How many movie franchises can you name on which the best directors like Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Woo, Joe Carnahan, Tony Scott and Neill Blomkamp have worked on, which have also been produced by David Fincher and Ridley Scott? You will probably respond that such a film series does not exist. That is until you hear of The Hire. BMW Films has managed to bring all these names, plus many more famous actors, together to create a series of short films in which a BMW is shown prominently and is driven by “The Driver” (Clive Owen).
The great thing about this franchise is that BMW has actually put no restrictions on the directors, except that the main character drives a BWM. That results in a very varied series of short films. Ridley Scott made a film in which James Brown makes a pact with the devil (played by Gary Oldman), Guy Ritchie chose to have his then-girlfriend Madonna (who, to be honest, is horrible at acting) in a very comical short throwing her around the car. And it allowed Ang Lee to make an almost spiritual ballet of cars when The Driver has to make sure that a Buddhist child reaches his destination safely.
Every director has their own vision and you can see their style in the films. It makes it a pleasure to watch them, especially with a running time which often is less ten minutes. My favorite in the series is the short of Alejandro González Iñárritu, in which The Driver tries to bring a war photographer to safety. It feels raw and he does not shy away from showing the less beautiful sides of war.
This film series was a great success for BMW and the company saw its sales numbers rise by 12%. Yet they were expensive films to make and initially there were only two “seasons”. After 15 years, BMW decided to return with a new film, which was directed by Neill Blomkamp and stars John Bernthal. This can be seen through the official site of BMW movies , the other shorts can be found via YouTube. The score I gave each short is different (you can find it on my Letterboxd), but on average I would give the series the score below. A very nice snack which you should seek out!
She also horrible at writing a Bond theme song. 😉
To be honest I really can’t remember her writing that 😉