[.ca] Tucker: The Man and His Dream (Widescreen)

Amazon.com Essential Video:
Director Francis Ford Coppola and executive producer George Lucas shared a strong desire to film the story of Preston Tucker, the man who revolutionized car design in the late 1940s, only to have his innovation squelched by the "big three" automakers in a legal battle between Tucker and powerful political lobbies. Coppola surely related to and sympathized with Tucker as a visionary underdog, and so this stylish, energetic film envisions "the man and his dream" in idealistic terms--an unabashed optimist (played by Jeff Bridges) who realizes his vision through blind faith and tenacity. Martin Landau gives a superb, heartbreaking performance as an associate who desperately wants to share Tucker's enthusiasm, but knows that corporate wolves are knocking at the door and will soon burst in with fangs bared. Joan Allen is equally good as Tucker's supportive wife, and the film's combination of dazzling costumes, production design, and the fabulous Tucker itself (of which only 50 models were made) creates an infectious atmosphere of postwar optimism. In the end, however, this fascinating film is much like Coppola himself: possessed of genius, blinded by ambition, and prone to create works of erratic brilliance. Don't take that as criticism, however; this is a sharp, underrated film about a dreamer whose dream was a worthy one, even if it only briefly came true. --Jeff Shannon

Excellent Movie:
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.

"It's the idea that counts, and the dream.":
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.

DVD starts instantly:
I agree with the others about the film, and I just have to add this... Almost all DVDs these days force you to sit through minutes on end of animated logos and warnings of copyright laws and smallpox. This DVD, literally two seconds after you pop it in, you have the DVD menu! Please, DVD engineers, I implore you, follow this example. We know you are very good and fancy, but we *really* don't want all your fancy animations slowing us down every time we start or stop something, or select a different option. If you want to make art, make art. If you want to make a user interface, make a user interface!

A wonderful story set in a time when America was great:
I first saw this movie when I was ten years old and loved it then as I do now. If you love the style of the 1940's and the incurable optimism of post-War America, then this flik is for you. Preston Tucker was true visionary who demonstrated the power and opportunities that each American has at their fingertips beginning with only a dream or two and Jeff Bridges captures the essence of this incredibly well.

A period piece that resonates today:
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.