The Getaway (1994)

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Writers (WGA):

Jim Thompson (novel)
Walter Hill (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 February 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Choosing between love and money is one thing. Getting away with both is something else

Plot:

Doc McCoy is put in prison because his partners chickened out and flew off without him after exchanging a prisoner with a lot of money...

Plot Keywords:

Money | Suicide By Hanging | Violence | Man Hunt | Chase

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Alec Baldwin	...	Carter 'Doc' McCoy
Kim Basinger	...	Carol McCoy
Michael Madsen	...	Rudy Travis
James Woods	...	Jack Benyon
David Morse	...	Jim Deer Jackson
Jennifer Tilly	...	Fran Carvey
James Stephens	...	Harold Carvey, DVM
Richard Farnsworth	...	Slim
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Frank Hansen (as Philip Hoffman)
Burton Gilliam	...	Gollie
Royce D. Applegate	...	Gun Shop Salesman
Daniel Villarreal	...	Luis Mendoza
Scott McKenna	...	Red Shirt
Alex Colon	...	Ramon
Justin Williams	...	Soldier

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

115 min | Australia:116 min (uncut version)

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby

Certification:

Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Hungary:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (original cut)

Filming Locations:

Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa - 2400 E Missouri Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

During the scene where Carol (Basinger) is driving the car and Doc (Baldwin) is shooting from the back seat, a spent cartridge ejected from the gun hit Basinger on the lip. Filming stopped for over a week while the wound healed.

Goofs:

Continuity: The last time Doc fires the shotgun from the taxi it switches from his right to left to right hand.

Quotes:

Rudy Travis: It's been my experience that having friends is overrated.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Getaway (1972)

Soundtrack:

CARMELITA

The big gundown

Roger Donaldson's remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1972 gangster movie classic "The Getaway" is alright, but cannot - as many remakes - reach the power, humor and style of the original version. There are some plus points - the bloody and lengthened showdown in the hotel at the end tries to overpower the impact of the original version, and it works.

There are some good supporting roles from James Woods and Michael Madsen (with dreadful hair style that belongs rather into an Ace Ventura or Wayne's World movie). The plot, even many story details, are just repetitions of the Peckinpah movie, but the tempo of the film is okay as well.

Otherwise there are also too many low points: the score is boring and can't compete with Quincy Jones' original jazz funk fusion grooves. The photography is to clean despite all the Mexican dust and sometimes too MTV style and without the dirty atmosphere that was typical for many Peckinpah movies.

Kim Basinger is alright in the Ali McGraw role, but Alec Baldwin is trying too hard to copy an image of Steve McQueen which isn't working at all. The dialogues aren't as witty as with McQueen and McGraw, and Donaldson would have done a far better job if he could have managed to give an individual life to this picture instead of just doing a 1994 techno grunge remix of an early seventies classic.

Anyway, if you like to watch an entertaining contemporary gangster and road movie, the 1993 version of "The Getaway" is still fun to watch. But if you have the choice to take the original VHS or DVD, skip the remake.