Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
★★★★ — Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
A remake of H.B. Halicki's notoriously low-budget 1974 cult film (which Halicki wrote, directed, produced, and starred in himself), this 2000 version handed the concept to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who was riding high off The Rock and Armageddon and knew exactly what kind of film he was making. Dominic Sena, coming off the moderately successful thriller Kalifornia, was brought in to direct on a reported $90 million budget, a considerable vote of confidence for a filmmaker with a thin feature résumé. Nicolas Cage was at a curious commercial crossroads, somewhere between his post-Con Air action-hero peak and his later, stranger career choices, while Angelina Jolie arrived fresh from winning an Oscar for Girl, Interrupted.
Sometimes you don’t want a masterpiece. Sometimes you don’t want trauma, moral ambiguity, or 150 minutes of existential dread. Sometimes you just want a bunch of muscle cars, a killer soundtrack, and Nicolas Cage in a leather jacket surrounded by screeching tyre smoke. Gone in 60 Seconds delivers exactly that and does it so well that it earns every bit of its cult status. This is peak early-2000s cheese: glossy, loud, and gloriously dumb in the best way. Cage plays Memphis Raines, a retired master car thief forced back into the game to save his brother from vengeful mobsters, all because his crew failed to steal 50 high-end vehicles. Yes, the plot is paper-thin. Yes, the dialogue is ridiculous. But none of that matters when you’ve got Angelina Jolie with a wrench and dreads, Robert Duvall deadpanning his way through a garage, and a whole rogue’s gallery of 2000s character actors (Vinnie Jones! Christopher Eccleston! Chi McBride!) stealing scenes between engine roars. The real star, though, is the cars. The film is a love letter to American muscle and European precision (Jaguars, Vettes, GTOs, the legendary Eleanor Shelby GT500) each one introduced like a character, each theft choreographed with satisfying precision. The final heist sequence is pure automotive porn: screeching tyres, perfectly timed jumps, and a pulse-pounding score that blends rock, hip-hop, and synth like a time capsule of Y2K cool. It’s not smart. It’s not subtle. It doesn’t try to be. But as a piece of “turn your brain off” entertainment (the kind of film you put on when you want noise, speed, and zero emotional labour) it’s up there with the best of them. Big engines, bigger egos, and absolutely zero regrets. Sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.
Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 2000 | Watched: 2025-08-10
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
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Physical: Amazon UK
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Related on Movies With Macca
More with Nicolas Cage: Con Air (1997) · Raising Arizona (1987)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)
