The Plot:
When Paula Powers announces to her prudish, snobbish parents that she intends to marry her former high school flame Sam Freeman, instead of the stupid, snooty rich kid Collins Hedgeworth, they go ballistic. They refuse to let the couple wed, and so Paula takes matters into her own hands. She steals the family Rolls Royce, picks up Sam and the duo head off to Las Vegas to elope. Unfortunately, the local radio press gets a hold of the story, and soon the Hedgeworth family is offering a $25K reward for the return of Paula. Once Collins goes AWOL as well, the reward is upped to $50K. It's not long before every nut between California and Nevada are out looking for a potential payout. Driving anything and everything they can, they chase the couple across sand and through towns in an attempt to score some cash. But with the police in hot pursuit, and the Powers' professional trackers close behind, it will take a miracle – or some Grand Theft Auto – for the pair to make their wedding date.

The DVD:
They just don't make movies like Grand Theft Auto anymore. A simple action film like this, with a straightforward narrative, instantly recognizable character archetypes, and lots of sensational stunt work, no longer registers with a demanding post-modern audience. Ever since the '80s, with its emphasis on hulked up heroes and special effect spectacle, the innate pleasures of watching a bunch of cars chase, careen and crash into each other has lost some of its edge. Many could argue that filmmakers such as George Miller (the Mad Max movies) and, decades later, the Matrix making Wachowskis have set the automotive mayhem benchmark so high that no one could possibly match it. But with this low budget 1977 effort, first time filmmaker (and future Oscar winner) Ron Howard proved that, with a little invention, a lot of desire, and a long stretch of desert highway to work with, some vehicular excitement was more than possible. This is not a perfect movie by any far stretch of the imagination – the class-crossed love birds at the center of the story are nothing more than catalysts for the various highway hijinx, and the story sort of falls apart the minute everyone ends up in a Las Vegas demolition derby. Still, Howard proves more than capable behind the camera. As a matter of fact, the chase material here is better executed and far more thrilling than the dull, ponderous sequences in his horrendous adaptation of The Da Vinci Code.

Indeed, there is something that's so refreshing about this style of filmmaking, a literal throwback to a time when well choreographed and coordinated physical F/X work was the only way to achieve certain shots. There are mesmerizing moments all throughout Grand Theft Auto when vehicles defy gravity, sense and seriousness to fly over, onto, into, around and through each other. Using a hodgepodge of cars – everything from a Rolls Royce to an Indy Racer to some strange mini-pickup with a dollhouse attached to it (supposedly a newlywed couple's mobile love shack), Howard allows visual imagery to make up for a lack of three dimensional depth. We really don't get to know much about the individuals involved here. The Powers appear to be boorish new money, the Hedgeworth's hilarious inept old wealth. Among the actors, familiar faces like Ron's dad Rance, brother Clint, and Happy Days' costar Marion Ross all get the chance to play up to the camera. Ross in particular flips people the bird, curses like a PG-level sailor, and basically chews the scenery every chance she gets. Perhaps the most well rounded personal performance is one given by Don Steele. Familiar to anyone who remembers his turn as Junior Bruce in Death Race 2000, Screamin' Steve Stevens in Rock and Roll High School and Rockin' Ricky Rialto in Gremlins, Steele is more than just a DJ here (playing the nonsensically named Curly Q. Brown). He actually acts as a knowledgeable and necessary narrator, offering takes on both the physical and emotional state of the cast. He can grow grating at times, but he serves a significant purpose here, that is, to keep the story going.

Indeed, the best aspect of Grand Theft Auto is watching how Ron Howard manipulates the medium of cinema to achieve his earnest ends. He offers up incredibly thrilling moments of car-to-car chaos (helped immensely by future director Joe Dante in the editing booth) and knows how to manage narrative so that the movie never drags or drones on. The climactic showdown in the demolition derby is a little unfocused – mostly shots of fenders and tires passing within close proximity of one another – and once we get to the final stand-off, happenstance and coincidence play a bigger part in the resolution than anything really logical or reasonable. Granted, it may sound silly to argue over rationale with a film that features nothing but nonstop car chases for 70 some minutes, but you sense that, for the most part, Grand Theft Auto has been smarter, more clever than that. If you're not invested in the good guys, at least you're hissing the bad ones, and Howard handles the transitions between tendencies with mature aplomb. Certainly at times this feels like a pure passion pit production, a movie with enough energy to draw the dates in, but not enough to prevent them from petting and necking. It is clear however that Howard was – as Corman is quoted as saying - someone who looked like a director. In his more than capable hands, what could have been b-movie trash turns into a terrific little actioner. Many today only know 'GTA' from the violent video game that keeps millions glued to their Playstation systems. But back in the '70s, the title foretold the rise of Ron Howard as a filmmaker to watch. Thirty years later, both are still going strong.

The Video:
Presented in a 1.33:1 full screen image, which is considered to be Corman's standard aspect ratio for all his films, the transfer here looks terrific. Sure, there are some age issues, and the overall look of the film belies its low budget leanings. But for something made on the fly almost three decades ago, Grand Theft Auto has an excellent cinematic sheen.

The Audio:
Trading in the original Mono (and the initial DVD release's Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), the newly remastered 5.1 mix is not as impressive as one might think. Sure, during the action scenes, the rev of the engines and the smash of crashing metal explode across the speakers. But the dialogue is directionless, and stays completely centered in the middle speaker. This means that, on occasion, when all Hell is breaking loose, some of the conversations are not that clear. They are essentially drowned out by the surrounding chaos.

The Extras:
Fans who own the first digital release of this title may want to weigh the value of the new extras (and the undeniable lack of the original bonus features) when considering a possible double dip. The new material is quite good – Rance and Clint Howard sit down for a nine minute Q&A about the film's creation and their relationship with Ron. Corman then appears with the director for a Beautiful Mind era commentary track. Both are happy to chat away at first, filling in details about how they met and how Grand Theft Auto came into being. But after a while, both resort to the scenario that happens whenever film people revisit their past. They get lost in the movie and, as a result, dead air takes over. Still, their occasional remarks add some excellent insight into the film – especially when Howard describes how certain stunts were planned and executed. The only caveat here is that, aside from the trailer, nothing from the 1999 release by New Horizons has been ported over. While those supplements – a conversation with Howard and Corman, and interview with the producer by Leonard Maltin – seem intriguing, it's hard to imagine that they are better than what is here. Overall, this is a wonderful DVD presentation and package.

Final Thoughts:
Dopey, mindless, outdated and frequently very, very funny, Grand Theft Auto deserves to be recognized for what it is – an exceptionally entertaining first film by a director who was actually trying to prove his professional commercial capabilities. There was no arcane art on display, no fancy filmic techniques employed for experimentation. No, Ron Howard was definitely schooled at the University of Roger Corman and this crash course is an incredibly pleasurable effort. Easily earning a Highly Recommended rating, this is one of the best off title treasures of the entire silly, sullen '70s. But what makes it even more intriguing, of course, is the legacy that was soon to follow. Thanks to Grand Theft Auto, Ron Howard earned the chance to direct several TV films, which then led to his first major mainstream hit, the 1982 comedy Night Shift. Since then, it's been one major motion picture after another. Amazingly enough, this appears to be the case for most Corman U graduates. Aside from his output as a filmmaker, its movies – and creative talent – like this who continue to perpetuate the man's massive myth.

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