MartinHafer This is a very surreal film. James Brown (yes, THAT James Brown) goes to see the Devil (Gary Oldman) as he's getting older and wants to make another deal with him--a deal to restore his youth. Brown has brought a driver along with him (Clive Owen) and proposes an auto race to ..either give him the youth or to give him Owen's soul this time.It's obvious that a lot of money was put into this short, as the star power of the three principle actors is impressive. Plus the stunts and fancy camera tricks didn't come cheaply. In 2000 and 2001, BMW commissioned a series of 8 films directed by world-famous directors like Ang Lee, John Woo and, in this one, Tony Scott helms this short. I must admit that I have only seen one other film in this series, so comparing it to the rest isn't yet possible. However, compared to the fabulous short made by John Frankenheimer, "Beat the Devil" came up a bit short. One of the biggest reasons for me is that it just looked like too many disparate story elements were shoved into this film--almost making it an assault on the senses. While Frankenheimer's film WAS intense and packed a lot into a short, this one went many steps beyond that. In addition, the whole idea of a battle against the Devil is a bit clichéd--as it's been done many, many times in the past. Still, for a major adrenalin junkie, perhaps you'll love this film. It certainly was interesting--even if I wasn't bowled over by it.

Mr. Man-3 To BMW Film's credit, it seems to me that much work is put into making each film as independant as possible. Sure there are parallels, mostly with subject matter, but stylistically each one stands apart from the others.Beat the Devil is, in my opinion, the weirdest of the films. The subtitles, the car chase, everything is heavily stylized. Accusing this film of being unrealistic is like saying the ninja turtles aren't human. Duh, they're not supposed to be. That's a poor analogy but you get the idea.The whole thing is also thick and complicated. The dialogue is often unintelligible and I'm still not quite sure why The Driver would bet what he did...but does it really matter? I mean, Gary Oldman plays the Devil and James Brown is in it.

clouseau-4 This short film is the most stylish and funny of the 8 bmw short films I have seen so far (I got them free on a DVD at the he2003 convention). Whether or not you will like the film depends on if you like the Las Vegas loud tackiness of Tony Scott's style, which meshes perfectly with James Brown and the usual over the top acting from Gary Oldman. I enjoyed it immensely, and the Marilyn Manson cameo at the end is quite amusing. The story is extremely simple: James Brown sold his soul to the devil to become the godfather of soul, and now he has aged and wants to race the devil for another 50 years of life. The directing style reminded me of the hyper-kenetic Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt). Gary Oldman as the frenetic devil is an interesting contrast to Clive Owen as the calm driver. Very enjoyable.

rbverhoef Another episode in The Hire-series. It looks different from what we have seen so far but again it is pretty good. James Brown as himself sells his soul to the devil, a great performance by Gary Oldman. The Driver has to race the devil and his driver, played by Danny Trejo. If he wins James Brown gets another 50 years to live. Clive Owen stars as the driver again and there is a nice ending with Marilyn Manson.