Cheap Tucker - The Man and His Dream (DVD) (Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau) (Francis Ford Coppola) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Tucker - The Man and His Dream

"Tucker-The Man And His Dream" is the story of auto maker/inventor/visionary Preston Tucker, who bucked incredible odds to see his dream of a revolutionary car come to life. Jeff Bridges plays the title role with such energy and enthusiasm that you end up thinking this guy could conquer the world. Joan Allen is her usual excellent self as Preston's devoted wife, and Martin Landau is brilliant in his Oscar-nominated role as Tucker's somewhat skeptical business partner. Christian Slater, in one of his earliest screen appearances, plays Tucker's oldest son. Although they are on screen together for only a brief period of time in the picture, it is wonderful to see Jeff Bridges with his father, the late great Lloyd Bridges. The elder Bridges plays Homer Ferguson, a U.S. Senator from Michigan who instigated a probe and subsequent prosecution of Tucker by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly defrauding investors (Tucker was eventually exonerated after his company folded due to the negative publicity).

All of the acting performances in this picture are superb, and the pacing is almost frenetic. These factors, along with a rather ingenious use of transitions by Director Francis Ford Coppola (who coincidentally owns one of the few Tuckers left in existence), create a busy feeling that conveys to the audience that Tucker has got the world by the tail and is pulling hard...hold that tiger! Combine all of this with an excellent soundtrack by Joe Jackson (unfortunately very hard to find these days), and you have what one reviewer accurately describes as one of the greatest movies that hardly anyone ever watched. If you haven't seen "Tucker-The Man And His Dream", check it out...you won't be disappointed.

Tuckered out.
Frenetically directed biopic of Preston Tucker, automobile entrepreneur, genius . . . dreamer. The most offensive thing about *Tucker: The Man and His Dream* is the explicit comparison between its subject and its director, Francis Ford Coppola. The Tucker automobile is evidently meant to be compared to Coppola's Zoetrope film studio, just as each man is meant to be compared to each other. (Both even have large, rambunctious families.) The great difference, of course, being that Tucker happened to be a visionary, whereas Coppola just made some decent movies in the 1970's. (Who wouldn't rather have a Tucker car than a copy of *Apocalypse Now Redux* on DVD or even the overpriced *Godfather* collection, in which Coppola -- that uncompromising "artist" -- forces one to actually bring that *Godfather Part 3* into his own home?) Notice I said the 1970's: *Tucker* was made in 1988, and Coppola's glory days had definitely passed. And no amount of flashy direction -- cut-aways, scene-blending, hyper-kinetic camera movement -- can bring them back. The cut-aways etc. don't really bring back the 1940's, either, probably because the spirit in which the movie was made belongs strictly to the excessive 80's. The visual style reflects the entrepreneurial icons of the Reagan Era -- Lee Iacocca, Michael Milkin, Donald Trump -- more often than it recalls Preston Tucker. Flash, splash, crash. Is the movie entertaining? Yes. Whatever else can be said about F.F.C., he doesn't make BORING movies. But ultimately the movie is as shallow as its basic form, which is the Old Hollywood-style worshiping, deifying hagiography (along the lines of *The Benny Goodman Story*, *Yankee Doodle Dandy*, etc.). Finally, it must be stressed again that Coppola's ego is terrifying: identifying himself with a visionary inventor like Preston Tucker is, given his own checkered career as a director, not merely offensive, but close to obscene.

"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.