Getaway (2013)

The 2013 “Getaway” is terrible. Horribly “Can You Believe This Shit!?!” bad. Do not confuse it with the 1970s Steve McQueen flick or its Alec Baldwin remake. This stiff has Ethan Hawke as Brent Magna, an ex-NASCAR driver living in Bulgaria (!?!) who steals a Mustang and causes havoc on Sofia streets as ordered by an unseen criminal mastermind who has kidnapped Magna’s wife as collateral. Brent’s task: Blow up the city’s power station –- protected with a key pad lock (!) -– so the mastermind can pull off a daring robbery in darkness. The howler: Brent destroys the power grid … and not a street light blinks or a McDonald’s arch darkens. Nothing. Nadda. But. BUT. The actors pretend it is pitch dark. Seriously. The leap of logic gymnastics is breathtaking. Director Courtney Solomon -– he made the incompetent “Dungeons & Dragons” -– shoots and edits every car chase -– it’s nothing but –- as split-second visual seizures, and repeats the same footage. Hawke must have been desperate for money. The final nail: Selena Gomez (!?!) plays a pistol-packing carjacker. GTFO. F

Ronin (1998)

“Manchurian Candidate” -– absolute favorite film -- director John Frankenheimer helms the heist flick “Ronin,” but this is David Mamet’s ride, from frame one. Every double fake-out betrayal twist built in this ’70s European cinema homage bears Mamet’s stamp of black ink and blood red humor, more so than his “Untouchables.” A behind-the-scenes squabble left Mamet out of the credits. Whatever. The fury-hot tough-guy talk? Razors and laughs that sting like bullets? Mamet. Perfectly set in France with Robert De Niro as leader of a band of crooks hired by an Irish dame (Natascha McElhone) to steal a metal briefcase (contents: unimportant) from guys in suits driving fancy cars, “Ronin” is all about -– as every Mamet work –- the smartest guy holding the gun. The jagged post-robbery fuck-up has cars punching high speeds through Paris, “Bullitt” carnage thrilling. De Niro is on fire, kicking man balls raw. I miss this actor, scary and tense. The pull-a-card plot thrives on coincidences and WTF sights (ice skating???) no thriller can bear, but Frankenheimer pushes onward cold and cruel, smashing cars and trucks, pushing a Raging Bull to one of his last, great roles. An imperfect must watch. B+

Bullitt (1968)

Steve McQueen’s “Bullitt” is justifiably famous for its long, crazy car chase through the up-down-up hills of San Francisco. It’s a killer scene, even if the villain’s car pops hubcaps like the Hyrda grows heads. Best bit: Before the chase begins, the mafia getaway driver calmly buckles his seatbelt. Perfect detail. It sets the tension while making a literal joke of that line in “All About Eve.” But before all that begins, we start in Chicago as a man is hunted by assassins as truly ugly opening credits jump and ricochet on screen, rendering the action a visual mess. Small fault. We bounce to McQueen as SFPD detective Bullitt as he’s tasked with a court witness baby-sit job under order from a soulless DA (Robert Vaughn). The job is tied to the failed hit we just saw and the mob hits back successfully, leaving Bullitt racing to outwit the bad guys and heel Vaughn’s prick. “Bullitt” works wonders far more than the cars with its on-the-street Bay Area locales, foot chases through hospital corridors and a bustling airport, and McQueen’s perfectly dressed no-bullshit hero, the absolute of cool. Also tops: Pre-stardom’s Robert Duvall’s cabbie. A-