The Getaway (1994)

The Getaway is a remake of the 1970s movie with the same name starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. This time around with some minor changes the movie comes out pretty aggressively with excellent action scenes. The chemistry between Baldwin and Basinger sizzles as does the action in the sweltering Arizona and Texas deserts.James Woods and David Morse are pretty debonair as smartly dressed villains not to mention the brute character depiction of Rudy by Michael Madsen which he repeats in Reservoir Dogs many years later. The story is pretty good but character development and dialogues are pretty weak. Though no one can replace McQueen, Baldwin's caper is not that far behind.

Fmovies: 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.

The Getaway is a remake of the action classic that stared Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. Now I haven't seen the original so I can't compare the two but by it self this is an OK action thriller. It goes old school with its desert/western setting, bad criminals and finale stand off. When I watched this movie I had no idea what kind of movie it is. The story is simple Doc McCoy (Alec Baldwin), his wife (Kim Basinger) and his partner (Michael Madsen) are hired to get a man out of prison. When the job goes sour, McCoy is locked up for a year in a Mexican prison. With the help of his wife and a Phoenix crime boss Jack Benyon (James Woods), he released and hired to do one more job. This job goes semi good but after it has been done many people end up dead and the McCoys are on the run from many different people all with their eyes on the large amount of cash they have. The performances are OK. Basinger is tough yet still has that soft side and she very good with guns. Madsen is a good mix with Baldwin and Basinger, he add the funny but villainous third part of the gang. The cast is bigger than normal for an action film but since this was made in the early ‘90's some of the actors hadn't hit it big yet. Jennifer Tilly, Phillip Seymore Hoffman and David Morse round out the cast. They all have small parts but they do the best with what they have. The action is not really original and there are a few Woo slow-motion shots thrown in for good measure. There's only one explosion but a lot of guns. The protagonists aren't very likeable, though. In fact, no one in this film is, with the possible exception of Richard Farnsworth's character at the end. Jennifer Tilly threw herself into her role, and both Michael Madsen and James Woods, do their usual creepily evil personas with aplomb.

THE GETAWAY works because the chemistry of sex and violence between the characters played by BALDWIN and BASINGER works. It's not cheesy or contrived. This film is a tale of moral love betrayal and the classic analogy of there being no honor among thieves. The remake follows pretty much the same plot as the STEVE MCQUEEN classic yet takes a few different turns. Fans of the original will like this version as well, one nice aspect is that it maintains a similar look to the original. This film matches the tone of the original and succeeds as a modren film for contemporary audiences.

A major problem with The Getaway is the way the McCoys are seemingly able to sense danger when there is not even the slightest indication of it. Carter, for example, has the incredible ability enabling him to know a gunman is just outside his door as soon as he finishes another bedroom scene with his wife! This serves as an example of how unimaginative things get. the infamous sex scenes are really undeserving of the attention. They are gratuitous in the extreme as they don't serve the story whatsoever. You can't believe the characters like each other that much, having spent most of their time in bitter argument. Believe me, you won't like these characters either.

The Getaway fmovies. With this movie it's obvious that not all the remakes are a mess. The Getaway's 1994 version is much better than the Steve McQueen-original witch is not a bad movie at all. But the Getaway 94 is a blood-pumping intelligent hot action film with deep human characters, amazing sex scenes (rare in American movies), real action and a very good plot. Roger Donaldson's directing is the highest grade of action film making. The script is perfect the stars are phenomenal (Alec and Kim in their best form), even the supporting actors are very good: James Woods, Michael Madsen, Jennifer Tilly and Richard Farnsworth. Alec and Kim are the Bonnie & Clyde of the nineties portraying very human criminals, their conflicts are so real in the story... after all it's one of the best films in the genre of the 90s! A must see for every action-thriller fan!

Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were a married couple when they portrayed the married McCoys in this 1994 remake of the 1972. Their on-screen chemistry is incredible. Any time you get this kind of casting occurrence in a film, it is at least worth checking out. Here it really works.

The thing that distinguishes this Jim Thompson story is the catch-22 Carol McCoy is faced with- and the percussive effect her necessary action has on the McCoy couple- while the tension is ratcheted up to 11- in their non-stop hour-and-a-half getaway throughout the Southwest.

It is a juicy role for a married couple, and Baldwin & Basinger make the most of it. They both are in prime form here and very compelling to watch together.

Besides the McCoys (and Richard Farnsworth), it is a B film. Michael Madson's hair is a real challenge to deal with. At least you can cut out of the Richard Marx end credit song. You have to live with Michael Madson's hair for the whole ride. IMDb rating should be around 7.

wow.lots of action,some brutal violence,even some black comedy thrown into the mix.oh,yeah,also some steamy love scenes and some double crosses.that pretty much describes "The Getaway".for me,all this is a good thing.at least,it works in this movie.there's a great cast,who all put in great performances.Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger play the two lead characters,with great supporting work from Micheal Madsen,James Woods,Jeniffer Tilly and Richard Farnsworth.if you like a action packed movie and don't mind brutal violence and nudity or foul language(there's a lot of that in here)you should enjoy this 1.as an added bonus,there are a couple of twists and,like i mentioned earlier,some black humour.myself,i really had a good time with this movie.i give "The Getaway" 9/10