Grand Theft Auto

[Star-Lord]

This may sound crazy for some reason I believe GTA The Game was somehow inspired by this film well at least the first GTA PC. Just watch the Video, Ice Cream Truck?. Also look at the movies box cover's font style and design dated back in 1977?

Though the storyline is way off compare to the game(s).

Movie Preview

Link

 

Paula Powers, daughter of wealthy gubernatorial candidate Bigby Powers, decides to reject her parents' attempt at matchmaking and run off to Vegas to marry her sweetheart, Sam Freeman. As they drive away in a stolen Rolls-Royce, spurned suitor Collins Hedgeworth follows behind in hot pursuit, along with a cadre of goons hoping to get the $25,000 reward that's been offered for Paula's return. Can the young lovers make it to Vegas for a quickie wedding before the forces of conformity and privilege arrive to put a stop to their romance?

What do you guys think, merely coincidence?

 

EDIT:

 

 

Grand Theft Auto Movie (77)

5 years before the Videogame

 

One thing you will always get when you watch a Roger Corman film is a healthy helping of cheese. It doesn't matter who stars in the film or what sort of genre film it is; you just know what you're about to see will exude that instantly recognizable low budget fragrance. "Grand Theft Auto" probably ranks in the top ten of Corman classics, not because it is better than any of the other schlock productions carrying the Corman tag but because it is the first film directed by Ron Howard. In case you just arrived on the planet, Howard played Opie Taylor in the rural themed series "Andy Griffith" before moving on to an even more successful stint as Richie Cunningham on "Happy Days." Nowadays, he's a big shot director and producer in Hollywood. Ron Howard's film career may never have gotten off the ground if it weren't for Roger Corman casting the young man in "Eat My Dust!" and "Grand Theft Auto." Howard got the directing job when he agreed to forego a salary if Corman would let him direct. The rest, as they say, is history. Regrettably, although I've had some enjoyable experiences with a few other Corman films-"Humanoids From the Deep," as an example-"Grand Theft Auto" is not a great film. It is, however, vastly superior to "Eat My Dust!" in nearly every aspect.

 

"Grand Theft Auto" once again finds Ron Howard behind the wheel of a car with a girl. In this movie, Howard plays the poor but saintly Sam Freeman, a guy who just wants to marry Paula Powers (Nancy Morgan), the daughter of a wealthy would be politician named Bigby Powers (Barry Cahill). When Paula comes home to announce her plans, the parents go through the roof. Dad goes so far as to forbid his daughter to marry such a common man, which results in the two making a run for it in Bigby's Rolls Royce. When Paula's rich former boyfriend, a goof by the name of Collins Hedgeworth (Paul Linke), finds out about his girl heading for the chapel without him, he calls into the local radio station and offers a hefty reward for their capture. Predictably, a whole assortment of oddballs hears about the cash prize and takes to the streets in an effort to bring Sam and Paula down. You've got Ace (Clint Howard) and his dorky buddy tooling down the highway in a hotrod, a gang of private detectives hired by Bigby Powers, a greedy preacher in a stolen cop car, and Collins's mother Vivian (Marian Ross!) all getting in on the chase. Too, the local disc jockey, Curly Q. Brown (Don Steele), oversees the unfolding fiasco first from his comfy studio and later from a helicopter circling above the madness.

 

Car crashes, reckless driving, and bad attitudes towards law and order dominate "Grand Theft Auto." And really, would we want it any other way? Watch Collins Hedgeworth smash up several expensive cars chasing his love! Watch Marion Ross ham it up as the snobby Vivian Hedgeworth! Watch Ron Howard chuck his Richie Cunningham image as he actually raises his voice to another human being! Watch a truckload of hicks chuck dynamite at Opie Taylor! It's all in good fun, and it's done much better than "Eat My Dust!" Instead of endless shots of cars racing around the streets of a small town, "Grand Theft Auto" actually takes the action out on the freeway as the two lovebirds attempt to make it to Las Vegas before their enemies capture them. Just in case crunching metal and tires kicking up pounds of dust in the desert starts to bore, you get a subplot about the media feeding on other people's personal affairs with the heated exchanges between Curly Q. Brown and Sam Freeman. There's even the requisite we're-getting-married-no-we're-not-now-we-will-again thing going on between Freeman and Powers.

 

It didn't take long to like this movie better than "Eat My Dust!" It's hard not to look at all the good movies Ron Howard has made since this one and not read some of that success back into "Grand Theft Auto," but this movie just looks better than most Roger Corman sponsored low budget disasters. Is it Ron Howard's influence as director that elevates this film above "Eat My Dust?" I don't know, but the pacing, editing, and production values look better here than in its immediate predecessor. Nancy Morgan is a better female lead than Christopher Norris was in the first film, Howard's character is more interesting, and Marion Ross's gimmicky inclusion in the cast does give "Grand Theft Auto" a certain charm. About the only drawback I had with the film is Don Steele, a supposedly famous East Coast disc jockey in real life who goes overboard here. He should have stayed out of sight; he's a geeky looking skinny dude with bad teeth in dark aviator glasses that adds little to the movie-except when he drives a car through a small house while giving a blow by blow description of the event.

Edited August 8, 2008 by pcguytech_2005

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

It's certainly not inconceivable. looks like an awesome movie too

[FierceDeityIX]

It's your average car chase film, I saw it ages ago. Got it on DVD. And the original logo is nothing like the GTA logo now.

[Vince_ThePhoenix]

According to a "studio insider" quoted by Finke, Fox still owns the rights to the movie, but has no particular plans for it. "Yes, it has been one of 400 development projects for several years," the insider said. "But they are nowhere on the script. It has certainly not been a front-burner project." Meanwhile, a legal settlement over the use of the name apparently prevents Rockstar and Take-Two from making a Grand Theft Auto movie, while Fox and other principals on the 1977 film can't make a videogame adaptation of the movie.

 

Finke also points out the strangeness of Fox's lack of interest in pursuing a deal to make a movie based on the game. Take-Two recently signed a deal with Universal Studios to bring the 2007 hit FPS BioShock to the big screen, but similar action with GTA has never been publicly considered, despite its runaway popularity.

[Star-Lord]

Thanks for the info had no idea thanks for clearing things up. Rockstar/Take2 can still make a movie if they wanted by using 'GTA' instead of the whole name spelled out right?

[Otter]

That's not all; there's more!

 

Apparently, there's actually a criminal act called 'Grand Theft Auto' as well. Very interesting.

 

 

Motor vehicle theft, sometimes referred to as grand theft auto by police departments, is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle, including an automobile, truck, bus, motorcycle, snowmobile, trailer or any other motorized vehicle. In some jurisdictions, theft of vehicles not customarily operated on public roads or highways, including aircraft, boats, motorized wheelchairs, and bulldozers, is not included in this category.

 

NO WAY this can all be a coincidence! R* wasn't content to rip off Ron Howard, they had to rape the LAW as well. Sad case of creative bankruptcy? I think so.

 

Source:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_theft_auto