a TV series was being filmed across the road from our H*****y Inn. Lots of rehearsals with 1970's cars ,some involving a minor bump with a car pulling out of a driveway. We saw a final take and it involved a fair side swipe and lots of fake smoke! One car was a semi muscle car and the other a little Nissan. Director was the guy who did 'The Queen' a few years back.
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I sold a Renault 5 Auto to the girlfriend of Lewis Collins, the hetrosexual half of The Professionals.
The car appears briefly in a rather rubbishy film he made about the SAS called Who Dares Wins.
If I recall, he hares down a mews in London in it, but doesn't hit anything.
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The Professionals.
you learn something new every day :-)
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In answer to the OP's question, one of the more painful trashings on film is that of George C. Scott's BMW 503 in The Last Run (a favourite road movie of HJ's), which comes to a sticky end being driven violently down stone steps through narrow walls in some Mediterranean fishing village.
I doubt if they were ruthless enough to use a real 503 for those sequences. Perhaps they found a scrapper and did it up to look like the car in the film. Looked real enough to set one's teeth on edge though.
Edited by Lud on 24/09/2009 at 16:56
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Apparently in the James bond movie ?Tomorrow Never Dies? over 14* BMW 7 Series where used for the sequence where he gets chased through a multi story car park, and then drives of the roof into a shop window
Nearly all of them where wrote off for that circa 5 min sequence
* Rough guess its been a long time since I saw the ?making of? but I?m sure it was into double figures
Edited by redviper on 24/09/2009 at 17:11
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a lovely American muscle car jumping off those steep hills in San Fransisco and landing in slow motion.
There's a lot of that in the chase sequence in Bullitt. The gangsters' black Dodge Charger can be seen in one take shedding a nave plate and some chrome trim when it lands from one of those jumps.
Steve McQueen's Shelby Mustang handles better in the film and would in real life, but I believe a really top Charger would have been quicker in a straight line.
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There's a lot of that in the chase sequence in Bullitt. The gangsters' black Dodge Charger can be seen in one take shedding a nave plate and some chrome trim when it lands from one of those jumps.
Next time you watch that sequence count how many times the Charger and Mustang overtake the same green Volkswagen Beetle - 6 or 7 times I think, it also appears at a couple of the crossroads as the 2 main cars slide through a 90 deg turn.
J
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Yeah, lots of cameras to squeeze as much value as possible out of an expensive sequence. It's quite annoying when obvious though I agree.
Nevertheless films like Bullitt and The French Connection broke new ground in the filming of car chase sequences, with proper stunt driving and some genuine-looking near misses. A breath of fresh air after all the wooden, unconvincing speeded-up sequences with carelessly applied tyre squeal effects that Hollywood used to think good enough.
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I saw the James Bond Film "Casino Royale" for the second time recently and winced at the destruction of that fabulous Aston Martin DBS. Another DBS was destroyed in the sequel, "Quantum of Solace".
Apparently they were real Aston Martins direct from Newport Pagnell that met their ends making the films.
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Yes i went to the cinema to see that film, 1st the "phwoar" from all the guys in the cinema and then gasps of horror when it was flipped and rolled.
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Think I read / heard somewhere that sequence was filmed at Millbrook. He should've run over Vesper. Bad lot that one and he would have still had his car. Bloke with the rope wouldn't have caught him in the transfer box either.....
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 24/09/2009 at 22:24
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yes that scene was filmed at millbrook
Edited by redviper on 24/09/2009 at 22:35
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