Craig v. McQueen

Three words: The Great Escape.  As in, one of the single greatest and must-see movies of the past thousand years.  As I one day hope to post in more detail about my undying adoration for this movie, I will not now attempt to express in a mere few sentences what made this epic film and its mind-boggling cast of rugged, classic actors one of the most priceless of American cinema.  However, I will say....and quite honestly, dare to say, that when the heroism, gorgeous scenery, fantastic actors, and die hard American patriotism fade away, the reason this movie is so blasted cool--is Steve McQueen.

I've been a fan of McQueen ever since I saw him in the The Towering Inferno when I was a kid.  They don't call him the "King of Cool" for nothing.  He is the original American bad boy.  Don't believe me?  Watch the absolutely legendary car chase with McQueen's beautiful 1968 Ford Mustang GT roaring through the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt:

  No matter what the movie (even the giggle-inducing 50s film, The Blob), the man has an effortless cool and impeccable style that became the inspiration for a generation of gentlemen.

So when a friend and I began discussing a recent article over the possibility of a Steve McQueen biopic starring Daniel Craig, my wheels began to turn.  Personally, and although many may disagree with me, I've been a fan of Craig since his bloody, ice cold, borderline psychotic portrayal of James Bond in Casino Royal.  If you've ever read the original Ian Fleming novels of the 50s, the Bond depicted in the stories is rather far from the previous portrayals of Bond we have become accustomed to.  His insanely lucky and oddly coincidental obsession with gadgetry and insatiable desire to sleep with anything that walks on  high-heels is no where to be found.  The Bond of these early novels, in fact, usually resorts to Craig's method of, for lack of a better phrase, "busting a cap" (though this "cap" may be a rather small one discharged from a Walther PPK or small wristlet gun). 

This is not to mention Craig's other noteables, such as Defiance, Munich, and even the oddly but extremely anticipated Cowboys & Aliens.  Nevertheless, I like Craig and think he'd do a fine job standing in the shoes of the great "King of Cool."

However, it must be noted that I think, unless other very persuasive evidence is shown, that it should stop at a biopic.  Unfortunately with the way Hollywood has tended to mangle things up recently, any further Craig/McQueen remakes could be disastrous.  God forbid a remake of Bullitt be made.  No doubt with the wretched film butcher Michael Bay at the helm to ensure all the characters look overly oily and that the film's epic car chase be transformed into a fiery madhouse of pointless explosions with McQueen's car being changed into a modern, plastic Chevrolet atrocity, and of course allowing for a cameo of Optimus Prime.  To quote Shia Labeouf, "Nooooooo! No, No, No No NO!!"