christopher-underwood It's a funny thing with Blu-ray, well Blu-ray discs and me, anyway. I always find that the cars, the buses and coaches, the truck and lorries and the airplanes all look sensational in the increased quality of picture but that the actors look worse. It must be to do with the use of make-up intended to be seen on the old 35mm projection and that doesn't quite cut it with the new technology. In any event the vehicles look great, as do the snow capped mountains and Caine gives an endearing performance in a slickly produced film from Peter Collinson. Its not really to my taste, I prefer the Italians own rather more exploitative and rough versions or even the earlier and more realistic British films like Robbery although it has to be said that the final chase is full on and very effective. I've no idea why Fiat were so co-operative when it was our own cars that stole the show and I also think it was a good idea to have the film end the way it does. Oh, and a very bad idea to have that terrible jingoistic song given so much exposure and to have allowed Noel Coward to appear so stupid - but then we all used to love the criminal class then - or were supposed to.

Thomas Drufke Today in film, we are obsessed with heroes. No matter if they are actually superheroes, super spies, or just fast drivers, we love to see high octane action with our leads saving the day. Well we also love to root for the anti-hero. The Italian Job is a great example of a film that definitely had an influence on the Fast & Furious franchise, or just any film that gets us to root for characters who aren't necessarily doing the right thing.It stars Michael Caine, a fresh out of jail criminal who is convinced to do one more job. The ultimate multi-million dollar 'Italian Job'. His character, much like most of Michael Caine's early characters, is a ladies man, and also just about as smooth as any British character can get. He's in charge of putting his team together to perfect the job, and the film turns out to be a pretty fun ride. Now I think most of the goofiness and comedy can be a bit dated if you watch it now, but the action definitely holds up. The stunts are impeccable for a 1960's film. In fact the third act has several stunts that would be considered great if it came out today. I think the film suffers at times from having a lack of a clear and present main villain. It's much like Fast 5, in that it's a really fun film with bold action that just doesn't feel complete because the villain (if you can really call him a villain) just isn't present enough for us to care.But the film is still endlessly entertaining and full of classic quotes and a great Michael Caine performance. I know the ending is a bit controversial for some people but I actually love it. I think it was the perfect ending for a film with this kind of tone. So in all, The Italian Job is a solid heist film that I'm sure was praised during it's time.+Caine is such a ladies man +Stunts & action +Suspenseful towards the end +Perfect ending -Lack of a present villain -Goofy at times 7.5/10

engpbwake The question of why did they not make a sequel, keeps on coming up as discussions on talk radio stations up and down the land (UK). The 2003 version was meant to be for the American market, and in my opinion is not as good as the 1969 version, probably because parts of the 2003 movie were "copied" from the 1969 version, such as the Minis being chased by Italian police cars supplied by Fiat. My opinion is that they should have gone ahead and made a sequel to the 1969 movie, but producer Michael Deeley was unsatisfied with the four endings written and conceived the current ending as a (literal) cliffhanger appropriate to an action film which left an opportunity for a sequel. One concepts of a sequel to the 1969 movie, would have shown how helicopters would have saved the bus seen on the cliff at the end of the first film. The grateful gang would soon discover that it is the Mafia that has saved them, and the sequel would have been about stealing the gold bullion back from them.In interviews in 2003 and 2008, Michael Caine revealed that the ending would have had Croker "crawl up, switch on the engine and stay there for four hours until all the diesel runs out... The (dormobile) van bounces back up so we can all get out, but then the gold goes over."The bus containing the gold would crash at the bottom of the hill where the Mafia would pick it up. The sequel would then have Croker and his men trying to get it back.The coach used in the 1969 movie was used on a school run in Scotland until the mid-1980s.

bkoganbing It's probably not a good idea to see a remake first, but in the case of The Italian Job I did see the Mark Wahlberg/Ed Norton/Donald Sutherland version first. That was an interesting enough film with the action on revenge. But this original with Michael Caine playing the ringleader of a daring bullion hijack has a sense of style all its own. And why wouldn't it with Noel Coward giving his farewell screen performance.Caine is the ringleader of a team of crack hijackers who've been given a plan by the late Rossano Brazzi and it's Caine's job to flesh it out and make it all happen. He's given the plan by Brazzi's less than grieving widow Margaret Blye and he takes it to master criminal Noel Coward.Watching Coward running things from his prison cell put me in mind of Goodfellas where the wise guys are all living the good life via bribes of guards, etc. He might be in jail, but no one is going crimp in any way Noel Coward's sense of refinement. Caine has to sell himself and the job to Coward.But once he does the robbery goes off like clockwork. The caper itself is where this version and the Mark Wahlberg version are at the most similar. Who would have thought that Seth Green would be playing a role originated by Benny Hill as a computer mastermind. Of course computers have changed some in the over 30 years between the two films.Only Ocean's 11 (the Sinatra version) has the same sense of irony in its conclusion as The Italian Job has. Talk about unresolved endings.......