Top Gear to recreate the Italian Job Mini sewer chase scene in Belfast?
It's been six years since director F. Gary Gray assembled an all-star cast including Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Jason Statham and Donald Sutherland to recreate the Michael Caine classic The Italian Job. And though the remake bore little resemblance to the original, the one part which the modern pretenders made sure to include was a recreation of the famous Mini police chase scene. Leave it to the Brits, though, to reclaim their national treasure, as new reports indicate that the BBC's hit car show Top Gear is planning a reenactment of their own.
Both the 1969 original and the 2003 remake featured scenes where the protagonists evade police pursuit in the sewers hauling millions of dollars worth of gold bars. The original was set in Turin but shot in Coventry (whose sewer system was then under construction) while the remake was set in Los Angeles, but Top Gear is gearing up to shoot in Belfast. Okay, you figure, Top Gear has set up lots of off-the-wall races already, right? This segment was actually pitched to the TG crew by the local water company, eager to promote the £100m new works project that has been under way since 2005 to replace the Victorian-era plumbing system in the Northern Ireland. Thanks for the tip, Sam... this ought to be good.
[Source: BBC | Image: Steve Finn/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
usingthelou 4:51PM (7/23/2009)
I CAN'T WAIT!!!
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Jim Magill 4:58PM (7/23/2009)
My god, that's just nuts... They never do anything interesting in Belfast
Jim
trevor2k 4:57PM (7/23/2009)
Remember Pepsi Blue?
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djdnz 4:58PM (7/23/2009)
Yesss - this is going to be awesome, I hope it airs this season. I fully expect it to be up to the usual levels of Top Gear glory.
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Mr.TiredOfEconomicDownturn 5:25PM (7/23/2009)
I'll keep my BitTorrent fired up and ready...
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feeboo 5:33PM (7/23/2009)
Fifth Gear just reenacted some of the stunts from The Italian Job. I find it interesting that the last season of each show has had a lot of overlap. Lotus Evora, Jaguar XKR, Lamborghini Murcielago SV, bus racing(technically from a season or two ago on top gear), and the now Italian Job. I still love both shows, for two entirely different reason, but all the overlap is getting a little annoying.
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Sam 5:58PM (7/23/2009)
This might have to do with it being the 50th year of the mini and 40th year since the original came out.
And you're welcome guys ;)
feeboo 6:05PM (7/23/2009)
Did you learn that from the 40 times they said it on the Fifth Gear episode?
Sam 6:27PM (7/23/2009)
@feeboo
No because i don't watch Fifth Gear. Some of us happen to be fans of the original movie and infact the original mini so don't need to be reminded of it...
Sam 6:01PM (7/23/2009)
I can only hope Russ Swift is involved in this, anything he can't do with a mini isn't worth doing.
Here's hoping they can think of a way to do the loop they couldn't do when shooting the original film.
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feeboo 6:07PM (7/23/2009)
Fifth Gear already did a loop special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H90cqD817SQ
Sam 6:30PM (7/23/2009)
Did they do it in a sewer? No. Did they do it sideways? No.
So how does that have any relevance to what i said or indeed the original movie?
cluebyfour 6:03PM (7/23/2009)
Just a nitpick, but I'm pretty sure that the 2003 version featured a chase through L. A.'s subway tunnels, not the sewers.
I also remember that they had to convert the Minis to EVs because city officials feared the ventilation wasn't sufficient for gas engine exhaust.
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Jeff Johnson 6:07PM (7/23/2009)
It's odd - I do love Top Gear, however why is every show 50 minutes of stunts, pranks, and jokes, and only 10 minutes of actual car review?
Don't get me wrong I'll still watch it - but lately it seems they have just go over board with all the stunts and "hey look at me" kinda crap.
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Guitar Hero 6:23PM (7/23/2009)
Because it's not a "car review" program. It's a car show. And, look at it this way:
Would Top Gear be still Top Gear if it was more focused on reviewing cars?
People don't watch Top Gear to see the reviews, people watch Top Gear to see what time the SIARPC does, what time the Sitg does, what hilarious/almost impossible challenge they make...
Nateb123 7:54PM (7/23/2009)
Agreed Jeff. It's not even a car show now. Things like the bantering over newsworthy topics has always been far more entertaining to me than some stupid celebrity taking up half the show and some challenge that involves taking a crappy car and watching it fail miserably at some tests. It was okay the first time it was done, now it's just beating a dead horse. Then rather than going back to the formula that made them famous, they just break each other's stuff, act like 5 year olds and spend their budgets on mostly uninteresting features. Top Gear was good when they couldn't even afford to make a whole season and so they made up the Top Gear Awards. Fame has made the show crap and much as it surprises me to say it, Fifth Gear is now better in almost every way. Plato and Tiff banter and screw around but still actually focus on the cars.
Mike P. 8:51PM (7/23/2009)
Because there are better places to find reviews of the Dacia Sandero.
Brother_Will 8:06PM (7/23/2009)
This will be good to see and though i expect they could fit those fat pretenders down there Top Gear will likely use real Minis so it wont matter when they get stuffed into a wall or on there roof after trying to loop them.
As for Fifth gear im sorry the banter doesnt work for me and there continual efforts to emulate Top Gear (Theyve got themselves a track now!) are starting to grind for me. They need to go back to what they were good at and that was consumer reports and car reviews and leave the entertainment to Top Gear.
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cool_ozzyfromkalush 12:14AM (7/24/2009)
I hope that guys actually take this seriously.
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