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Summary: Great Soundtrack too!
Review: Nobody has mentioned the fab soundtrack by the one and only Joe Jackson! Terrific movie - allegorical story of Coppola's own struggle to bring his movies to life. Read between the lines and it's the Francis Coppola story!
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Summary: Wonderful work by Jeff Bridges ...
Review: One of his finest performances since "Starman" ... Here, Jeff gets to play a little bit of the good-natured kidder we've come to love ... as Tucker, the eternal optimist and dreamer, we experience the reality that all dreams are met with obstacles sometimes ...The flashy style of the director has the look and feel of a Life magazine or Saturday Evening Post piece ... it's hype, sure, but it attempts to capture the entreprenurial spirit of post-war America with the swing music and stylish clothing ... Excellent performances by Bridges (both of them!), Martin Landau and even Christian Slater plays with much more subtlety than usual. Dean Stockwell does a pretty good Howard Hughes. Get this movie and be prepared to simply sit back and enjoy it. Before the Big Three had serious competition from Germany and Japan they ruled with an iron fist. The cars we drive today are infinitely better because of competition. Should any criticize me for that statement I simply say these words: Pinto, Vega and Pacer. BTW, my new Ford Explorer is an excellent, well-designed and engineered vehicle. Unfortunately the father-son team of Bridges didn't have nearly as much material to work with in "Blown Away", their only other movie pairing ... Lloyd Bridges plays the corrupt U.S. Senator so well that you'd like to see a full Congressional investigation on him ... Excellent sound track as well.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful work by Jeff Bridges ...
Review: One of his finest performances since "Starman" ... Here, Jeff gets to play a little bit of the good-natured kidder we've come to love ... as Tucker, the eternal optimist and dreamer, we experience the reality that all dreams are met with obstacles sometimes ... The flashy style of the director has the look and feel of a Life magazine or Saturday Evening Post piece ... it's hype, sure, but it attempts to capture the entreprenurial spirit of post-war America with the swing music and stylish clothing ... Excellent performances by Bridges (both of them!), Martin Landau and even Christian Slater plays with much more subtlety than usual. Dean Stockwell does a pretty good Howard Hughes. Get this movie and be prepared to simply sit back and enjoy it. Before the Big Three had serious competition from Germany and Japan they ruled with an iron fist. The cars we drive today are infinitely better because of competition. Should any criticize me for that statement I simply say these words: Pinto, Vega and Pacer. BTW, my new Ford Explorer is an excellent, well-designed and engineered vehicle. Unfortunately the father-son team of Bridges didn't have nearly as much material to work with in "Blown Away", their only other movie pairing ... Lloyd Bridges plays the corrupt U.S. Senator so well that you'd like to see a full Congressional investigation on him ... Excellent sound track as well.
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Summary: Tucker gives hope to all of the dreamers out there!
Review: One of Jeff Bridges best performances! What a great script with many great lines to savor. The story is based on Preston Tucker's life and struggles to design his own car based upon his own great innovative ideas and that of his team. His ideas were so great that it caught the attention of the big 3 when he proved that his ideas had tremendous value. Then the big 3 got nervous and did everything in their power to squash him like a little bug, but nobody could ever squash Preston's dreams! This movie will inspire anyone whose ever had a dream to make it in America! A must for any collection.
Rating: 
Summary: REBEL WITH A CAUSE
Review: There are indeed a number of emotional high-notes in this film. After-all, who doesn't root for the underdog? It plays to me as a skewed historical dramatization of post-war exuburance. The film often wanders into the glee of capitalism and deluxeness that would define US Cold War posture. Despite its occasional power, this film moves in too many directions to keep the viewer focused. It doesn't seem to now what it wants to be. I recommend it as worth a look because it seems to capture something very well; but what that something is remains elusive and incomplete.
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Summary: "It's the idea that counts, and the dream."
