Classic Video – BMW’s “Star” with Clive Owen and Madonna. Directed by Guy Ritchie

I found another classic video while sifting through my archives. This short film from 2001 stars Clive Owen and Madonna and was directed by Guy Ritchie.



Oven though this was made 9 years ago, Clive’s performance still makes me laugh.

According to Wikipedia, “The BMW film series, The Hire was a series of eight short films (averaging about ten minutes each) produced for the Internet in 2001 and 2002. A form of branded content, all eight films featured popular filmmakers from across the globe, starred Clive Owen as the “Driver”, and highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles. The plots of each of the films differ, but one constant remains: Clive Owen plays “The Driver”, a man who goes from place to place (in presumably rented BMW automobiles), getting hired by various people to be a sort of transport for their vital needs.”

Unfortunately, “on October 21, 2005, BMW stopped distribution of The Hire on DVD and removed all eight films from the BMWFilms website just four years after the first film debuted.”

I know I’ve got the original DVD from BMW with all the films somewhere around here, too. If I can find it, I’ll rip them all and post to YouTube.

EDIT: The first Transporter film with Jason Statham “whose job it is to deliver packages without asking any questions” while doing crazy stunts in fancy cars came out on October 11, 2002. Coincidence?