While escorting an elderly man to an undisclosed location, The Driver is confronted by a van full of armed men and is warned that the old man has stolen a large amount of diamonds. The old man claims to have swallowed the diamonds and that the men will likely cut him open to retrieve them. The Driver decides at the last minute to help him, participating in a car chase and shootout with the van. The Driver eventually evades his pursuers and watches their destruction. He then delivers the old man to a town nearby and asks the merchant if he did indeed swallowed the diamonds. The client merely chuckles and walks away. The Driver then leaves.
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One of my all time favorites.
Crappy film
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
This is another one from the BMW series of short action films starring Clive Owen as the mysterious Driver. It's one of the last directorial effort from John Frankenheimer and was written like a couple of the others by Andrew Kevin Walker, the creative force behind the movie Se7en.The Driver escorts a foreigner when he gets stopped and at gunpoint asked to hand over the diamonds the passenger is carrying. The Driver is not willing to risk his life for the diamonds and tells him to do so, but the stranger convinces Owen's character that it's not possible as he swallowed them, so the only option is drive as fast as you can. And that's what the Driver does best. A meaty car-chase follows, which wasn't bad, but I preferred the thriller aspect before and the closing scene with the two in the end, which made me smile as well. I haven't seen too much from Tomas Milian, but this here was enough to convince me he's a pretty good actor. Well done and definitely a contender for my favorite from the BMW promo short films.
I remember seeing a very short version of this film when it was adapted to be an "event" commercial on UK television. If I recall correctly there was a bit of a fuss back then about a "film" being made to sell a car as the approach by BMW making shorts to be able to make commercials was unusual. Skip forward a decade or so to a time when we generally are more aware of advertising and it seems refreshingly honest of BMW to make a film for this purpose rather than the product placement of car companies frantically bidding to have their newest model being driven by the hero in the upcoming summer blockbuster. So the fact that this short film was made primarily to sell me on the idea of buying a BMW was no problem for me.What Ambush does is essentially give us a very contained chase sequence that gives tension while also showing the car going through its paces. There is little story beyond Owen is a professional driver who has to evade a heavily armed hijacking while on the move. The chase is well directed and delivers lots of squealing tyres and movement from the two cars and there is a genuine sense of pace and danger to it, despite having no vested interest in the scenario or the characters. Owen is coolly enigmatic of course (this was before he was the bankable star he is today) but the real star is the car and the work of the stunt drivers, as it is here that the film works.It may well be a commercial for a car I can't afford, but at least it is honest in that goal while delivering an engaging and exciting little chase sequence; some blockbusters out there could stand to learn these qualities from this short.
This basically sums up the film in general, but I will elaborate. The Plot: Clive Owen ( before he was in "The Bourne Identity," "King Arthur," "Elisabeth: The Golden Age," and "Sin CIty" ) plays a "hire" who drives people places they desperately need to go. Often times, they are working for something "top secret" and can only give our protagonist limited information. Also, this is meant to show off the BMW car and is executive-produced by Tony Scott ( Crimson Tide, Spy Game ), Ridley Scott ( Alien, Kingdom of Heaven ) and David Fincher ( Panic Room, Alien 3 ).In this episode directed by the late John Frankenheimer, our hero has to transport a con who has something his mob friends want.
Leave it to BMW to create a promotional DVD of shorts ("The Hire")featuring their cars. The directors list is stunning: Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Guy Ritchie, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The range of the shorts go from the giddy (Ritchie) to the vainglorious (Inarritu), yet all are entertaining. From a strictly commercial sense, the efforts put forth by Frankenheimer and Ritchie present the best balance of entertainment and product endorsement. Basic plot, great stunt drivers, fast paced sound track, tongue in cheek humor. Perhaps a better representation of advertising, than great short films, "Ambush" et al were first made available over the Internet through BMW Films.com. Frankenheimer will soon resurrect "The Exorcist" saga with fellow short film writer/actor William Wisher. One can't help but to think that this little short was a safe promotional boost after the highly disappointing "Reindeer Games". All in all, not a bad way to spend fifteen minutes.
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