Review: This 1988 movie, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas, has good acting from Jeff Bridges, Martin Landau, Frederic Forrest, and Joan Allen in the larger roles. Smaller supporting roles were also handled well by Christian Slater, Jay O. Sanders, Nina Siemaszko and Mako. As reflected by the DVD cover, the movie is filmed in a splashy 1940's advertising style, and uses warm gold and sepia tones and some impressive camera work to tell the tale of the development of the "Tucker 48" automobile, also known as the "Torpedo" after its sleek lines (for the times), of which only about 50 were made. For its time, it had many innovative features, including a rear-mounted engine, seat belts and padded dash, push button controls, and a third central headlight that would turn when steering. The large, 4,800 pound behemoth got about 20 MPH. In a somewhat dichotomous framework, the movie shows the result of American "Yankee ingenuity" coupled with the eventual demise of the Tucker due to pressure by the Big Three automaking competitors. Taken to court for fraud with the accusation that he would not deliver on the promise of producing a car, Tucker in fact is found not guilty, and had actually produced about 50 cars, though his business was effective ruined. Tucker had other successes however. Just before World War II, he developed an armored car that was so fast at 80-plus MPH, the Army did not want it because they thought such vehicles should only go about 35 MPH. However, the rotating gun-turret used on top of the vehicle, the "Tucker turret", was used on American bombers, such as the B-17 and B-24, thoughout the war. Although his business partner Abe Karatz (Landau) is quite upset that the car business folded, Tucker tells him..."It's the idea that counts, Abe, and the dream." Tucker died in 1956 from lung cancer at age 53. The reasonably-priced DVD has the wide-screen movie, an excellent original 15-minute long 1948 promotional film made by the Tucker company (with or without commentary by FFC), a mediocre short "making of" collection of cast/crew interview clips mostly from 1988, a decent commentary by FFC, and the usual setup features.
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Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: This is an excellent movie I really like it. What I can also say is it was done in my hometown of Bay Point Ca. The scene where they are watching the movie of the car pulling into the garage and the gas man comes and opens the hood but now engine that is a block away from where I live. They also did some at the county seat and had to take down the state flags because they had to many stars on them for this time but I would recommend this movie to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: This is an excellent movie I really like it. What I can also say is it was done in my hometown of Bay Point Ca. The scene where they are watching the movie of the car pulling into the garage and the gas man comes and opens the hood but now engine that is a block away from where I live. They also did some at the county seat and had to take down the state flags because they had to many stars on them for this time but I would recommend this movie to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: The best film on American industry ever made!
Review: This is without question an overlooked masterpiece--an expose and celebration of American industry, the entrepreneurial spirit, and the flaws and strengths of the capitalist system. Jeff Bridges and Martin Landau deserved Oscars (Landau was nominated) for their portrayals of Preston Tucker and his friend/manager, Abe Karatz--they show the intelligence, drive, and unquenchable dynamism of the American businessman in their quest to build the 'perfect automobile', only 50 of which were ever built but of which 44 are still on the road today!!! It is also an indictment of oligopolistic business practices and the financial and political power of big business that keeps innovation from the American consumer in this flawed system. It is Citizen Kane with--if not a happy ending, then at least an optimistic one. Kudos to Coppola!! SEE THIS FILM!!
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Summary: A period piece that resonates today
Review: This narrative of Preston Tucker is delivered with Coppolla's full expertise as a filmmaker. If you haven't yet seen this well done film, I recommend that you do rather than read this review (as it might reveal something of the plot). At any rate, I just wanted to address the issue that some critics question specific facts depicted in this biography. However, I find trivial most of the facts that are disputed by critics and find the most important aspects of the film indisputable. The majority of Tucker automobiles built exist to this day, and testify that these were among the best and safest cars built by anyone. Another fact that's evident to this day is that automobiles being currently produced still aren't as safe as the Tucker evidentally was (a car produced over 50 years ago!). For me, this theme of the movie reflects corporate shame that seems true of the automobile industry to this day. This is an important movie at a time now when corporations in general are having more and more influence and impact on our society, which itself is an issue that should be more often discussed. Despite being over 10 years old and depicting events over 50 years ago, this is still an important film to be viewed today. I think it's one of Coppolla's best films.
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