Greatest Film Scenes
and Moments



The Italian Job (2003)

 



Written by Tim Dirks

Title Screen
Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions
Screenshots

The Italian Job (2003)

In F. Gary Gray's remake of the original 1969 British heist film (with Michael Caine):

  • the opening sequence - a daring Venice heist of gold bullion by a group of high-class thieves, involving an exciting boat-chase; the entire 'Italian Job' was supervised by retiring life-long professional safecracker-criminal John Bridger (Donald Sutherland)
  • the advice offered in dialogue by John Bridger to fellow mastermind-thief Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) about two kinds of thieves in the world: ("You know, Charlie, there are two kinds of thieves in this world: the ones who steal to enrich their lives, and the ones who steal to define their lives. Don't be the latter. Makes you miss out on what's really important in this life"); then Bridger questioned his own fatherhood: ("Sitting in prisons doesn't make you a good father. I spent half my kid's life in prison. Don't get to be my age with nothin' but this, Charlie. Find somebody you want to spend the rest of your life with and hold onto her forever")
John Bridger: Speech About Values in Life
  • the double-crossing betrayal of Steve Frazelli (Edward Norton), one of the thieves, who turned traitorous on his own partners in crime on a road near the group's secluded retreat in the Alps - he murdered John Bridger, and then absconded with all of the gold bullion from the Venice heist, and fled to Los Angeles
Confrontation Scene Between Steve (l) and Charlie (r)
  • a year later in Los Angeles, the confrontational scene in a restaurant when Charlie alerted the calculating, devious and paranoid Steve Frazelli (Edward Norton) to the fact that his gang were going to vengefully re-steal the gold bullion, after being double-crossed and betrayed in Europe; Steve claimed that he had already laundered most of the gold bricks in LA, and that Charlie had blown any element of surprise: ("That gold is already gone....No, really, it's over Charlie. I'm trying to move the last two bricks. You want to come after me over a couple of lousy bricks? I mean, really, be my guest. But you're off to a bad start, you know? 'Cause you just blew the best thing you had going for ya. You just blew the element of surprise"); Charlie abruptly punched out Steve, asked: "Surprised?", and then added: "It's over when I say it's over"
  • the character of reluctant, fellow expert safecracker Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), John Bridger's estranged daughter, who agreed to aid Steve and his gang
  • the amazing action sequences that snarled traffic in downtown Los Angeles - during the vengeful attempt to recapture the gold from Steve's LA mansion; the plan began with the overhead view of a trio of Mini Coopers (red, white, and blue) driving down the sidewalk of Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and careening down stairs to enter an LA Metro subway station and rail tunnel; in a race to get to the tracks, they had to speed past a Metro train with only seconds to spare; afterwards, the group of vehicles retreated from gunmen on motorcycles, and navigated through the narrow storm drain tunnels or tubes into a Los Angeles River bed, where they also had to evade Steve piloting a helicopter in the air and race through a pre-planned Los Angeles traffic jam
  • the concluding celebratory montage of Croker's team enjoying the fruits of their newfound wealth: getaway driver Handsome Rob's (Jason Stratham) Aston Martin car ("Handsome Rob got his Aston Martin"), hearing-impaired demolitions expert "Left Ear"'s (Mos Def) dream house ("Left Ear got his dream house in the south of Spain with a room just for his shoes"), computer techie-hacker Lyle's (Seth Green) fame and powerful audio speakers ("Lyle finally made the cover of Wired Magazine...And he got that kick-ass stereo he wanted...with speakers so loud they'd blow a woman's clothes off"), and Croker's love and respect from Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron): ("And me? I took John Bridger's advice. I found somebody I want to spend the rest of my life with and I'm gonna hold on to her forever")

Venice Boat-Chase During Heist

Heist of Bars of Gold Bullion in Underwater Safe

Double-Cross Murder of Bridger by Steve

Stella Bridger
(Charlize Theron)



Trio of Mini Coopers


Racing in Tunnels

Evading Steve's Helicopter

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