Gran Torino: Eastwood Brings M-1, Classic Car, and the Badass

Posted by Mister Hand (misterhand@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 25, 2008

Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino

Though he has garnered high acclaim, so far I have been underwhelmed by Clint Eastwood’s directorial efforts — with Million Dollar Baby and Letters from Iwo Jima being notable exceptions. I’ve yet to see an Eastwood-directed film in the last decade or so I would call bad, but nothing’s blown me out of the water. And while I find the true story aspect of Changeling intriguing, I’ll probably wait to catch it on DVD.

But Eastwood has another film coming in December called Gran Torino. He’ll be starring in this one as well as directing. You can catch some story details as well as a look at the poster over at USA Today, found via First Showing.

There’s no part of this film that doesn’t sound awesome, and Eastwood’s presence is definitely a plus. Look at that poster and tell me it doesn’t give you a chill. This could just as easily be the poster for Dirty Harry: Still Kicking Ass, with a tagline that reads, “Crime never retires!”

But Gran Torino is not an actioner. It appears to be a character piece with a compelling angle. A member of an Asian gang attempts to steal Eastwood’s prize possession, a vintage Gran Torino. Eastwood explains, “The young kid, as part of a gang initiation, tries to steal it, and the old guy gets him at the end of the M-1, which becomes kind of a big deal.”

A trailer has just been posted at Apple. Check it out below.

I know I for one will be anxiously awaiting this film’s release on December 17th. Have a look at the first poster for yourself below.

Gran Torino Poster


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  • Gary
    "Though he has garnered high acclaim, so far I have been underwhelmed by Clint Eastwood’s directorial efforts"

    Well never mind. When you mature you'll begin to understand why he is so acclaimed.
  • This looks about 8 kinds of awesome.
  • Sorry, Gary. Like I said, I haven't thought any of his recent films were bad. A couple just didn't connect. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA kicked the crap out of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, for instance, in the category of being a kickass film. And while MILLION DOLLAR BABY was all sorts of awesome, I thought MYSTIC RIVER was (to be kind) lacking.

    But yeah--THIS movie looks like it's got all the Clint Easwood directorial goodness, and then we add in Clint being a badass, and I'm super stoked.
  • Tim
    Is it wrong if this movie scares the hell out of me and gave me a boner at the same time?

    Clint Eastwood gets better with every year.
  • dang after all these years eastwood still looks like he can kick all our asses...its amazin that such an old man can be such a force to be reckoned with. he hasn't lost his touch at all. the movie looks great. dependin on the flick it looks like award worthy work from mr eastwood .

    Hopefully he will sneak in to the oscars like he did with million dollar baby but this time win which he deserved more than jamie foxx.
  • "Get off my lawn"

    Better than "I'm sick of these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane"?

    I vote yes!

    Also in the pic at the top he looks like he has a red lightsaber haha
  • Aleric
    I will go and see this movie the day it comes out. Been waiting for Eastwood to get back to making kick ass movies. He is a very good film maker but sometimes what made you a star is often taken for granted by the stars themselves. Bruce Willis is laerning this as well.
  • Harold
    I'm probably the minority on this one, but I liked Flags of our Fathers MUCH more
    than Letters from Iwo Jima.
  • Looks awesome. And Clint Eastwood could film his own bowel movements and it would be worthy of praise. That guy is an icon, plain and simple. And unlike other icons (Spielberg, Lucas, Ford, De Niro, Pacino) he has maintained his skill and craft and never really disappointed - since like 1992 the guy has been pure win.
  • I think Ebert also made an interesting observation about Eastwood in his CHANGELING review:

    "Eastwood is one of the finest directors now at work... I'm... mad at Eastwood for not directing his first film until he was 41. We could not do without his work as an actor. But most of his greatest films as a director have come after 'retirement age.' Some directors start young and get tired. Eastwood is only gathering steam."

    I am braced for the possibility that the trailer oversells GRAN TORINO, but I am pleasantly surprised by this. I'm looking forward to this like I was looking forward to DARK KNIGHT.

    And I'll try to stop commenting now and saying basically the same things over and over. Except to clarify, despite my earlier overstatement, I actually thought FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS was a good movie. I just thought LETTERS was particularly awesome.
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