Deadline Auto Theft
Deadline Auto Theft
PG | 28 October 1983 (USA)
Deadline Auto Theft Trailers

After the attempted theft of his daughter's husband's car, LAPD Captain Gibbs declares war on master car thief Maindrian Pace, whose insurance investigation company provides the perfect front. A South American drug lord pays Pace and his team to steal 48 cars for him, so they set out on the job while the police frantically try to track him down. Their efforts pay off when Pace's boss double-crosses him and tips them off on his next job. Police pursue Pace in "Eleanor", the last of the cars needed to fulfill their contract, through southern California as he tries to get away.

Reviews
Woodyanders

Irascible LAPD captain Gibbs (a amiable and dynamic portrayal by country singer Hoyt Axton) goes after master thief Maindrian Pace (writer/director H.B. Halicki) after Pace steals a car belonging to his obnoxious son-in-law Carl (a lively and amusing performance by Dan Grimaldi). Moreover, a South African drug lord pays Price and his crew to boost 48 cars for him. Halicki keeps the flimsy, but still enjoyable story zipping along at a constant brisk pace, maintains an engaging lighthearted tone throughout, and stages the copious rousing car chases and fender-bending vehicular carnage with rip-roaring aplomb. The last thirty minute extended car chase in particular is simply spectacular, with more than enough burnt rubber and mangled metal on hand to satisfy aficionados of this sort of stuff. Sure, the bulk of this flick is recycled footage from "Gone in 60 Seconds," but it's still a total blast just the same.

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BroadswordCallinDannyBoy

This is basically the cult classic 'Gone in 60 Seconds' with some added plot and few a few extra heaps of twisted metal.H.B. Halicki wanted to improve upon his initial successful film, so in conjunction while shooting the sequel 'The Junkman' he squeezed in some time to shoot the few extra scenes seen here. The result is pretty worthless. Like many camp classics, it is not plot or aesthetic quality that makes them good. It is the tongue-in-cheek nature that makes them fun romps. Can you imagine 'The Evil Dead' being "improved" upon? Sounds stupid to even consider, though Sam Raimi is trying to get a remake off the ground. However, he is pretty much starting from scratch with that, while here you have the same film with scenes added years later. The differences between these scenes are so apparent that it becomes ridiculous. Styles of clothes and even the condition of the old and new shots is so inconsistent that you'll be thinking an ape edited the film.What is even more disappointing that the "additions" don't add anything. They merely stretch out a film which goes against the whole point of good editing where you trim for good pacing. Also, the new chase scene in the beginning is highly mediocre and the climatic chase from the original is here untouched so by the time you get past the middle of the film you've seen it all before. The funny thing is H.B. Halicki's widow introduces the film as if it were a totally new movie on the DVD introduction.So only watch this if you want to see the famous 40 minute chase scene and cannot get the original in your hands. Or if you want to see an overblown array of car crashing that is the only thing that H.B Halicki managed to shoot for yet another chase film , but was killed in a stunt accident. That comes as a special feature on the DVD. But it is really nothing special and gets well beyond the line of ridiculousness with its slow motion, ever mounting metallic carnage. That essentially amounts to this film being waste of time. 2/10Rated PG for metal crunching mayhem

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michael-mccarroll

This movie is essentially identical to his original Gone in 60 Seconds. Most of the car and chase scenes are identical. Actually, I don't recall any being different. The Dodge Challenger scene is there, the garage showing all the cars, as well as, the several encounters with Eleanor. Only a few of the dialog sequences are changed. Halicki I believe did this because he didn't like the original plot. The changes add more law scenes. Primarily a loud talking sheriff who constantly demands that the need to find the culprit. I rated this low not really because of the virtual similarity to the original. Really, it's not that bad. I actually rated the original a 7 or 8. There's just no reason to buy both versions in my opinion. However, there is a DVD version that contains both this, as well as, Gone in 60 Seconds 2: Junkman. If you have to have it, I would recommend buying this DVD as it would save you a few bucks.

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Uffe-13

This is not a sequel to "Gone in 60 seconds". It is actually the same old 1974 film with new scenes inserted (apparently filmed at the same time as "The Junkman"). This sometimes look a bit strange, since some of the 1974 footage is rather scratched. What I find most curious about this film is that I have never found it in any movie encyclopedia. Not even Leonard Maltin mentions this alternate version in his review of the original Gone in 60 Seconds.

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